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Steam’s annual Autumn Sale is now live, and along with it comes something new: the Steam Awards.
“For the first time in human history, our Steam Community will decide the nominees for the prestigious Steam Awards,” says Valve.
During the Autumn Sale, Steam users can head to the store page for any game — not just titles released in 2016 — and nominate it for one of eight awards. Instead of bog-standard fare like “Best Action Game,” Valve came up with quirky categories such as the “Best Use of a Farm Animal” Award and the “Villain Most in Need of a Hug” Award.
Those fields are joined by a ninth award for which the community will determine both the category qualifiers and the nominees. Steam users will submit their suggestions, and Valve says “senior members” of the Steam Award Selection Committee will come up with the award based on those write-in submissions.
As you might expect, the Steam Awards are integrated into Steam’s badge system. Tasks to complete in order to earn and level up the Steam Awards Nomination Committee badge include nominating a game and playing a game you’ve nominated.
This year’s Steam Autumn Sale — and the nomination period for the 2016 Steam Awards — runs from Nov. 23-29. Valve will give out the awards in December.
