The Steam Awards 2022 is finally live! Among some of the familiar 2022 winning titles, like Elden Ring (“Game of the Year” and “Best Game You Suck At” on this list) and God of War (“Outstanding Story-Rich Game”), fans of Cyberpunk 2077 will be very pleased to hear that the game did win the “Labor of Love” award after being nominated a couple of weeks ago.
The “Labor of Love” is given to titles whose developers have stayed in touch with their communities and continued to produce content and support their game long after its launch. Valve puts it this way: “the team is well past the debut of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation.” In 2021, for example, this award was given to Terraria.
Considering the rocky start of the journey, CD Projekt definitely deserves at least some recognition for not abandoning Cyberpunk 2077 despite the tornado of bad events following the game’s launch. In a way, it makes Cyberpunk 2077 sound like No Man’s Sky — an example most of the gamers today should recognize. Ironically, No Man’s Sky was also nominated for “Labor of Love” this year (it does not appear that the game has ever won it).
Perhaps, Cyberpunk 2077 owes the title to its higher popularity, which was likely helped by the release of the Netflix show Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in September of last year. The series received a lot of positive feedback from the fans and critics alike, and spurred many to return to the game. The show’s success late in 2022 could have influenced the community votes in Steam Awards — the method Valve uses to determine the award winners.
(Or, perhaps we should just thank all of the passionate Lucy x David (and Rebecca x David) shippers for this little victory?)
Regardless of the catalysts, it’s hard to deny that the persistence of CP2077’s dev team doesn’t deserve a spotlight: releasing patches and new content for a game of this scope isn’t easy to begin with, and higher expectations coupled with scrutiny of the community don’t make this job any easier.
Do you agree with the results, or are you still apprehensive about the title due to its history? What has your journey with Cyberpunk 2077 been like so far? Let us know in the comments below!
