Steam Awards and Autumn Sale begins now

It’s the latter half of November which can only mean one thing, Steam sales and rampant consumerism, as Americans scramble to pick up cheap gifts for their friends and family for the coming holidays.

With the COVID-19 pandemic expected to stifle much of the in-person Black Friday purchasing this year, many places are shifting to online deals to pick up the slack.

For Steam, this is business as usual. However, this period is coupled with The Steam Awards - Valve’s take on the various award seasons and events that come out around this time.

Steam Sale features some big titles

It seems like there’s a mass sale on Steam almost every month or so, and for almost any reason. Such are the benefits of being a purely digital storefront with much lower operating cost than a typical physical retailer.

But these sales have also become a part of PC gaming culture by this point as well. PC gaming, as a culture, has a bizarre situation where many gamers seem willing to spend upwards of $1,000 on a gaming rig but are hesitant to pay $60 for a game.

While this paradox gets pointed out from time to time, it is fair to remember that gaming PCs are often used for much more than gaming alone.

This Steam sale has many popular and big budget games being marked down, with fairly new titles like Doom Eternal going for under $20, alongside this year’s indie hit Hades.

Steam awards drive player engagement

Coupled with this sale is the ongoing Steam Awards. Unlike other game award events which frequently feature curated nominations and jury voting to determine the winners of each category, the Steam Awards instead democratize this process.

Players have the opportunity to nominate their own games, although Steam does at least stipulate the requirements necessary for each category.

The categories feature common ones, such as Game of the Year and Most Innovative Gameplay, in addition to including more niche awards for Sit Back and Relax award or Best Game You Suck At award.