Gayming Awards 2023: Authentic Representation Award
With the Gayming Awards 2023 Broadway debut in New York set to wow and dazzle on April 18 there isn’t a better time to explore the award show’s many categories and the nominees that have been chosen?
For the Gayming Awards 2023: Authentic Representation Award, we look at video games that have authentically represented the LGBTQ experience, and recognize its importance within the modern entertainment world.
For this year’s line-up we’ve got a range of different genres, from galaxy-hopping sci-fi tales of woe and teenage spirit, to returning to the world of Saints Row and its badass gangsters with hearts of gold. No matter what you’re looking for, our nominees are eager to provide!
To celebrate the Gayming Awards 2023, check out all our nominees voted in by the public and our judges below.
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games & Finji)
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is an interactive, narrative adventure game that combines point and click mechanics with visual novel elements, and light deckbuilding. In it, you play as a 10-year-old child who travels to the new and exciting world of Vertumna after 20 years aboard a space ship.
As you and your friends continue to grow older and try to uncover the complexities and mystery of the planet Vertumna, your bonds will also continue to develop depending on your choices. You can grow closer to people, become enemies, and even fall in love. All that matters is the choices you make.
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist has been described as “funny, heartfelt and completely devastating” and “the greatest game of 2022”.
Saints Row (Deep Silver)
Saints Row (2022) is a reboot of the wacky, hilarious Saints Row series. Instead of following the adventures of The Boss, Johnny Gat, Shaundi, and Pierce Washington again, players are introduced to a new boss, world and cast of characters – some of which who are more than proud to wave the rainbow flag.
However, after a job goes wrong, The Boss and their crew turn to a new venture: sitting at the top of the food chain. This means making themselves into a household name and earning power, money and respect while fighting off rival gangs and the police.
The world and characters of Saints Row (2022) brings a new modern look to the series, one that has earned the Saints a new lease of life in the gaming world.
SIGNALIS (rose-engine & Humble Games)
A game described as being about “devotion in the most unimaginably hostile circumstances,” SIGNALIS from rose-engine & Humble Games follows Elster, a Replika, that goes through horror after horror in order to keep their promise to their gestalt, Arianne Yeong.
In her efforts to find and honour Arianne, Elster will have to overcome some significant hurdles, all while repairing herself along the way – something which one fan described as a “testament to the story’s unique and subtle display of love’s endurance.”
A tragic sci-fi horror that’ll have you on the edge of your seat, SIGNALIS looks to explore the emotional depth of the main character’s plight through the gritty lens of a dystopian future
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (Gearbox & 2K)
Now here’s a game that knows how to slay! The ultra-queer world of Borderlands earned its very own spin-off with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
In this epic high fantasy take on the looter shooter genre, players can create and customize their own multiclass heroes as they loot, shoot, slash, and cast their way through outlandish monsters and treasure-filled dungeons on a quest to stop the tyrannical Dragon Lord.
Ashly Burch returns to voice Tiny Tina, alongside an all-star cast including Andy Samberg as Captain Valentine, Wanda Sykes as Frette the robot, and Will Arnett as the evil Dragon Lord.
ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area (Veritable Joy)
ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area from developers Veritable Joy Studios is a well-constructed dating sim that focuses on – and is created – by LGBTQ+ people of colour. Currently there is only one volume, but more volumes are planned to release sometime in the future.
ValiDate is also one of the most authentic dating sims that we’ve ever played, with self-aware humour and emotional moments of glaring clarity that speaks to the heart.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry but as one of the public described “you’ll leave the game wishing you could spend just a a little more time with these great characters.”
We Are OFK (Team OFK)
We Are OFK is a music biopic and an interactive EP series that takes place over 5 episodes. Each episode follows four different characters as they fight to not only create the music and art that speaks to them, but survive – all while living in the City of Angels, Los Angeles.
A cinematic, narrative-heavy game that touches on queer friendships and relationships, as well as trying to survive under the crushing weight of capitalism. Alongside the use of text, players are given the opportunity to create music videos directly related to the band’s songs.
We Are OFK’s love of music and creativity, and the struggle it is to create authentically while trying to live day-to-day, is what makes up the game’s heart.
Gayming Awards 2023 Sponsors
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Gayming Awards 2023 Supporters
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