The nominees for the Gayming Awards 2025 have been revealed, with an array of games celebrated for their representation of LGBTQ+ people. Each year, the annual awards show aims to elevate LGBTQ+ stories within media, highlighting the work of AAA and indie developers around the world.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been nominated across a range of categories this year, with Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Dragon’s Dogma 2, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Fear the Spotlight, and Caravan SandWitch all receiving two nominations each.
Several companies, including Blizzard Entertainment and Rare, have also been nominated for the Industry Diversity award, which “acknowledges positive contributions to increasing diversity in the global games industry.”
Read: Paper Mario gets GLAAD Media Award nomination
“We have an amazingly diverse roster of nominees for this year’s Gayming Awards,” Robin Gray, Gayming Magazine & Gayming Awards Founder said in a press release. “From AAA games to impactful LGBTQ+ indie games, there’s truly something for everyone to enjoy. Outside of the games themselves, we have an amazing line up of companies, people and community orgs who have all done amazing work over the past year to support, uplift and champion LGBTQ+ gamers, esports players and games industry workers.”
Public voting for four of the 12 categories is now open to the public. The awards themselves will take place on 8 July 2025, with a live stream aired on WOW Presents Plus.
Here’s the full list of nominees for the 2025 Gayming Awards.
2025 Gayming Awards: Full list of nominees
GAME OF THE YEAR
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Bioware / EA
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 – Capcom
- Fear the Spotlight – Cozy Game Pals / Blumhouse Games
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure – Deck Nine / Square Enix
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Intelligent Systems /
Nintendo - The Last of Us Part II Remastered – Naughty Dog / PlayStation
GAYMING MAGAZINE READERS’ AWARD
- Caravan SandWitch – Studio Plane Toast / Dear Villagers
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Bioware / EA
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 – Capcom
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Square Enix
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure – Deck Nine / Square Enix
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered – Naughty Dog / PlayStation
INDUSTRY DIVERSITY AWARD
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Code Coven
- Limit Break
- Rare
COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD (SPONSORED BY FIRESHINE GAMES)
- Boston Gaymers
- Charlotte Gaymers Network
- NYC Gaymers
- QueerVox
- The*gamehers
- Stream for a Cause
BEST LGBTQ+ CHARACTER AWARD
- Bazz – Concord – Firewalk Studios / PlayStation
- Micah-10 – Destiny 2: The Final Shape – Bungie / PlayStation
- Michelle – Sorry We’re Closed – à la mode games / Akupara Games
- Rook – Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Bioware / EA
- Venture – Overwatch 2 – Blizzard Entertainment
- Vivian – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Intelligent Systems /
Nintendo
BEST LGBTQ+ INDIE GAME AWARD
- Beloved Rapture – Rapturous Studio / 2 Left Thumbs
- Caravan SandWitch – Studio Plane Toast / Dear Villagers
- Fear the Spotlight – Cozy Game Pals / Blumhouse Games
- Kitsune Tails – Kitsune Games / Midboss
- Sorry We’re Closed – à la mode games / Akupara Games
- Tavern Talk – Gentle Troll Entertainment
LGBTQ+ VOICE ACTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
- Ciarán Strange
- Erika Ishii
- JP Karliak
- Katie Cofield
- Kieran Regan
- Mila Jam
LBGTQ+ CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
- ChiChi
- Ctrlaltquin
- DataDave
- GaymerONE1
- halfmoonjoe
- Juice Boxx
- Negaoryx
- PearlTeese
BEST LGBTQ+ CONTRIBUTION TO ESPORTS AWARD
- Bailey McCann
- Queer Women of Esports
- SonicFox
- Steve Arhancet
LGBTQ+ GEEK ENTERTAINMENT OF THE YEAR AWARD (SPONSORED BY MYNERDLIFE)
- Agatha All Along – Marvel Studios
- Arcane: Season 2 – Netflix
- Hazbin Hotel – SpindleHorse Toons / Amazon Studios
- Heartstopper – Netflix
- Interview with the Vampire: Season 2 – AMC
- The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Dead by Daylight – Shudder
GAYMING ICON AWARD
- To be revealed in June 2025
LGBTQ+ STREAMING RISING STAR CLASS
- To be revealed in June 2025
