The amazing Epic Games’s Christmas Game Giveaway is ending. As the previous years would have it, the two big game giveaway happens on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year that honor goes to Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition… so if you only have to grab a few games, those are the big two.

Based on previous years, the last day of the giveaway is usually a real banger too. In 2021 we got all three Square Enix’s Tomb Raider games and in 2022 we got two games, Dishonored – Definitive Edition and Eximius: Seize the Frontline.

As for predictions, for their last day on January 3, 2024, it’s anyone’s guess… but as rumors will have it, the last two games will be A Plague Tale: Innocence and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

That’s great news… even though I already own both games on another platform. It might be nice to get them on Epic now.

So far, here’s what we got for Epic Games’ Giveaway 2023:

Kickoff Special: Destiny 2: Legacy Collection (2023)
12/20 DNF Duel
12/21 Melvor Idle
12/22 Art of Rally
12/23 Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
12/24 Ghostwire: Tokyo
12/25 The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition
12/26 Human Resource Machine
12/27 Cursed to Golf
12/28 Cat Quest
12/29 Snakebird Complete
12/30 Saints Row
12/31 Shadowrunner
01/01 Escape Academy
01/02 20 Minutes Till Dawn
01/03 A Plague Tale: Innocence
01/04 Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

Steam
steampowered.com

The 2023 Steam Awards winners have been announced. It looks like, once again, Baldur’s Gate 3 wins big … taking Game of the Year and Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award.

Game of the Year Award: Baldur’s Gate 3
VR Game of the Year Award: Labyrinthine
Labor of Love Award: Red Dead Redemption
Best Game on Steam Deck Award: Hogarts Legacy
Better With Friends Award: Lethal Company
Outstanding Visual Style Award: Atomic Heart
Most Innovative Gameplay Award: Starfield
Best Game You Suck At Award: Sifu
Best Soundtrack Award: Last of Us Part 1
Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award: Baldur’s Gate 3
Sit Back and Relax Award: Dave the Diver

Looking at the list of winners, I’ll have to admit, I haven’t played any 2023 games, except for Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield (which I did not love). I’m not sure why Red Dead Redemption or Last of Us Part 1 are on the list, because these are old games. I suppose if they were new to Steam, that could qualify them… but personally speaking, I do not believe they should have won for the year 2023.

You noticed a game that didn’t win, but was released last year? Diablo IV. Yeah, I was super excited for the game… until I played it and it sort of sucked. You see the problem is that the monsters scales with you as you level up. Meaning if you’re at level 20, the monsters are also at level 20… so it’s meaningless to level up. I want to feel powerful when I go back to Act 1, not struggling to fight a cockroach. Whoever made this scaling decision, you suck. There are no options to turn it off either, you’re just forced to play it this way.

On a bright note, looking forward to 2024, I will try to get into the Path of Exile 2 … even if it means paying to get in (this is a free game).