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Gayming Magazine

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Gayming Magazine
EditorRobin Gray
CategoriesVideo games
LGBTQ culture
PublisherGray Jones Media Ltd
FounderRobin Gray
Founded2019
First issueJune 2019 (2019-6)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Websitegaymingmag.com
Gayming Magazine full logo

Gayming Magazine is a British online LGBTQ video gaming magazine. The first video gaming website dedicated to the LGBTQ community, the site was launched in June 2019 with the aim of connecting the LGBTQ and video gaming communities, and has launched virtual Pride events. In 2021, the magazine hosted the world's first LGBTQ+ gaming awards ceremony, Gayming Awards.

Gayming Magazine debuted its event Gayming LIVE Online in 2022,[1] which aims to bring video games, drag artists and queer culture under one virtual roof.

History

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Gayming Magazine was revealed at the London Games Festival in April 2019.[2] According to founder Robin Gray, the LGBTQ+ community had been a niche of the video gaming community, and they wanted to celebrate that and bring the two communities closer together.[2] The site was launched in June.[3] In September, the site was nominated for a Women in Games Advocacy award.[4] A live event, Gayming Live, was run between 30 September and 5 October, which featured LGBTQ+ gaming artists and journalists, and writers from Fusebox Games offered writing tips.[3] Within its first year it was reported to have a readership of 17,000.[5]

During Summer 2020, Gayming Magazine hosted DIGIPRIDE 2020, a digital Pride event, emphasising the importance of getting through the COVID-19 pandemic and noting that normal Pride events were being cancelled.[6] DIGIPRIDE then became an annual staple for the next 4 years. The site was nominated for another Women in Games award in September 2020.[7]

Gayming LIVE was an online convention concept launched in 2022 and held subsequently in 2023 and 2024. Each year saw a multi-day program of streamed events hosted by famous faces. The convention remained popular with audiences, bringing in millions of views and provided important community connections to the global gaming audience. The concept was retired in 2024 as a result in the downturn of the gaming economy and a withdrawal of key sponsorships.

Gayming Awards

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Gayming Awards 2021

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In July 2020, Gayming Magazine hosted the world's first LGBTQ+ gaming awards ceremony, Gayming Awards.[8] Presented by Electronic Arts (EA), the awards were supported by The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment. The first ceremony was held virtually in February 2021 and hosted by Suzi Ruffell.[8] The panel of judges consisted of more than twenty LGBTQ people,[9] though the public voted on the Best LGBTQ+ Streamer and Gayming Magazine Readers’ Awards categories.[10] Voting took place in November and December 2020,[10] with all games released in 2020 being eligible.[8]

The full list of winners[11] of the Gayming Awards 2021 are as follows:

The digital-only ceremony was watched by over 150,000 unique viewers around the world, making it the largest LGBTQ+ event on Twitch over the past year.[12]

Gayming Awards 2022

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The Gayming Awards, presented by Twitch, returned in-person in April 2022, hosted by Julia Hardy.[13] As before, the ceremony was live streamed on Twitch and IGN and was watched by over 320,000 people in 97 countries.

2022 saw a new LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Award, as well as categories in comic books, esports and tabletop games.

The full list of winners of the Gayming Awards 2022 are as follows:[14]

  • Game of the Year: Life Is Strange: True Colors
  • Gayming Icon Award: Tanya DePass
  • Gayming Magazine Readers' Award: Resident Evil Village
  • Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award: Unpacking
  • Industry Diversity Award: Ukie's #RaiseTheGame pledge
  • LGBTQ Streamer of the Year: Aimsey
  • Best LGBTQ Character Award: Alex Chen, Life Is Strange: True Colors
  • Authentic Representation Award: Life Is Strange: True Colors
  • LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of '22: It's Me Holly, cruuuunchy, CoderGirlChan, AwkwardishPanda, LuciaEverblack and Luke_Boogie
  • Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports: Emi "CaptainFluke" Donaldson
  • LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award: Adventuring With Pride: Queer We Go Again
  • Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment: The Pride Omnibus – ComiXology / Dark Horse Comics

The 2022 Awards were also supported by: CeX, Green Man Gaming, Bandai Namco, Space Ape Games, UKIE, German Games Industry Association, Out Making Games and London Games Festival.[15]

Gayming Awards 2023

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The Gayming Awards, presented by Logitech G & Streamlabs, returned in 2023 in a pre-recorded format from New York City.[16] The ceremony was broadcast on Twitch and IGN with over 525,000 watching live. The whole campaign reached over 1.5 million people from around the world and achieved press coverage in IGN, VentureBeat, Pocket Gamer and more.

The full list of winners of the Gayming Awards 2023 are as follows:[17]

  • Game of the Year: Cult of the Lamb
  • Gayming Icon Award: Ashly Burch
  • Gayming Magazine Readers' Award: Stray
  • Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award: Wylde Flowers
  • Industry Diversity Award: GLITCH
  • LGBTQ Streamer of the Year: DragTrashly
  • Best LGBTQ Character Award: Lor, New Tales from the Borderlands
  • Authentic Representation Award: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
  • LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of '23: BetweenTwoGays (Jayce & Ryan), Blobarella, itsOnlyVega, MadiDuVernay, Marisol Lords, TheJustRyan
  • Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports: XSET
  • LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award: Adventuring with Pride – A Queero’s Journey
  • Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment: Young Men in Love – A Wave Blue World

The 2023 Awards were sponsored by Facebook Gaming, Devolver Digital, Rocksteady, Gilead Sciences, RedBull, Sumo Group, Twitch, Keywords Studios and TikTok.

