Why Does ‘Steam: Year in Review’ Have To Call Me Out Like This?

Tis the season for many of the applications we spend so much time on to break down exactly how we’ve used this time. While the most culturally discussed breakdowns probably come from Goodreads and Spotify, I look forward to my Steam Year in Review.

In 2022 (if not earlier) the digital game store released its now-annual Steam Year in Review. Here, Steam shares some stats with players and compares their activity against user averages. The infographic tracks online activity starting from January 1 through December 14. While this wrap-up includes time on Steam’s handheld console (the Steam deck), it doesn’t include everything. For example, non-game applications (like software tools) don’t appear in your stats.

This year was a big year for me, since I played more than the same handful of games and genres. Sure, my favorite simulators, strategy games (Civilization 5), and first-person shooters (Apex Legends and CS:GO … “Counter Strike 2“) took up a lot of space. However, a lot of new, mostly out-of-my-comfort-zone games dominated my time. This includes a 25-day play streak on Baldur’s Gate 3 from August 2 to the 28. As of writing, my play time now sits at more than 385 hours over 10 months.

Despite my wide and varied interests, when it comes to games I play, the same few will be a key feature of my personality for one to three years. Once I realized this was the case with BG3, I apologized to my partner—who was smug because he recommended it and I fought a lot against trying this game—in advance for the non-stop BG3 memes, art, news, and more coming his way. Despite my love for fantasy, I didn’t play single-player stories or RPGs. Like with many others, BG3 changed that.

Steam roasts some Baldur’s Gate 3 Players

My obsession with BG3 wasn’t just apparent in the stats. Steam’s writers decided to roast me, too. Above the graph showing BG3 stats, they added, “If you said you spent all that time in Act One, we’d believe you.” First of all … yes a lot of time was spent in Act 1. I trekked across this section twice in the spring during early access, and twice in the fall once BG3 fully released. And I’ll do it again for my evil-run—once I finish! (I have massive story FOMO and am still working my way through Act 3 in my solo and group game.)

After checking out friends’ year-end stats, I saw only one other person get this commentary. Of course, it was was someone in my BG3 party. Yes, we spent a lot of time in Act 1. Others on my friends list got tame remarks or nothing at all. Things like “[person] picked up this game for the first time and was immediately hooked.” Even beyond my BG3 section, the jabs continued.

While waiting for the full release of the game to, I tried Larian’s previous critically acclaimed game, Divinity: Original Sin II. To that game, Steam writers added, “Did your love of Baldur’s Gate 3 make you check this out? Or were you a fan from the beginning?” Again, it’s hard to argue with a read like that. It’s true. They just didn’t have to call me out like that!

DOS2 helped put Larian Studios on the map and also got Dungeons and Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast’s attention for BG3. Despite recommending the game in a BG3 gift idea list, I didn’t get far in it. BG3 had spoiled me too much, which mostly stemmed from the fact that I couldn’t push people off cliffs in DOS2. While I don’t do that anymore (because it makes looting near impossible), when I was just starting, I did this all the time.

I plan on returning to DOS2 one day, now that I’m more familiar with computer RPGs. And when I do, I’ll be bracing myself for the writers at Steam and their snarky end-of-year remarks.

(featured image: screencap from Larian Studios/ Alyssa Shotwell)