adminThe Gayming Awards 2026 nominations feature a broad range of games, creators and LGBTQ+ community organizations. Hades 2 and Date Everything lead the announced nominations, earning three nods each across the awards’ 14 categories.
Image credit: Supergiant Games/Sassy Chap Games
Gayming Awards 2026: leading nominees and ceremony details
Supergiant Games’ Hades 2 is one of six contenders for Game of the Year. It is also nominated for the Gayming Magazine Fan Favorite Award and Best LGBTQ+ Character, for Melinoë. Date Everything is in the running for Fan Favorite, Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game and Best LGBTQ+ Character, with Eddie and Volt nominated.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for June 8, 2026, on WOW Presents Plus, World of Wonder’s streaming service. Erika Ishii, last year’s LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year winner, will host with drag artist Dawn. Winners of the LGBTQ+ Streaming Rising Star Class of 2026, LGBTQ+ Content Creator Superstar Award and Gayming Icon Award are slated to be announced in May 2026.
This year also introduces the Gayming Awards Creator Honours, a new group of accolades intended to celebrate LGBTQ+ gaming content creators at different levels. Check the award categories below to find nominees across games, entertainment, esports and community work.
Complete list of announced nominees
Game of the Year
- Ball x Pit (Kenny Sun/Devolver Digital)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Hades 2 (Supergiant Games)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
Gayming Magazine Fan Favorite Award
- Date Everything (Sassy Chap Games/Team17)
- Dead by Daylight: Steady Pulse (Behaviour Interactive)
- Hades 2 (Supergiant Games)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod)
Best LGBTQ+ Character Award
- Sir Hans Capon – Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
- Eddie & Volt – Date Everything
- Kat Mikaelsen – Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
- Melinoë – Hades 2
- Orela Rose – Dead by Daylight
- Samar – Spirit Swap (Soft Not Weak)
Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
- Date Everything (Sassy Chap Games/Team17)
- Monster Prom 4: Monster Con (Beautiful Glitch)
- Quantum Witch (NikkiJay)
- Spirit Swap
- Tales of Seikyu (Ace Entertainment/Fireshine Games)
- The Beekeepers Picnic (Wonder Room Games)
Industry Diversity Award
- Behaviour Interactive
- Don’t Nod
- Out Making Games (OMG)
- Riot Games
Community Impact Award
- Boston Gaymers
- Gaymers iNC
- Gaymer Nights
- NYC Gaymers
- Qweerty Gamers
- SlayStation
Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
- British Esports Federation
- Cora Kennedy
- Team Liquid
- Valorant Game Changers
LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award
- Allegra Clark
- Jay Taylor
- Jennifer English
- Michael Lorz
- Robyn Holdaway
- Tobias Weatherburn
Queer Geek Entertainment of the Year Award
- Dimension 20: Dungeons & Drag Queens, Season 2 (Dropout)
- Harley Quinn: Season 5 (DC)
- Hazbin Hotel: Season 2 (Amazon)
- Stranger Things: Season 5 (Netflix)
- The Mighty Nein (Amazon MGM Studios, Critical Role & Titmouse)
- The Last of Us: Season 2 (HBO)
LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year Award
- ArtemirGaming
- Blizz
- BoyeFran
- GhCoffee
- Hyjules
- KoiJay
- Phaun
- Ravynia
LGBTQ+ Breakout Creator of the Year Award
- Devoglaer
- HaiMoonX
- KyaColosseum
- OllieDreamer
- PhilipCroft
- Retrowolve
- TheFunkoBeard
- WillJinkies
What to know about the Gayming Awards 2026
The nominations span individual games, character performances, studios, esports contributions, entertainment and LGBTQ+ gaming communities. For readers following the results, the Game of the Year and fan-voted award categories are listed separately, so a title can be nominated in more than one area. Hades 2 and Date Everything each appear in three categories.
The Gayming Awards 2026 recognize nominees across the announced categories, while the three awards identified for May announcements have winners to be revealed separately. Since the scheduled ceremony date has passed, check for updated results before publishing this preview as current event coverage.
