Gayming Awards 2023: Here are the nominees!

December 22, 2022 Queer Forty Staff 6 min read

Nominations have been revealed for the Gayming Awards 2023, presented by Logitech G & Streamlabs, with Wylde Flowers, the Borderlands franchise, SIGNALIS, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, Cult of the Lamb, and ValiDate: Struggling Singles in Your Area leading the way with multiple nominations across the 12 categories.

Four games have been nominated in the prestigious Game of the Year category, including Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, Cult of the Lamb, Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök. While Cult of the Lamb, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Elden Ring, Ghostwire Tokyo, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, Tunic and Wylde Flowers have been nominated by the public for the Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award, sponsored by Devolver Digital.

Other categories include Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game — celebrating passionate work in the indie space — with games such as ValiDate: Struggling Singles in Your Area, Wylde Flowers, and We Are OFK nominated, as well as Best LGBTQ+ Character, sponsored by Rocksteady Studios, with nominations such as Catalyst from Apex Legends, Lor from New Tales from the Borderlands, and Bridget from Guilty Gear Strive.

Alongside games, the Industry Diversity Award acknowledges LGBTQ+ contribution to improving the industry with Code Coven, GaymerX, Girls Run These Worlds, GLITCH and Qweerty Gamers being nominated for their work.

Similarly, in the esports space, Team Overture, XSET, Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA) and Valorant Game Changers are all nominated in the LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award.

In the world of streaming, 10 LGBTQ+ streamers have been nominated with an amazingly diverse roster of content creators from around the world getting the nod ahead of a public vote for LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year, sponsored by Streamlabs.

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.
Robin Gray – Founder of the Gayming Awards

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. Opportunities remain for companies to benefit from this unique partnership – email ron@grayjonesmedia.com for more info.

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

Full List of Gayming Awards 2023 Nominees:

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
- psoymilk
- 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