Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Gayming Awards 2024

Now in its fourth year, the Gayming Awards, the world’s only LGBTQ video game award show, aired on June 25th, 2024, as part of IGN’s Summer of Gaming, hosted by DEERE and MiladyConfetti.

Categories

Game of the Year 

The Game of the Year Award celebrates the best game released in 2023, as chosen by our diverse panel of judges. 

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios – WINNER
  • Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
  • Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
  • Thirsty Suitors – Outerloop Games / Annapurna Interactive 
  • Spider-Man 2 – Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment 
  • Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Summerfall Studios / Humble Games

The nominees and winner of this category are chosen by the Gayming Staff.

Gayming Magazine Readers Award – sponsored by Devolver Digital

This award celebrates Gayming Magazine readers’ favourite game of 2023.

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios – WINNER
  • Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
  • Goodbye Volcano High – KO_OP
  • Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo 
  • Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive 
  • This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by Gayming Staff, and the winner chosen by public vote.

Best LGBTQ Indie Game – powered by TikTok

Indie games allow more personal and diverse stories to be told, yet regularly are overlooked for awards. 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. 

For the purposes of this award, we define an ‘indie game’ as a game developed by an independent developer who is an individual or small group that is not owned by another company that makes games.

All six official nominees will benefit from mentorships and ad credits from TikTok.

  • Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games
  • In Stars and Time – insertdisc5
  • Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Summerfall Studios / Humble Games
  • Tchia – Awaceb / Kelper Interactive
  • Thirsty Suitors – Outerloop Games / Annapurna Interactive – WINNER
  • This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner chosen by our judging panel.

LGBTQ Streamer of the Year

Streaming is one of the great new entertainment frontiers and LGBTQ streamers play a huge part in bringing together communities of likeminded people. This award is for the most popular LGBTQ streamer, as chosen by the watching public.  

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by Gayming Staff, and the winner chosen by both public vote and our judging panel.

Authentic Representation Award 

Authentic representation of the LGBTQ experience is an important part of the modern entertainment world. This award recognises the best example of authentic LGBTQ representation in a game. 

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
  • Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games 
  • The Sims 4 – Maxis / EA Games 
  • The Expanse: A Telltale Series – Telltale Games / Deck Nine
  • Thirsty Suitors – Outerloop Games / Annapurna Interactive – WINNER
  • This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner chosen by our judging panel.

Best LGBTQ Character

The inclusion of LGBTQ characters in games is hugely important and can be a bold step for visibility. This award recognises the best LGBTQ character (playable or significant NPC) in a game. 

  • Aloy – Horizon Forbidden West
  • Dame Aylin – Baldur’s Gate 3
  • Dion Lesage – Final Fantasy XVI 
  • Jala – Thirsty Suitors 
  • Shadowheart – Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
  • Tchia – Tchia

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner chosen by public vote.

Industry Diversity Award 

Greater diversity in the games industry makes for greater diversity in games. This award celebrates the organisation who has done a significant amount of work in promoting, developing and championing diversity in the global games industry. 

  • Humble Games 
  • Larian Studios
  • Latinx In Gaming – WINNER
  • Qweerty Gamers 
  • Roll7 
  • Women In Games International

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner chosen by our judging panel.

Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports Award

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.

  • Bailey McCann
  • Bethany “Indyburgh” Pyles 
  • Cora Kennedy 
  • Emma “Emzii” Rose – WINNER
  • Slaypex & Kylie Gabor 

The nominees of this category are provided by the public, shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner chosen by our judging panel.

LGBTQ Geek Entertainment Moment of the Year Award

This award celebrates the best queer moment in geeky TV or movies from this past year.

  • Doctor Who: The Star Beast – Bad Wolf & BBC Studios
  • Harley Quinn – DC Studios & Warner Brothers Animation
  • Nimona – Netflix & Annapurna Pictures
  • Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – Netflix
  • The Last of Us: Long, Long Time: HBO – WINNER
  • The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 2 – Amazon Studios & Critical Role

The nominees of this category are chosen by the Gayming Staff and the winner is chosen by public vote.

Gayming Icon Award

The Gayming Icon award is given to an individual that has significantly contributed towards furthering the status and increasing the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in the gaming industry. 

Gayming Magazine is honored to reveal that Jeremy Crawford is named Gayming Icon 2024. Jeremy is the lead rules designer of Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. You can find out more about him here.

The winner of this category is chosen by the Gayming Staff.

LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’24 – sponsored by Logitech G

The Gayming Awards Rising Star Class of 2024 consists of five streamers, all of which have made incredible strides in their streaming career over the last year and have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ world within the gaming space.

The Class of ’24 is:

Find out more about the class here.

The winners of this category are selected by the Gayming Ambassadors and Judges.

Sponsors

The Gayming Awards are proudly sponsored by:

Supporters

The Gayming Awards are proudly supported by:

More Information

PRESS INQUIRIES: To schedule interviews with key talent, or to find out more about the stories available, please contact press@grayjonesmedia.com