Recipients of the 2024 Gaming Awards have been revealed, celebrating LGBTQ+ representation in video games, with Larian Studios and its 2023 RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 winning the most awards, including Game of the Year.
Revealed online during a virtual ceremony, Baldur’s Gate 3 took home Game of the Year, beating out games such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy 16, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the award.
As mentioned previously, this year’s Gayming Awards saw Larian Studios nominated six times in five categories and take home an award in almost every category. This includes the Belgian-based studio winning the Gayming Magazine’s Readers’ Award and the Best LGBTQ+ Character award.
Additional award winners include Outer Loop Games’ adventure game Thirsty Suitors, which was nominated four times across four categories, including Game of the Year, and won two. Latinx In Gaming won the industry Diversity Award. The third episode in the first season of HBO’s The Last of Us series also won LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment Moment of the Year.
Five new streamers were also inducted into the Streamer Rising Star. The Gayming Ambassadors selected these creators because all five of them “made incredible strides in their streaming career over the last year and have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ world within the gaming space.”
“2023 and the start of 2024 was an incredibly tough year for the games industry, and we have certainly felt the knock-on effect of that,” said Gayming Magazine and the Gayming Awards founder Robin Gray wrote in a press release. “I am delighted we were able to finally celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ gaming community. Each year I’m thrilled at what new stories of success we unearth.”
You can check out the full list of Gayming Awards winners below.
Gayming Awards 2024 Winners:
Game of the Year Award
- WINNER: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
- Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
- Spider-Man 2 – Insomniac Studios / Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Humble Games / Summerfall Studios
Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award
- WINNER: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- 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
Gayming Icon Award
- Jeremy Crawford – Wizards of the Coast – WINNER
Industry Diversity Award
- WINNER: Latinx In Gaming
- Humble Games
- Larian Studios
- Qweerty Gamers
- Roll7
- Women in Games International
Authentic Representation Award
- WINNER: Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games
- The Sims 4 – Maxis / EA Games
- The Expanse: A Telltale Games – Telltale Games / Deck 9
- This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games
Best LGBTQ+ Character Award
- WINNER: Shadowheart – Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- Aloy – Horizon: Forbidden West – Guerilla / Playstation Studios
- Dame Aylin – Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- Dion Lesage – Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
- Jala – Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
- Tchia – Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive
Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
- WINNER: Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
- Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games
- In Stars and Time – insertdisc5
- Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Humble Games / Summerfall Studios
- Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive
- This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games
LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year Award
- WINNER: SpringSims
- Apothicdecay
- Eevoh
- Elix
- EspeSymone
- Halfmoonjoe
- Maisy
- Sheilur
Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
- WINNER: Emma “Emzii” Rose
- Bailey McCann
- Bethany “Indyburgh” Pyles
- Cora Kennedy
- Slaypex / Kylie Gabor
LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class of 2024
- DEVOGLAER
- PearlTeese
- SimplyAretha
- Sinarynn
- Sukar Baba
LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment Moment of the Year
- WINNER: The Last of Us: Long, Long Time – HBO
- Doctor Who: The Star Beast – Bad Wolf & BBC Studios
- Harley Quinn – DC Studios & Warner Bros Animation
- Nimona – Netflix & Annapurna Pictures
- Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – Netflix
- The Legend of Vox Machina – Season 2 – Amazon Studios, Critical Role & Titmouse
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
