Gayming Awards 2023 Nominees Revealed

December 14, 2022

The Gayming Awards has finally revealed all of the nominees for 2023.

2023 has been a great year for LGBTQ+ gaming, with more games across a variety of genres pulling their weight in showing an authentic, fun queer experience. This year the Gayming Awards 2023 nominees are looking particularly indie, with Wylde Flowers and SIGNALIS leading the way with three nominations each.

The Gayming Awards have thrived since 2021, where we hosted the very first LGBTQ gaming awards ceremony and event. The Awards set out to celebrate and highlight the achievements within the global gaming culture that represent and champion the LGBTQ experience. In our first year, Hades from Supergiant Games took home the prize for several categories, such as Game of the Year and Gayming Magazine’s Reader Award. It was an event that y was watched by over 150,000 unique viewers around the world, becoming the largest LGBTQ+ event on Twitch that year.

Ever since we’ve returned to celebrate the incredible LGBTQ+ games and the people who make them, with more and more people supporting, sponsoring, and partnering us along the way. 2023 is no exception to this.

The full list of nominees for The Gayming Awards 2023 can be found below:

Game of the Year Award
– Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers – PQube & Fiction Factory Games
– Cult of the Lamb – Devolver Digital & Massive Monster
– Elden Ring – FromSoftware & Bandai Namco
– God of War Ragnarök – SIE Santa Monica Studio

Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award – sponsored by Devolver Digital
– 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
– Stray – Annapurna Interactive & Blue Twelve Studio
– Tunic – Finji
– Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock

Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
– 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
– Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock

LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year Award – sponsored by Streamlabs
– DragTrashly
– Espé Symoné
– Fox Queen
– Gothika Love
– HiDro
– opsoymilk
– Sammy M Jay
– SuperButterBuns
– Toph
– Willow

Authentic Representation Award
– I Was a Teenage Exoconologist – 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
– 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
– Lor – New Tales from the Borderlands – Gearbox & 2K
– Tara Wylde – Wylde Flowers – Studio Drydock

Industry Diversity Award
– Code Coven
– GaymerX
– Girls Run These Worlds
– GLITCH
– Qweerty Gamers

Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
– Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association
– Team Overture
– Valorant Game Changers
– XSET

Best LGBTQ+ Tabletop Game of the Year Award
– 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
– Marvel’s Voices ICEMAN – Luciano Vecchio & Marvel Comics
– Rockstar and Softboy – Image Comics
– Superman: Son of Kal-El – DC Comics
– Young Men in Love – Joe Glass and Matt Miner (editors) & A Wave New World

LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’23 – sponsored by Logitech G
– To be revealed in 2023

Gayming Icon Award – sponsored by Facebook Gaming
– To be revealed in 2023

The winners of two categories, Gayming Icon, sponsored by Facebook Gaming, and the LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Stars, sponsored by Logitech G, will be revealed in April ahead of the Awards.

Robin Gray, our founder and the founnder of the Gayming Awards said: “I’m thrilled by the amazing line up of nominees this year. It’s a real testament to the work in the LGBTQ+ indie game space that two of the three games leading the way with nominations this year are indies. I also love the amount of diversity on show from trans-led stories, impactful characters, and developers from all around the world. A huge congratulations to everyone and I can’t wait to see who takes home the Awards in April.”

The Gayming Awards makes its Broadway debut this April in New York City, with a date to be confirmed when tickets go on sale in late January. The show will also be streaming globally through the Awards’ official broadcast partners Twitch (twitch.tv/gaymingmag) and IGN. For the first time, the Gayming Awards After Show will broadcast live immediately after the main show with special guests on stream unpacking the results alongside some big surprises and exclusives!

Supporters for the Awards include Sumo Digital, Keywords Studios, Twitch, the German Games Industry Association, Out Making Games, GGP: Gay Gaming Professionals, and NYC Gaymers, with further sponsors to be revealed.

Public voting is now OPEN for the Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award and LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year categories. Head on over to GAYMINGMAG.COM/VOTE23 to cast your votes!