Expedition 33 Fans are Furious with Hollow Knight: Silksong

Award season always brings strong reactions, especially when fan-favorite games go head-to-head for major honors. The Steam Awards are no exception, with their community-driven voting often sparking debate across social media once winners are revealed. This year’s Game of the Year category proved particularly divisive.

That tension came to a head after Hollow Knight: Silksong was announced as Steam’s Game of the Year, beating out Expedition 33. Many Expedition 33 fans had expected the game to continue its dominant awards-season momentum, and Silksong’s victory quickly led to frustration and backlash online. The response highlights how expectations spawned from prior wins can shape how players react to award outcomes.

Fans Thought Expedition 33 Was a Sure Thing for the Steam Awards

For much of its community, Expedition 33 felt like a guaranteed winner heading into the Steam Awards. The game had already secured major recognition elsewhere, including multiple high-profile Game of the Year wins (the Game of the Year award included), which created the sense that Steam’s vote would simply reinforce what had already been decided by the wider industry. Even outside the game’s community itself, word of mouth has spread massively on how impactful Expedition 33 has been in the industry, thus creating the expectation of yet another award landing right in its lap.

When that did not happen, and the Steam Game of the Year award was handed to Silksong instead, disappointment spread quickly across forums and social platforms. Some fans viewed the loss as a surprising upset, while others framed it as an industry-wide failure to properly recognize Expedition 33’s impact. The reaction was less about Silksong itself and more about how confident many players had become in Expedition 33’s perceived inevitability. Even so, Silksong has taken some flak among fans of Expedition 33 as a result of this situation.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong entered the Steam Awards with a different kind of momentum. Years of anticipation, combined with a highly dedicated fanbase, made it one of the most talked-about releases on the platform. That enthusiasm translated directly into Steam’s voting system, which relies entirely on player participation.

The game’s difficulty, polish, and long-awaited release helped it stand out during voting, even against a stacked lineup. For some Expedition 33 fans, this created the impression that hype and fan passion outweighed recent awards performance. Whether that is true or not, Silksong’s win shows how powerful a mobilized community can be in a fan-voted awards show.

Controversy and Community Drama Added Fuel

The situation was further complicated by ongoing discourse surrounding Expedition 33, with some of the conversation centered on its development approach and the wider debate over AI in game development. While these issues did not ultimately affect its eligibility for the Steam Awards, they remained part of the broader conversation surrounding the game, especially among more vocal online communities. Discussion on the official Steam forums for both games has intensified, with players frequently clashing over the result.

That context made the Steam Awards result feel more charged than usual. Instead of being seen as a straightforward win for Silksong, the outcome became a flashpoint for larger frustrations that had been building throughout award season. The backlash underscores how modern game awards often reflect community emotion as much as the games themselves.

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