It’s fair to say that 2023 was a great year for video games and one of the best in recent memory offering a plethora of amazing titles that gamers will still be talking about for years to come.
2023 saw the likes ofBaldur’s Gate 3,Alan Wake 2,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,Red Dead Redemption 2and much more. Wait, what? Why wasRed Dead Redemption 2mentioned? Sure, this is one of the greatest video games of all time, but thisRockstar Gameswestern classic was released in 2018.
Check out the Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer below!
One of the most exciting aspects of a year coming to a close is celebrating all the bestTV and movies, and of course, video games during that time. In fact, GAMINGbible also celebrated the ‘10 Greatest Video Games of 2023’. Many outlets have their own end-of-the-year accolades and the Steam platform is no exception.
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However, one inclusion that has raised some eyebrows in the2023 Steam AwardsisRed Dead Redemption 2, on two fronts. Not only is it surprising to see a 2018 game included in the end-of-year awards but it also claimed the accolade of ‘Labor of Love’.Red Dead Redemption 2beatDota 2,Rust,Deep Rock GalacticandApex Legends. I know that all of the aforementioned games were released before 2023, but they are ongoing live-service titles that are regularly supported.
We could say thatRed Dead Redemption 2picked up this gong forRed Dead Online, but this online game has been heavily criticised for its lack of content support, especially when compared toGTA Online. What’s more, evenRockstar Games has seemingly given upon givingRed Dead Onlinemeaningful content support, so how on earth didRDR2pick up this award? In saying that, this is the same ceremony that had given the award of ‘Most Innovative Gameplay’ toStarfield.
It’s perhaps worth keeping in mind that fans can not only vote for the winners in the Steam Awards but nominate too. So couldRed Dead Redemption 2winning this accolade be some sort of troll as an act of defiance for Rockstar Games' apparent lack of meaningful support?
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“Did you guys really nominateRed Dead Redemption 2, a game that hasn’t been updated since 2020, for the Labor of Love award in the Steam Awards 2023?”tweetedPC Gamer.
“It’s baffling to see thatRed Dead Redemption 2won the Labor of Love award in the Steam Awards,”exclaimedBaileyPoints. “This has only won this award because it had its highest player count on Steam recently, but this game has not been updated with new content or properly supported in years.”
“The things I dislike about the Steam Awards this year is that not only didPizza Towernot win Best Soundtrack, butRed Dead Redemption 2won Labor of Love even though Rockstar’s only keepingRDRO’sservers on and the game’s been abandoned for a year,”saidPyromaildragon.
It will be interesting to see what games pick up questionable awards in the Steam Awards 2024. Perhaps this might finally beGTA Online’stime to shine. We’ll be rooting for that underdog. You got this Grand Theft Auto!
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Red Dead Redemption 2is out now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
Topics:PC,Steam,Red Dead Redemption,Red Dead Redemption 2,Valve,PlayStation,Xbox
