Bots winning The Game Awards Steam Deck prize? Here's what you need to know

‘The Game Awards’ is one of the most important awards events in the video game industry. During this, the work of the developers of the best games of each year is recognized.

The Game Awards 2022 is taking place, and this time it brought an ‘extra’ for the players. During the event, many Steam Deck consoles are being raffled between those who are watching it via streaming.

However, user complaints began to surface about bots reportedly winning The Game Awards Steam Deck prize instead of legitimate users. Here’s what you need to know about the situation.

Multiple users noticed some strange things during the awarding of the winners of The Game Awards Steam Deck prize. Apparently, multiple clues indicated that some winning profiles were actually bots.

If you’re a bot watching the Game Awards on Steam, congrats on winning a new Steam Deck!
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What’s up with the steam deck giveaways? Is steam masking winners or are these bots #TheGameAwards
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This situation would not be something strange, since in the process of reserving products with limited quantities and awards, the hated bots usually appear looking to ‘steal the loot’.

Suspicions arose because multiple winning profiles did not have a conventional name. They appeared on the screen as a simple combination of many numbers, which is usually common in bot profiles.

However, does this mean that bots are winning The Game Awards Steam Deck prize? It seems that this is not the case, at least in most of the winners.

Apparently, everything is due to a limitation in the UI when displaying the names of the winners. Due to the high demand on the servers for elements to be loaded, the system first generates a numerical 64-bit ID instead of the nick.

When there are too many page loads / Users the ID is generated before the User Name is resolved.

Nothing fishy. No-One worry.
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This problem (numerical IDs replacing the nickname temporarily) also occurs in forums when there are server problems. Taking into account the massive interest in the event, it is normal for this type of situation to occur.

Some users say that the name will be displayed correctly if you refresh the page. Also, others say that names are displayed correctly if you watch the event from a mobile device.

So, while we can’t assure that The Game Awards is completely free of bots looking to get the Steam Deck prize, it seems that most of the awarded users so far are legit.

Featured Image: Game Awards

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