The Gayming Awards Grift: EXPOSED

How Game "Journalists" Are Cashing In on Misleading Promotions

The video game industry has no shortage of controversies, as I relearn what feels like every day... but one of the most blatant examples of profiteering comes from the Gayming Awards, an annual event designed to celebrate LGBTQ+ representation in gaming.

On the surface, this might seem like a well-meaning effort to promote inclusivity, but digging deeper into their operations and pricing structures, it becomes way more clear that this event is nothing more than a cash grab designed to extort ridiculous sums of money from game publishers and companies in exchange for promotional exposure.

You're shocked right? I know...

The Price of Promotion

Let's take a closer look at the absurd amounts that the Gayming Awards charge for sponsorship "opportunities":

• $150,000 to be a "Presenting Partner"

• $90,000 to be an "Event Sponsor"

• $50,000 to sponsor a single category or be the "Day Sponsor"

• $50,000 to be an "Indie Festival Sponsor"

• $35,000 just to be labeled as a "Supporter"

These prices are astronomical for what amounts to little more than a vanity spot at a niche award show that few outside the LGBTQ+ community and some game journalists care about.

Compare this to the cost of sponsorships at more mainstream gaming events, and the overpricing becomes even more apparent. The Gayming Awards are exploiting companies’ desires to appear inclusive and socially responsible, using representation as a weapon to pressure them into paying exorbitant fees.

Game Journalists: The Ultimate Grifters

This tactic isn't limited to the Gayming Awards alone. Game journalists, especially those affiliated with smaller outlets, have increasingly become some of the most shameless grifters in the industry. A recent promotional email from @gaymingmag provides insight into just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

According to their pitch, for about $7,000 to $8,000 USD (or around $4,000 if you're lucky enough to catch their "Pride Sale"), game developers and publishers can get the following:

• Regular banner advertising on their website.

• Social media posts promoting your game.

• Guaranteed impressions (whatever that means) of 600,000 on social media.

• Featured spots on their podcasts and streams.

But the kicker? The paid articles they offer. For a fee, they'll write and publish articles about your game. These articles are presented as if they're genuine editorial content when, in reality, they're nothing more than paid advertisements. That's a pretty deceptive practice, if true.

This blatant lack of transparency violates any of the most basic principles of journalistic integrity... Yeah, that thing. There’s supposed to be a solid wall between the business side of media companies and the journalists who write the content. But in this case, that 'wall' has been completely destroyed. You're literally paying for articles, social media boosts, and "impressions," with no indication to the readers that these features are bought and paid for.

Get The "Impression"?

One particularly eyebrow-raising detail from their promotional material is the promise of "paid social media boosts" with guaranteed impressions of 600,000. This is an INSANE amount of impressions to promise, and raises more questions than answers on just how exactly they got to that number.

This is especially curious coming from their account on Twitter that struggles to get more than 5 likes on a post, while having over 17,000 followers.

Same issue on their Instagram, with under 6,500 followers, and about 10-15 hearts on the posts... Makes you wonder...

A Trend of Manipulation

What’s even more disturbing is that this isn't an isolated case. I’ve seen many similar solicitations from smaller gaming outlets offering to write paid articles, often without any form of disclosure. They’ll push your game in front of their audience for a fee, and since their readership is often unaware of the monetary exchange, these articles appear as genuine recommendations or reviews. Unrelated, but a real world example of this type of thing happening is something that Frost accused Nick Calandra of Second Wind of doing just a few months ago. It’s a gross manipulation of both the readers and the developers, feeding into a cycle of deceit that undermines the credibility of gaming journalism as a whole.

IGN's Parent Ziff Davis Connections

In a suspiciously convenient arrangement, IGN's parent company, Ziff Davis, acquired Humble Bundle, which just so happens to be a sponsor of the Gayming Awards. Meanwhile, IGN publishes puff pieces and glowing coverage about Gayming Awards' show and even hosting their event at IGN's Summer of Gaming, conveniently omitting any mention of their shared corporate ownership. Zero.

This lack of obvious disclosure raises some serious ethical concerns.

It creates a clear conflict of interest and blurs the lines between genuine editorial content and their promotional material. It seems like a calculated move to bolster Humble's reputation while cashing in on sponsorship dollars—without giving readers the full picture.

Coincidentally, it's suspected that IGN's Humble was also the 'anonymous donator' to saving "TakeThis.org" when they were begging for $80,000 from the gaming community to keep their doors open on what I (and many others) in the space consider not a mental health advocacy group', but more so, an outright scam with their very pricey and questionable "AFK rooms" at conventions.

They have a history of partnering and being sponsored By Humble Bundle over the years...

I'll call it now, eventually, this 'house of cards' behind the scenes will come crumbling down. All the typical warning signs are there.

The Bottom Line

The Gayming Awards is one of the more egregious examples of this 'grift', but it's far from the only one. Events like these have become vehicles for opportunistic outlets to profit off the backs of companies desperate for positive PR, especially in the realm of diversity and inclusivity. In reality, these companies are paying for an illusion—the illusion of representation, the illusion of authenticity, and the illusion of actual promotion, while it feels more like lining the pockets of their buddies in the industry.

The Gayming Awards aren't about celebrating LGBTQ+ representation in gaming—they're about making money, using the veil of 'inclusivity' to get there. Plain and simple. Their exorbitant sponsorship prices, combined with the shady, paid-for articles and social media "boosts" from IGN, reveal them for what they truly are: the ultimate grift. And while it's easy to get caught up in the feel-good narrative of supporting marginalized voices in gaming (That's what they rely on you to do and ignore the reality), we need to recognize that this event is not promoting genuine inclusivity. It’s exploiting the very concept for financial gain.

Game journalists and outlets like @gaymingmag are complicit in this exploitation. They have blurred the lines between editorial content and paid promotion to the point where it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. It’s a disservice to gamers, developers, and anyone who cares about the integrity of the gaming industry... and it needs to stop.

In the end, the Gayming Awards are little more than glorified pay-to-play schemes, with game journalists in bed together at the helm, cashing in on companies’ desires to seem socially responsible.

Don’t be fooled by their rhetoric—this is all about money. It always was.

~Smash

Credit to @Grummz for bringing this to my attention.