As teased during The Gayming Awards 2025, a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit and sister organization to Gayming Magazine has been launched, officially called the Gayming Foundation.
This organization will be entirely focused on empowering LGBTQ+ workers in the industry, celebrating inclusivity, and helping drive forward diverse representation in video games. “After six years of running Gayming Magazine and the Gayming Awards, we’ve been able to get first hand experience of how anti-DEI rhetoric and shrinking funding streams can affect diverse workers, content creators and communities in and around the video game industry,” said Robin Gray, Executive Director & Chair of the Gayming Foundation.
According to a press release, research find that 27 percent of workers identified as LGBTQ+, and there are over 72,000 LGBTQ+ games industry workers in the United States alone.
In order to achieve its core vision, the Foundation will be rolling out three different programs over the course of the next twelve months.
- Gaymer Group Growth Fund – A small grant fund available to local LGBTQ+ gaymer groups up to a maximum of $2500 per group. These small grants will enable the groups to be able to invest in their growth and strengthen the LGBTQ+ gamer fanbase.
- Double Jump – This program will focus on assisting experienced LGBTQ+ professionals to transition their transferable skills into the games industry, a task notoriously difficult to achieve. This will build out and strengthen LGBTQ+ representation at a senior level in the industry.
- PrideXP Boost Mentorships – The PrideXP Boost Mentorship scheme will connect both LGBTQ+ workers and content creators with veterans in these fields to foster a supportive network of knowledge-sharing and growth.
Apart from the foundation, the annual Gayming Awards show happened earlier this week. Dragon Age: The Veilguard took home the Game of the Year prize, while The Last of Us Part II Remastered won the Gayming Magazine Readers award. You can see the full list of nominees and winners here.
