Gayming Magazine

Gayming Magazine is a British, UK-based online LGBTQ video gaming magazine. They are 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, with the most recent event having taken place in 2022.

Gayming Magazine
EditorAimee Hart
CategoriesVideo games
LGBT culture
PublisherGray Jones Media Ltd
FounderRobin Gray[1]
First issueJune 2019 (2019-06)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Websitegaymingmag.com
Gayming Magazine full logo

In September 2021, Gayming Magazine changed its logo, which moves away from the purely video game-inspired one that launched the magazine in 2019, and updated its mission statement. The logo was developed by queer artist Emma Ensley and will be seen in a multitude of ways as the magazine progresses.

After being appointed Deputy Editor in 2019, Aimee Hart now takes on the mantle of Editor-in-Chief, with a mission to drive the magazine forward broadening out from just video games and becoming the home of queer geek culture.[2]

Gayming Magazine are also debuting their event Gayming LIVE Online in 2022,[3] which aims to bring video games, drag artists and queer culture under one virtual roof.

History

Gayming Magazine was revealed at the London Games Festival in April 2019.[4] 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.[4] The site was launched in June.[5] In September, the site was nominated for a Women in Games Advocacy award.[6] 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.[5] Within its first year it was reported to have a readership of 17,000.[7]

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.[8] The site was nominated for another Women in Games award in September 2020.[9]

Gayming Awards

Gayming Awards 2021

In July 2020, Gayming Magazine hosted the world's first LGBTQ+ gaming awards ceremony, Gayming Awards.[10] 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.[10] The panel of judges consisted of more than twenty LGBTQ people,[11] though the public voted on the Best LGBTQ+ Streamer and Gayming Magazine Readers’ Awards categories.[1] Voting took place in November and December 2020,[1] with all games released in 2020 being eligible.[10]

The full list of winners[12] 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.[13]

Gayming Awards 2022

The Gayming Awards, presented by Twitch, returned in-person in April 2022[14] and continued to be the first and only global award ceremony celebrating LGBTQ+ video gaming. As before, the ceremony was live streamed on Twitch and IGN and was watched by over 320,000 people in 97 countries around the world.

2022 saw a new LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Award, as well as categories in Comic Books, Esports and Tabletop Gaming.

The full list of winners[15] of the Gayming Awards 2022 are as follows:

Returning Gayming Award categories
  • Game of the Year - Sponsored by PlayStation
  • Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award - Sponsored by EA
  • Gayming Icon Award - Sponsored by Facebook Gaming
  • Industry Diversity Award - Sponsored by Hangar 13 and 2K
  • Authentic Representation Award - Sponsored by Marvelous Europe
  • Best LGBTQ Character Award - Sponsored by Rocksteady Studios
  • Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award - Sponsored by Xbox
  • LGBTQ Streamer of the Year Award - Sponsored by Twitch

New Gayming Award categories for 2022
  • LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Award - Sponsored by Twitch - This award is to celebrate the success of a rising star of LGBTQ streaming.
  • Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment - Sponsored by Square Enix Mobile - This award recognises the best LGBTQ moment in a comic book in 2021.
  • LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award - This award recognises the best tabletop game with LGBTQ themes.
  • Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports - Sponsored by Esports Technologies - This award recognises the contribution of a person or organisation who has done a significant amount of work in promoting, developing and championing diversity in esports.

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.[16]

Gayming LIVE
Gayming LIVE Online logo

Gayming LIVE, an event created by Gayming Magazine, is a convention celebrating all things queer geek culture. The event was due to debut in New York City in Summer 2022, however with COVID still presenting a real risk to large scale events, Gayming chose to listen to and protect their community where the appetite for an in person event was not present. Instead, Gayming LIVE is being turned into a fully virtual event, Gayming LIVE Online. The three-day event will play host to game play streams, panel talks, drag performances, celebrity & voice actor virtual meet & greets, exclusive competitions, indie game festival, virtual marketplace, and more.

Gayming LIVE Online is headlined by Jiggly Caliente, Juice Boxx, and Rock M Sakura, from RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as Biqtch Puddin’ and Erika Klash from The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. They will be joined by the co-stars and members of the all-drag Twitch stream team, Stream Queens, plus a stellar line up of LGBTQ games voice actors.

Supporting Gayming LIVE Online are IRL gaymer groups NYC Gaymers, Geeks Out, GaymerX, Qweerty Gaymers, Boston Gaymers, Houston Gaymers, and Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association, member-led communities of LGBTQIA+ gamers.

References
  1. Sam Desatoff (31 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host world's first LGBTQ games awards". GameDaily.biz. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. "Gayming Magazine debuts new logo and new Editor-in-Chief, Aimee Hart". Gray Jones Media. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. "Gayming LIVE debuts in New York in 2022 - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. Natalie Clayton (16 April 2019). "Gayming Magazine is bringing queer perspectives to UK newsstands this June". PC Games Insider. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. Vikki Blake (13 September 2019). "Gayming Magazine launches new UK LGBTQ+ event, Gayming Live". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. Harry Cole (29 September 2019). "Interview with Robin Gray, Founder and Editor of Gayming Magazine". IND13. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. Batchelor, James (12 September 2019). "Gayming Magazine to host week-long live event". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 6 April 2022. Gayming Magazine first went live earlier this year, and already has a readership of 17,000.
  8. Stephany Nunneley (2 May 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host DIGIPRIDE 2020 online event this summer". VG247. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  9. "Gayming Magazine wins at Women In Games Global Awards - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  10. Kayleigh Partleton (21 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine to host first ever Gayming Awards in February 2021". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  11. Chris Penwell (25 July 2020). "Gayming Magazine Unveils The Gayming Awards". TheGamer. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  12. Bankhurst, Adam (1 November 2021). "Gayming Awards 2021: All The Winners". IGN. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  13. Laws, Gemma (21 September 2021). "Gayming Awards returns April 2022 with new categories". The Indiependent. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. "Gayming Awards will return in 2022 with in-person event". NME. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  15. Hart, Aimee (26 April 2022). "Gayming Awards 2022 Winners Revealed". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  16. "Gayming Awards 2022 - Gayming Magazine". gaymingmag.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
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