Valve subsequently reviews the nominations and then selects the top five games for final voting.

These nominations are then presented to Steam users, giving them the opportunity to vote in each category.

Finalists were revealed in December, with the winners announced during a live broadcast on Steam.tv on February 8, 2019.

[11][12] Users were able to vote from December 19–31, with the winners announced on the final day.

[13] The nomination process began on November 25, 2020, with winners announced on January 3, 2021.

[19][20] Journalists highlighted some winners, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 (awarded for ongoing support despite the game receiving no major updates since 2020) and Starfield (awarded for innovation despite being received poorly on Steam);[21][22][23][24] some suspected the votes were sarcastic or ironic, while others considered them a symptom of fan voting.