LOS ANGELES: Returning for its fifth year, the Gayming Awards, the world’s only LGBTQ video game award show, is confirmed to broadcast exclusively worldwide on World of Wonder’s WOW Presents Plus on Tuesday, July 8th, 2025, and nomination submissions are now open to the public.
Looking to build on the Gayming Awards continuous growth and success, with over 1.4 million people watching last year’s Awards either live or through social clips, the move to streaming broadcast on WOW Presents Plus ensures that the Awards continues this growth as a key gaming and LGBTQ+ cultural moment.
The Gayming Awards will premiere Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 exclusively on WOW Presents Plus, joining World of Wonder’s extensive catalogue of award-winning original programming, including the entire international Drag Race franchise, World of Wonder-produced documentary films, licensed content including House on Fire and recently premiered scripted comedy I Hate People, People Hate Me.
Highlights from the Awards will be shared across Gayming’s social media accounts where people can see the key moments unfold and successes celebrated.
To ensure that LGBTQ+ excellence can be celebrated across the whole video game world, the categories in the Awards have been reviewed and two new categories have been added: LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year and Community Impact Award. These categories are designed to celebrate the achievements and contributions of LGBTQ+ voice actors and groups or individuals who have contributed positively to the LGBTQ+ video game community over the past year. In addition, the LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year category has been renamed as the LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year category to recognize the growth in non-live streaming content creators and their contributions to queer gaming.
The full 13 categories of the Gayming Awards 2025 are as follows:
● Game of the Year
● Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award
● Gayming Icon Award
● Industry Diversity Award
● Community Impact Award
● Authentic Representation Award
● Best LGBTQ+ Character Award
● Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
● LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award
● LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year Award
● LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class
● Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
● LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year Award - sponsored by MyNerdLife
Nomination submissions are now OPEN in nine of these 13 categories – to have your say, head to gaymingawards.com to submit your favorites for consideration.
Robin Gray, Gayming Magazine & Gayming Awards Founder, said: “From the very beginning, we’ve always sought to establish the Gayming Awards as a key cultural moment and with the Gayming Awards 2025 broadcasting on the biggest and best LGBTQ+ streaming platform, I’m thrilled to see this journey take its next big step. At a time where LGBTQ+ rights and culture are being erased, the Gayming Awards stand proudly and firmly as a key beacon of hope in uplifting, celebrating and uniting our community through the power of video games. A huge thank you to World of Wonder for believing in our mission and giving us this awesome platform.”
Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey, Co-founders of World of Wonder, said: "We're excited to announce that Awards Season just got a little bit ‘gayer.’ WOW Presents Plus, the #1 place in the world to watch Drag Race, is holding space for queer video game excellence as the exclusive streamer of the Gayming Awards."
The Gayming Awards 2025 are sponsored by MyNerdLife and Gay Water. More sponsors and supporters will be revealed soon.
Further sponsorship opportunities are available at all levels. For more information on how brands can align with this culturally significant and unique opportunity, please email gayming@grayjonesmedia.com.
For more information on everything Gayming Awards, head to gaymingawards.com and follow Gayming Magazine on all socials @gaymingmag
**ENDS**
Notes:
About Gayming Awards
The Gayming Awards are the world’s first and only award ceremony celebrating all that is great about LGBTQ video gaming. Launched in 2021, the Awards set out to celebrate the achievements within the global gaming culture that represent and champion the LGBTQ experience.
About Gayming Magazine
Gayming Magazine is the home of queer geek culture. Founded in 2019, it has quickly risen to be the leading LGBTQ+ website for all things video games, comics, anime, and general queer fandom, reaching over 3 million people globally per month. Find out more by visiting our website, or by following our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages.
About World of Wonder:
World of Wonder (WOW) has reshaped international pop culture, earning 33 Emmys, inspiring two Oscars, creating global network WOW Presents Plus across 190 territories, and bringing drag culture to the world stage via RuPaul’s Drag Race and DragCon. SVOD WOW Presents Plus, the exclusive home to the global Drag Race franchise and hundreds of WOW Original series, saw 35M hours of content watched in 2023 with 77% subscriber growth in the same year. WOW’s pioneering television portfolio includes other smash-hit franchises like Million Dollar Listing. Their film division WOW Docs produces groundbreaking documentaries including Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, Party Monster, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. WOW also operates YouTube channel WOWPresents, music label World of Wonder Records, the WOW Podcast Network, and year-round international live events. Co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato have been profiled in Variety’s Reality TV Impact Report and Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Producers in Unscripted. Honors for their trailblazing work include the IDA Pioneer Award, Realscreen’s Global 100 list, Banff’s Impact Award, and the OUT 100. In 2022, World of Wonder was ranked #2 among film and TV powerhouses in Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.