Gayming Awards 2024

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The Gayming Awards returned in 2024 in a new pre-recorded virtual format broadcast on IGN as part of their Summer of Gaming, alongside live broadcasts on Twitch and TikTok.

The 2024 Awards saw a 200% increase in viewership with over 1.6 million people watching live or through TikTok clips. The whole campaign reached over 13 million people from around the world and achieved press coverage in IGN, VentureBeat, Forbes, Eurogamer and more.

The show was hosted by DEERE and MiladyConfetti, and produced by the creative powerhouse of Nathan Noyes and Ian Devoglaer (The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula) . In addition to the main broadcast, there was also a Spanish language co-stream on TikTok and a captioned stream on YouTube, both greatly increasing the accessibility of the Gayming Awards.

The full list of winners of the Gayming Awards 2024 are as follows:[18]

  • Game of the Year: Baldur's Gate 3
  • Gayming Icon Award: Jeremy Crawford
  • Gayming Magazine Readers' Award: Baldur's Gate 3
  • Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award: Thirsty Suitors
  • Industry Diversity Award: Latinx in Gaming
  • LGBTQ Streamer of the Year: SpringSims
  • Best LGBTQ Character Award: Shadowheart, Baldur's Gate 3
  • Authentic Representation Award: Thirsty Suitors
  • LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of '24: DEVOGLAER, PearlTeese, SimplyAretha, Sinarynn & Sukar Baba
  • Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports: Emma 'Emzii' Rose
  • LGBTQ Geek Entertainment Moment of the Year Award: The Last of Us: Long, Long Time

The 2024 Awards were sponsored by Devolver Digital, TikTok, Logitech, Humble Games and Zynga.

Gayming Awards 2025 logo - Gayming Awards 2025 is written in gold within a gold box. The box is on a black background with gold sparkles falling from the top.
Gayming Awards 2025 logo

Gayming Awards 2025

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The Gayming Awards are set to return in 2025 for their fifth year on July 8, 2025.[19] The Awards have been revealed to be broadcasting on the WOWPresentsPlus streaming service from World of Wonder, producers of the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise. Organizers claim that this move to a global streaming platform is a big step in "establish[ing] the Gayming Awards as a key cultural moment".[20]

To ensure that LGBTQ+ excellence can be celebrated across the whole video game world, the categories in the Awards have been reviewed and two new categories have been added: LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year and Community Impact Award.

In addition, the LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year category has been renamed as the LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year category to recognize the growth in non-live streaming content creators and their contributions to queer gaming.

The full 13 categories of the Gayming Awards 2025 are as follows:[21]

  • Game of the Year
  • Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award
  • Gayming Icon Award
  • Industry Diversity Award
  • Community Impact Award
  • Authentic Representation Award
  • Best LGBTQ+ Character Award
  • Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
  • LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award
  • LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year Award
  • LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class
  • Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
  • LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year Award

The launch of the 2025 Awards was the biggest one yet with major press coverage in Pride.com, Yahoo Tech, Forbes, VentureBeat, Bleeding Cool, Los Angeles Blade and more.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Gayming LIVE debuts in New York in 2022 - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b Natalie Clayton (16 April 2019). "Gayming Magazine is bringing queer perspectives to UK newsstands this June". PC Games Insider. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b Vikki Blake (13 September 2019). "Gayming Magazine launches new UK LGBTQ+ event, Gayming Live". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ Harry Cole (29 September 2019). "Interview with Robin Gray, Founder and Editor of Gayming Magazine". IND13. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. ^ Batchelor, James (12 September 2019). "Gayming Magazine to host week-long live event". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  6. ^ Stephany Nunneley (2 May 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host DIGIPRIDE 2020 online event this summer". VG247. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Gayming Magazine wins at Women In Games Global Awards - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Kayleigh Partleton (21 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host first ever Gayming Awards in February 2021". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  9. ^ Chris Penwell (25 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine Unveils The Gayming Awards". TheGamer. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  10. ^ a b Sam Desatoff (31 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host world's first LGBTQ games awards". GameDaily.biz. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  11. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (1 November 2021). "Gayming Awards 2021: All The Winners". IGN. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ Laws, Gemma (21 September 2021). "Gayming Awards returns April 2022 with new categories". The Indiependent. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Gayming Awards will return in 2022 with in-person event". NME. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ Hart, Aimee (26 April 2022). "Gayming Awards 2022 Winners Revealed". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Gayming Awards 2022 - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Gayming Awards 2023". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  17. ^ Hart, Aimee (24 April 2023). "Gayming Awards 2023 Winners Revealed". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  18. ^ "Gayming Awards 2024". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  19. ^ Gardner, Matt. "LGBTQ+ Gaming Awards Go Global With WOW Presents Plus Partnership". Forbes. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  20. ^ Takahashi, Dean (19 February 2025). "Gayming Awards 2025 to air on WOW Presents in fifth year". VentureBeat. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  21. ^ "Gayming Awards 2025". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2025.

Further reading

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