The best – and queerest – video games of 2023
The festive period means more time on your hands. Why not celebrate with the best LGBTQIA+ video games of the year? WORDS ELI CUGINI IMAGE YOSEF PHELAN Queer games won big at the 2023 Game Awards, with Baldur’s Gate 3 – Lanian’s long-awaited D&D-based CRPG – clinching Game of the Year.
Baldur’s Gate 3, alongside being one of the most critically acclaimed RPGs ever released, is a veritable wonderland for queer players: there’s a plethora of gay romance options, alongside canon gay content and a nonbinary gender option. (The gays can’t even agree on the best companion to romance: Karlach?
Lae’zel? Shadowheart? Astarion? Can’t we have all of them at once?). Meanwhile, Cyberpunk 2077 (which includes canon gay love interests for any gender of character) won Best Ongoing for its new DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, while sweet, mesmerising open-world adventure game Tchia took Best Game for Impact.
Summations of 2023 in games are consistent on two things: the unusually high quality of this year’s releases, and the bleak working conditions for game developers in an industry that has seen almost 10,000 job cuts this year, including Embracer Group shuttering three studios in six months.
