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‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ wins Game of the Year in 2018 Steam Awards

Aaron Mamiit
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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the game that started the battle royale craze, was crowned Game of the Year at the 2018 Steam Awards.

Valve asked Steam users to choose their favorites across eight awards, with each participant given a set of digital trading cards for their votes. The results are now in, with Valve revealing the winner through a ceremony broadcast via Steam.tv.

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Here are all the categories, nominees, and winners at the 2018 Steam Awards.

Game of the Year

  • PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
  • Hitman 2
  • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

VR Game of the Year 

  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
  • VR Chat
  • Beat Saber
  • Fallout 4 VR
  • Superhot VR

Labor of Love – the best game that continues to receive new content despite being out for a while

  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • No Man’s Sky
  • Path of Exile
  • Dota 2
  • Stardew Valley

Best Developer

  • CD Projekt Red
  • Ubisoft
  • Bethesda
  • Rockstar Games
  • Digital Extremes
  • Square Enix
  • Capcom
  • Paradox Interactive
  • Bandai Namco
  • Klei

Best Environment – the game with the best scenery

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Subnautica
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Far Cry 5
  • Dark Souls III

Better With Friends – the best multiplayer game

  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
  • Payday 2
  • Dead by Daylight
  • CS: GO
  • Overcooked! 2

Best Alternate History – the game with the best tinkering on the history books

  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • Hearts of Iron IV
  • Civilization VI
  • Fallout 4

Most Fun With a Machine – the best game featuring machines

  • Rocket League
  • Euro Truck Simulator
  • Nier: Automata
  • Factorio
  • Space Engineers

PUBG is certainly deserving of grabbing Game of the Year in the 2018 Steam Awards. However, things have definitely changed since it first gripped the gaming world by launching the battle royale genre, as it has since been overshadowed by Fortnite. Apex Legends, which reached over 1 million players just eight hours after launch is also now in the mix.

The Fix PUBG campaign, which looked to address the worst bugs and performance problems in the game, was declared over in November last year, and the 2019 PUBG roadmap will focus on build stability and quality before the launch of new content. PUBG Lite, a slimmed-down, free-to-play version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, also recently started beta testing.

It remains to be seen whether PUBG will be able to get back on top of the battle royale throne, but winning Game of the Year at the 2018 Steam Awards is certainly taking it in the right direction.

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