Earlier in July, Gayming Magazine presented the 2025 Gayming Awards in Los Angeles, celebrating LGBTQ trailblazers and media from the past year. GLAAD was on-site at the star-studded event, held in West Hollywood’s famous gay bar The Abbey, to bring you all the details. This year’s ceremonies were hosted by drag artist and Twitch streamer DEERE and Gayming Magazine columnist Milady Confetti, and the program aired exclusively on WOW Presents Plus. The guest list included professionals from across the video game and television industries as well as gaming celebrities and LGBTQ advocates. The pre-show red carpet spotlit distinguished guests such as Brandon Rogers from Hazbin Hotel, Kieran Strange from the Borderlands series, Farrah Moan from RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Amanda Overton from Arcane.
And the #GaymingAwards25 Game of the Year is… Dragon Age: The Veilguard! 🎉 Congratulations to Dragon Age and @bioware.bsky.social on this epic win! Relive the magic on @WOWPresentsPlus.bsky.social ! #GOTY #DragonAge
— Gayming Magazine (@gaymingmag.bsky.social) July 8, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The standout video game for this year was BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was awarded both Gayming Magazine’s Game of the Year and Best LGBTQ+ Character for its protagonist, Rook, recognizing it as a major step forward for LGBTQ representation in video games. Earlier in 2025, the title also earned recognition at GLAAD’s 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards where it received the Outstanding Video Game Award. Several other GLAAD Media Award nominated games also made their appearance at the Gayming Awards, including Fear the Spotlight, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Sorry We’re Closed, and Caravan SandWitch.
Arcane: Season 2, the second season of the prestigious League of Legends animated adaptation, took home the award for LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year. It faced stiff competition against other GLAAD Media Award nominated shows: Agatha All Along, Hazbin Hotel, Heartstopper, Interview with the Vampire: Season 2, and The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Dead by Daylight.
The 2025 Gayming Awards recognized not only games and television but also people and organizations driving forward LGBTQ acceptance and visibility. Rebecca Heineman was named the 2025 recipient of the Gayming Icon Award. She first made her mark on the world as the national champion of a Space Invaders competition, and later became a video game designer and founder of the pioneering game company Interplay. In 2003, Heineman came out as a transgender woman and is a notable champion of LGBTQ inclusivity in the video game industry.
Several content creators and Twitch streamers were also highlighted throughout the night. Trans streamer, gamer, and advocate Pearl Teese was awarded the LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year. Each year, Gayming Magazine also uses the awards to platform up-and-coming LGBTQ Twitch streamers via their LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class category, celebrating the work that content creators are accomplishing to increase LGBTQ visibility in content creation. 2025’s Rising Stars were awarded to BoyeFran, Bvssykatdoll, Mynxie666, and WillJinkies.
The show also featured a surprise launch announcement for the Gayming Foundation, a newly formed non-profit by Gayming Magazine whose mission is “to uplift and empower LGBTQ+ games workers and fans to affect change, celebrate inclusivity, and drive forward representation in games.” Those interested in getting involved can do so by going to the website and donating, sponsoring, or volunteering to help support the work of the Gayming Foundation.
2025 Gayming Awards Winners:
- Game of the Year – Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / EA)
- Best LGBTQ+ Character – Rook, Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Gayming Icon Award – Rebecca Heineman
- LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year – Erika Ishii
- Industry Diversity Award – Code Coven
- Community Impact Award – Stream for a Cause
- Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game – Kitsune Tails (Kitsune Games / MidBoss)
- LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year – PearlTeese
- Rising Star Streamers – BoyeFran, Bvssykatdoll, Mynxie666, WillJinkies
- LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award – Bailey McCann
- LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year – Arcane: Season 2 (Netflix)
- Readers’ Award – The Last of Us Part II: Remastered (Naughty Dog / PlayStation)
