Why the Gayming Awards are important – a retrospective
2025 has been the year of Anti-DEI, lay-offs and defunding LGBTQIA+ programs and rights all over the world. Despite the feeling that what progress has been made over the years is regressing, one thing that constantly shines through the darkness is the tenacity of queer folks, our joy and our right to play.
The Gayming Awards is a night that celebrates that joy of play and our resistance to our erasure in the video game space. It’s been a month since the Gayming Awards 2025 premiered exclusively on WOW Presents Plus, and I want to highlight some of my personal favorite wins of the evening that brought me joy!
The Gayming Awards 2025 was full of joy and wins for geek media from indie games to the silver screen. As a co-host alongside DEERE, we served queer geek wins that highlighted exactly why our existence will always have space in the industry, starting with the Gayming Icon Award Winner, Rebecca Heineman.
Rebecca became a national champion by winning the first ever Space Invaders tournament hosted by Atari making headlines left and right. She is a self- taught programmer who has worked on franchises we know and love such as the Bard’s Tale, Wasteland, and Wolfenstein 3D. An inspiring quote Heineman says is that “I code so others can dream.” Queer gamers, developers and creatives stand on the shoulders of trailblazers like Rebecca Heineman, and it was an honor to present her with the Gayming Icon Award.
In among the aggressive, right winged, anti-DEI rhetoric occurring in parts of the games industry, there are organizations that are actively pushing against that while driving diversity in the global games industry. This year’s winner of the Industry Diversity Award went to Code Coven, the “first global accelerator and academy dedicated to forwarding opportunities for marginalized game developers at all levels”. Code Coven offers a myriad of programs such as an Introduction to Game Making, Sparks [a program to help tailor the skills of intermediate developers], Solstice [a mentoring and financial backing program], and many others. Code Coven is a worthy winner of the Gayming Magazine Industry Diversity Award.
The Community Impact Award, sponsored by Fireshine Games, went to Stream for a Cause, an organization revolutionizing the way the gaming community engages with charity. Stream for a Cause hosts many programs under four major pillars: Community Fund, Sustainable Futures, Pixel Care and Streamer Support. Their mission of responsible giving and amplifying gaming creatives and developers through showcases that highlight game makers that are making a difference.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard went through a tough development cycle, trying to deliver the essence of the Dragon Age series long time fans of the series would enjoy while simultaneously outdoing the last iteration Dragon Age: Inquisition. Several employees affiliated with Dragon Age: The Veilguard have also been laid off or left Bioware since the game’s launch, something of an unfortunate trend within the games industry over the last few years. Rook, the protagonist of Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the winner of the Best LGBTQ+ Character. Dragon Age: The Veilguard also faced much anti-DEI ‘backlash’ for simply being queer, which is odd because all Dragon Age games in the series are inherently queer. This win, as well as its win for Game of the Year, felt like a love letter to the Dragon Age series, showing that the majority of us still love the game, especially in the queer community.
My favorite category, the Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game, was won by Kitsune Tails from Kitsune Games and Midboss. Many great indie games were nominated this year, so I know this was a hard decision for the public and Judges to choose. Kitsune Tails is a platformer inspired by Japanese mythology as you play to untangle a love triangle and go on a journey of self discovery. During my playthrough while sometimes the game mechanics could be a bit wonky, the story was delightful and even funny at times. Often compared to Super Mario Bros. 3, Kitsune Tails is fun, vibrant and full of queer representation. Kitsune Games and Midboss knocked this title out of the park!
The incredible Erika Ishii took home the award for LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award. Starring in projects like Rune Factory 5, Date Everything!, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Ishii’s talents shine throughout the entertainment industry making them a force to be reckoned with. Ishii also is known for their appearances on role playing shows such as Dimension 20 and L.A. by Night. I myself am a personal fan of their work on Dimension 20 playing Dream.
The queen of the Jewelry Box, PearlTeese won LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year. This year’s nominees were in a tough race and I am proud of all of their accomplishments. PearlTeese is a mental health advocate, performer and variety creator who is not only hilarious, but creates a welcoming space online. Each ‘season’ PearlTeese nominates a Diamond of the Season, a community member who is highlighted in the Jewelry Box. PearlTeese is a wonderful creator and is extraordinarily kind. She is definitely a creator to keep your eye out for!
Last but certainly not least is the winner of the LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year Award – sponsored by My Nerd Life, Arcane Season 2 from Netflix. Arcane, based on the characters from Riot Games’ League of Legends, tells the story of Jinx and her Sister Vi, and their tumultuous relationship in a world that has seemingly rejected them both for different reasons. The growing desperation of the poor while the rich utopia that sits upon them are continuously at odds, and while some of the main core themes of socio-economic inequality, technological ethics and over policing of poor folk are at the forefront, queer representation is unapologetically shown throughout the series. Arcane is full of twists, turns, triumph and heartbreak. It is beautifully animated and voice acted. While the series has come to an end, Arcane winning the LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year Award is so deserved and was a giant highlight of the night. Congrats to Amanda Overton and their team!
The Gayming Awards broadcast this year exclusively on WOW Presents Plus and was a great collaboration between one of the leaders in queer media and Gayming, the major leader in gaming/geek queer media.
To host the Gayming Awards on WOW Presents Plus was an honor and to stand in the building where legends have walked while co-hosting with the amazing DEERE and playing games with Morgan McMichaels is an experience that’s tough to put into words. All of the nominees and winners are doing amazing work to uplift queer voices and keep queer representation in the forefront. All of your efforts show in the work you do and the protect you all provide to queer people. Thank you for all that you do!
This year’s Gayming Awards showcased queer joy, uplifted queer media and, through our existence, proved to anti-DEI knuckleheads that we are not going ANYWHERE! See you next year!
Watch the Gayming Awards 2025 now exclusively on WOW Presents Plus: wowpresentsplus.com/videos/gayming-awards-2025
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