The Gayming Awards took to our screens last night (April 24th) for the third time. In this post, we’re breaking down all of this year’s winners.
Streamed on Twitch, the awards opened with a performance of the Gayming Awards 2023 official theme, Stay Close to Me, performed by Bently Jones.
This year’s award show saw more category nominations opened to the public as the event continues its quest to support diversity in gaming. Kicking off the show was a speech highlighting representation within games and the industry itself in 2022 from Robin Gray, the award show host.
“2022 was an amazing year for LGBTQ gaming, with several AAA games featuring out and proud LGBTQ characters and storylines. An incredible amount of LGBTQ indie games were released that celebrate our diverse community.”
“It was also an incredibly important year for the growth of representation within our industry. Including several high profile coming out stories from the corporate world, the voice acting world, and the esports community.”
Video Game Representation Why It Matters
Some highlights from the 2023 Gayming Awards include Cult of the Lamb beating out Elden Ring, Arcade Spirits, and God of War: Ragnarök to take home the coveted Game of the Year trophy. Additionally, seven streamers entered into the LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’23, representing the next generation of LGBTQ streaming.
Authentic representation is incredibly important in gaming. I was a Teenage Exocolonist from Northway Games & Finji picked up this year’s Authentic Representation Award. The game sees players spend their teenage years on an alien planet as they explore, grow up, and fall in love. Over the next ten years, the choices you make and the skills you acquire will determine the course of your life and survival of your colony.
You can watch the entire show back on Gayming Magazine’s Twitch channel and check out the full list of categories and winners below.
Game of the Year Award
- WINNER: Cult of the Lamb – Devolver Digital & Massive Monster
- Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers – Pqube & Fiction Factory Games
- Elden Ring – FromSoftware & Bandai Namco
- God of War Ragnarök – SIE Santa Monica Studio
Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award – sponsored by Devolver Digital
- WINNER: Stray – Annapurna Interactive & Blue Twelve Studio
- Cult of the Lamb – Devolver Digital & Massive Monster
- Disney Dreamlight Valley – Gameloft
- Elden Ring – FromSoftware & Bandai Namco
- Ghostwire Tokyo – Bethesda Softworks
- Horizon Forbidden West – Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Tunic – Finji
- Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock
Gayming Icon Award – sponsored by Facebook Gaming
- WINNER: Ashly Burch
Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
- WINNER: Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock
- Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers – Pqube & Fiction Factory Games
- Butterfly Soup 2 – Brianna Lei
- SIGNALIS – rose-engine & Humble Games
- ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area – Veritable Joy
- We Are OFK – Team OFK
LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year Award – sponsored by Streamlabs
- WINNER: DragTrashly
- Espé Symoné
- Fox Queen
- Gothika Love
- HiDro
- Psoymilk
- Sammy M Jay
- SuperButterBuns
- Toph
- Willow
LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’23 – sponsored by Logitech G
- BetweenTwoGays (Jayce & Ryan)
- Blobarella
- itsOnlyVega
- MadiDuVernay
- Marisol Lords
- TheJustRyan
Authentic Representation Award
- WINNER: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist – Northway Games & Finji
- Saints Row – Deep Silver
- SIGNALIS – rose-engine & Humble Games
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Gearbox & 2K
- ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area – Veritable Joy
- We Are OFK – Team OFK
Best LGBTQ+ Character Award – sponsored by Rocksteady Studios
- WINNER: Lor – New Tales from the Borderlands – Gearbox & 2K
- Bones Three-Wood – Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Gearbox & 2K
- Bridget – Guilty Gear Strive – Arc System Works
- Catalyst – Apex Legends – Respawn & EA
- ELSTER – SIGNALIS – rose-engine & Humble Games
- Tara Wylde – Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock
Industry Diversity Award
- WINNER: GLITCH
- Code Coven
- GaymerX
- Girls Run These Worlds
- Qweerty Gamers
Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
- WINNER: XSET
- Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association
- Team Overture
- Valorant Game Changers
Best LGBTQ+ Tabletop Game of the Year Award
- WINNER: Adventuring with Pride – A Queero’s Journey – Jack Dixon
- Pathfinder Lost Omens – Paizo
- Pride Across the Multiverse – Wizards of the Coast
- Tower of the Soul – Awfully Queer Heroes
Best LGBTQ+ Comic Book Moment Award
- WINNER: Young Men in Love – Joe Glass and Matt Miner (editors) & A Wave Blue World
- Marvel’s Voices ICEMAN – Luciano Vecchio & Marvel Comics
- Rockstar and Softboy – Image Comics
- Superman: Son of Kal-El – DC Comics
Upcoming LGBTQ+ Games We’re Heckin’ Excited About
Did You Watch This Year’s Awards?
The 2023 Gaming Awards featured a whole host of incredible nominations. Make sure to let us know if you agree with this year’s winners and what LGBTQ+ inclusive games you’re looking forward to before nominations open for the 2024 Gayming Awards.
- 5 min read
Robert Mullane
Author
When not working, you'll find me in VR or losing in bottom-tier Valorant matches. I write about all topic's tech and gaming with a particular focus on representation in gaming, virtual reality, and LGBTQ+ themes. If you're still not fed up with me, you can also catch me over on the Overclockers UK TikTok and YouTube accounts.
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