The winners of the Gayming Awards 2022 have been announced, with Life is Strange: True Colors beating out Boyfriend Dungeon, Psychonauts, and Unpacking to win Game of the Year.
The winners of the first ever live Gayming Awards were announced via a stream from the Troxy Theater in London on April 25. The biggest winner of the night was Life is Strange: True Colors, which triumphed in all three categories that it was nominated in, comprising Game of the Year, Authentic Representation, and Best LGBTQ Character.
In total, there were 11 categories honoring a selection of video games, tabletop games, comic books, and esports players that have championed diversity and inclusivity globally in 2022. Additionally, Tanya DePass picked up the Gayming Icon Award in recognition of the positive impact that the author and activist has brought to the LGBTQ community within gaming.
Prior to the event, Gayming Magazine also inducted six streamers into its Rising Star Class, which is new for 2022. The streamers were chosen to be part of this prestigious new class because they have all “made incredible strides in their streaming career over the last year and have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ world within the gaming space.”
“It was such an honor to celebrate these amazing creatives tonight,” said Robin Gray, CEO and founder of Gayming Magazine and the Gayming Awards, which initially launched in 2021 as an online event. “In our second year of the awards, it was important for us to again recognize all the LGBTQ representation in game and in the industry.”
The full list of winners from the Gayming Awards 2022 follows:
Game of the Year
- Life is Strange: True Colors – WINNER
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Psychonauts
- Unpacking
Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award
- Resident Evil Village – WINNER
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Forza Horizon 5
- Metroid Dread
- Sable
- Shin Megami Tensei V
- Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
- The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Industry Diversity Award
- Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame pledge – WINNER
- I Need Diverse Games
- London Gaymers
- Women in Games International
Authentic Representation Award
- Life is Strange: True Colors – WINNER
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Unpacking
- Unsighted
Best LGBTQ Character Award
- Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors – WINNER
- Helmut Fullbear & Bob Zanotto, Psychonauts 2
- Steph Gingrich, Life is Strange: True Colors
- Meredith Weiss, Lake
Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award
- Unpacking – WINNER
- A Year Of Springs
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Lake
- Sword of the Necromancer
- When The Night Comes
LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’22
- ItsMeHollyy
- Cruuuunchy
- CoderGirlChan
- LuciaEverblack
- Luke_Boogie
- Trish Olson
LGBTQ Streamer of the Year
- Aimsey – WINNER
- BlizzB3ar
- CriticalBard
- Eevoh
- Eret
- Nihachu
- ReadySetBen
- RekItRaven
- Sammy M Jay
- Shaaba and Jamie
- Shawn
- Toph
Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment
- The Pride Omnibus – WINNER
- DC Pride #1
- Killer Queens
- X-Factor #10
LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award
- Adventuring With Pride: Queer We Go Again – WINNER
- The House Doesn’t Always Win
- Thirsty Sword Lesbians
- Wanderhome
Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports
- Emi “CaptainFluke” Donaldson – WINNER
- Amanda Stevens
- Cloud9 White Valorant Team
- Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association [CMSA]
If you’d like to find out more about Gayming Awards’ Game of the Year for 2022, check out IGN’s review of Life is Strange: True Colors, which praised Deck Nine for creating “the best game in the series to date,” thanks to “consistent writing for both main and side characters, a compelling mystery story with good pacing, useful supernatural abilities,” and so much more.
Another game will take the coveted top spot in the Game of the Year category when the show returns in early 2023, with the ceremony moving stateside to New York City for Gayming Awards 2023: Live on Broadway. Tickets are also still available for Gayming LIVE, with a 30% discount applied to all ticket purchases using the ‘GaymingAwards’ code up until April 29.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.