The New Year has just arrived, and Starfield already bagged an award. This time, the recognition comes from the gaming platform Steam. For 2023, Bethesda’s newest open-world RPG received the distinction of Steam’s Innovative Gameplay Award for 2023.
For this award, Starfield competed with four other finalists: Remnant II, Shadows of Doubt, Contraband Police, and Your Only Move Is Hustle.
According to the Awards page, the Innovative Gameplay Award is given to the designers and developers who choose to be at “front lines of creative experimentation, bringing a fresh perspective and brain-breaking surprises.”
Unsurprisingly, market favorite Baldur’s Gate 3 bagged the much-coveted Game of the Year, edging out Capcom’s Resident Evil 4, EA’s FC24, Lethal Company, and Hogwarts Legacy.
Pundits had considered Starfield’s nomination to the 2023 Steam Awards as a surprise. They commented that, since Steam’s yearly awards are gamer-driven, fans would’ve gone straight to nominating it for Game of the Year or the Oustanding Visual Style Awards.
This win follows after Starfield failed to bag the Best RPG Award in the recently concluded The Games Awards, in which it also did not receive even a nomination for Game of the Year. This went to Baldur’s Gate 3 instead.
Some fans were so disappointed at what they considered a snub with one fan even suggesting that they boycott TGA for thinking that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is superior to the technological prowess of Bethesda’s newest open-world RPG.