Gayming Awards 2022 Official Nominees Revealed

February 6, 2022

The Gayming Awards, the first and only global award ceremony celebrating LGBTQ+ video gaming, just announced the nominees for the 2022 Awards live on their Twitch channel. The Gayming Awards also revealed as well as being streamed, the award show will be held in-person on April 25, 2022, at the Troxy Theatre, London.

Previously it was announced that Julia Hardy, one of the most renowned and respected hosts in the world of video games, will host the evening.

Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural awards, the categories for this year’s Gayming Awards have been expanded to include further elements of geek culture, by introducing awards for Comic Books, Esports and Tabletop Gaming. Much like last year, the judge’s have had a tough challenge shortlisting the nominations.

Here are the official nominees for the Gayming Awards 2022:

Game of the Year – Sponsored by PlayStation

Boyfriend Dungeon – Kitfox Games
Life is Strange True Colors – Deck Nine/Square Enix
Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios
Unpacking – Witch Beam and Humble Games

Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award – Sponsored by EA

This award celebrates Gayming Magazine readers’ favourite game of 2021

Boyfriend Dungeon – Kitfox Games
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Metroid Dread – MercurySteam/Nintendo
Resident Evil Village – Capcom
Sable – Shedworks/Raw Fury
Shin Megami Tensei V – SEGA
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/SEGA
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles – Capcom

Industry Diversity Award – Sponsored by Hangar 13 & 2K Games

This award celebrates an organisation or person who has done a significant amount of work in promoting, developing and championing diversity in the global games industry.

I Need Diverse Games
London Gaymers
Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame pledge
Women in Games International

Authentic Representation Award – Sponsored by Marvelous Europe

This award recognises the best example of authentic LGBTQ representation in a game.

Boyfriend Dungeon – Kitfox Games
Life is Strange: True Colours – Deck Nine/Square Enix
Unpacking – Witch Beam and Humble Games
Unsighted – Studio Pixel Punk and Humble Games

Best LGBTQ Character Award – Sponsored by Rocksteady

This award recognises the best LGBTQ character (playable or significant NPC) in a game.

Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors – Deck Nine/Square Enix
Helmut Fullbear & Bob Zanotto, Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios
Steph Gingrich, Life is Strange: True Colors – Deck Nine/Square Enix
Meredith Weiss, Lake – Gamious/Whitethorn Digital

Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award – Sponsored by Xbox

This award acknowledges the best indie game made by an independent developer which is focussed on telling an LGBTQ story, or heavily features an LGBTQ element.

A YEAR OF SPRINGS – NPCKC
Boyfriend Dungeon -Kitfox
Lake – Gamious/Whitethorn Digital
Sword of the Necromancer – Grimorio of Games
Unpacking – Witch Beam and Humble Games
When The Night Comes – Lunaris Games

LGBTQ Streamer of the Year Award – Sponsored by Twitch

This award is for the most popular LGBTQ streamer, as chosen by the watching public.

LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Award – Sponsored by Twitch

This award is to celebrate the success of a rising star of LGBTQ streaming.

Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment – Sponsored by Square Enix London Mobile

This award recognises the best LGBTQ moment in a comic book in 2021.

DC Pride #1 – DC Comics
Killer Queens – David Booher / Dark Horse Comics
The Pride Omnibus – ComiXology/Dark Horse Comics
X-Factor #10 – Leah Williams / Marvel

LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award

This award recognises the best tabletop game with LGBTQ themes.

Adventuring With Pride: Queer We Go Again – Jack Dixon
The House Doesn’t Always Win – Michael ‘Wheels’ Whelan
Thirsty Sword Lesbians – Evil Hat Productions
Wanderhome – Possum Creek Games

Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports

This award recognises the contribution of a person or organisation who has done a significant amount of work in promoting, developing and championing diversity in esports.

Amanda Stevens
Cloud9 White Valorant Team
Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association [CMSA]
Emi “CaptainFluke” Donaldson

The Gayming Icon Award, sponsored by Facebook Gaming, recognizes the important contribution of an LGBTQ figure to the global games industry and to the visibility of the LGBTQ community. The recipient of this Award will be revealed exclusively ahead of the Awards.

“This year’s lineup of games and nominees is hugely iconic and inspiring. It’s awesome to see how much LGBTQ representation there is in games and in the industry. I’m super excited to gather together and celebrate this amazing group of people and reveal the winners!” – Robin Gray, founder of Gayming Magazine.

Nominees, sponsors and industry notables will walk the red carpet, sponsored by video game publisher Devolver Digital, and after the show will keep the party going by celebrating queer video game excellence at the Electric Square/Keywords After Party. The winners will celebrate on the night in the Cooler Master Winner’s Lounge, sponsored by leading PC hardware manufacturer, Cooler Master.

The Gayming Awards will feature an in-person exclusive nerdy drag pre-show featuring London’s iconic Cybil’s House starring Cybil War, Aubrey Wodonga, RhyssPieces, Lolo Brow and Shardeazy Afrodesiak. Gaymers can snatch up a limited number of general admission tickets to come and see this exclusive show and experience the Gayming Awards live at the Troxy. Tickets to go on sale on Tuesday 8 February, head to gaymingawards.com to grab one!

Nominees for the majority of award categories were decided upon by a global panel of LGBTQ+ judges. Voting is now open for the two public categories, LGBTQ Streamer of the Year, sponsored by Twitch, and Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award, sponsored by EA. To find out more, head to the special Gayming Awards section on our Website.

Voting will close on 22nd February. To stay up to date with voting and ticketing follow the Gayming Magazine Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages.