The nominations are open now, and the final votes will take place alongside a winter sale in December.

Valve is pairing the awards announcement with the start of its annual Autumn Sale, which runs from now through November 29th at 1PM Eastern. There are many, many games on sale (12,841, to be exact), but there are some highlights. Games in the Batman, Civilization, Elder Scrolls, Far Cry, Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause and Street Fighter franchises are all on sale, with discounts ranging from 10 percent to 92 percent -- most of those we've mentioned are over 50 percent. If you're not sure who to nominate for the awards, you'll at least have an excuse to buy some of the candidates.