The winners of the Gayming Awards 2022 have been announced, with Life is Strange: True Colors beating out Boyfriend Dungeon, Psychonauts, and Unpacking to win Game of the Year.

The winners of the first ever live Gayming Awards were announced via a stream from the Troxy Theater in London on April 25. The biggest winner of the night was Life is Strange: True Colors, which triumphed in all three categories that it was nominated in, comprising Game of the Year, Authentic Representation, and Best LGBTQ Character.

In total, there were 11 categories honoring a selection of video games, tabletop games, comic books, and esports players that have championed diversity and inclusivity globally in 2022. Additionally, Tanya DePass picked up the Gayming Icon Award in recognition of the positive impact that the author and activist has brought to the LGBTQ community within gaming.

Prior to the event, Gayming Magazine also inducted six streamers into its Rising Star Class, which is new for 2022. The streamers were chosen to be part of this prestigious new class because they have all "made incredible strides in their streaming career over the last year and have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ world within the gaming space."

"It was such an honor to celebrate these amazing creatives tonight," said Robin Gray, CEO and founder of Gayming Magazine and the Gayming Awards, which initially launched in 2021 as an online event. "In our second year of the awards, it was important for us to again recognize all the LGBTQ representation in game and in the industry."

The full list of winners from the Gayming Awards 2022 follows:

Game of the Year

• Life is Strange: True Colors - WINNER
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Psychonauts
• Unpacking

Gayming Magazine Readers' Award

• Resident Evil Village - WINNER
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Forza Horizon 5
• Metroid Dread
• Sable
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
• The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Industry Diversity Award

• Ukie's #RaiseTheGame pledge - WINNER
• I Need Diverse Games
• London Gaymers
• Women in Games International

Authentic Representation Award

• Life is Strange: True Colors - WINNER
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Unpacking
• Unsighted

Best LGBTQ Character Award

• Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors - WINNER
• Helmut Fullbear & Bob Zanotto, Psychonauts 2
• Steph Gingrich, Life is Strange: True Colors
• Meredith Weiss, Lake

Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award

• Unpacking - WINNER
• A Year Of Springs
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Lake
• Sword of the Necromancer
• When The Night Comes

LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of '22

• ItsMeHollyy
• Cruuuunchy
• CoderGirlChan
• LuciaEverblack
• Luke_Boogie
• Trish Olson

LGBTQ Streamer of the Year

• Aimsey - WINNER
• BlizzB3ar
• CriticalBard
• Eevoh
• Eret
• Nihachu
• ReadySetBen
• RekItRaven
• Sammy M Jay
• Shaaba and Jamie
• Shawn
• Toph

Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment

• The Pride Omnibus - WINNER
• DC Pride #1
• Killer Queens
• X-Factor #10

LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award

• Adventuring With Pride: Queer We Go Again - WINNER
• The House Doesn't Always Win
• Thirsty Sword Lesbians
• Wanderhome

Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports

• Emi "CaptainFluke" Donaldson - WINNER
• Amanda Stevens
• Cloud9 White Valorant Team
• Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association [CMSA]

If you'd like to find out more about Gayming Awards' Game of the Year for 2022, check out IGN's review of Life is Strange: True Colors, which praised Deck Nine for creating "the best game in the series to date," thanks to "consistent writing for both main and side characters, a compelling mystery story with good pacing, useful supernatural abilities," and so much more.

Another game will take the coveted top spot in the Game of the Year category when the show returns in early 2023, with the ceremony moving stateside to New York City for Gayming Awards 2023: Live on Broadway. Tickets are also still available for Gayming LIVE, with a 30% discount applied to all ticket purchases using the 'GaymingAwards' code up until April 29.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Sometimes, information that gets passed around isn’t always correct. Case in point? Darth Maul from the Star Wars prequels was apparently never going to make an appearance in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Previously, many outlets picked up on a story that Darth Maul was almost featured in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off. Today, however, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow says she believes that was never actually the case.

In an interview for Total Film magazine, as first reported by GamesRadar, Chow says, "As long as I’ve been involved, we’ve never had Darth Maul in any of it."

She goes on to say that the story between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul ended with his defeat in the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

"Dave [Filoni] did a beautiful job of telling that story already," Chow says.

While the series will feature Darth Vader, that decision "was not made lightly." When considering where to take the story that bridges the gap between the prequels and the original trilogy, she asked questions like, “Where is Obi-Wan’s starting place? What has been important to him in his life?”

Chow says that both Anakin and Vader were a “huge and profound part” of Obi-Wan’s life so including him “made sense.”

Besides Darth Vader, the Disney Plus series also includes the Grand Inquisitor, who was recently featured in a selection of new photos for the series. Including Darth Maul in addition to Darth Vader might have been “a little bit much” per Chow.

You can catch the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi when it premieres on May 27 on Disney Plus.

Casey David Muir-Taylor is a freelance writer at IGN

Sometimes, information that gets passed around isn’t always correct. Case in point? Darth Maul from the Star Wars prequels was apparently never going to make an appearance in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Previously, many outlets picked up on a story that Darth Maul was almost featured in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off. Today, however, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow says she believes that was never actually the case.

In an interview for Total Film magazine, as first reported by GamesRadar, Chow says, "As long as I’ve been involved, we’ve never had Darth Maul in any of it."

She goes on to say that the story between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul ended with his defeat in the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

"Dave [Filoni] did a beautiful job of telling that story already," Chow says.

While the series will feature Darth Vader, that decision "was not made lightly." When considering where to take the story that bridges the gap between the prequels and the original trilogy, she asked questions like, “Where is Obi-Wan’s starting place? What has been important to him in his life?”

Chow says that both Anakin and Vader were a “huge and profound part” of Obi-Wan’s life so including him “made sense.”

Besides Darth Vader, the Disney Plus series also includes the Grand Inquisitor, who was recently featured in a selection of new photos for the series. Including Darth Maul in addition to Darth Vader might have been “a little bit much” per Chow.

You can catch the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi when it premieres on May 27 on Disney Plus.

Casey David Muir-Taylor is a freelance writer at IGN

Meta announced today that it will be opening its first retail store at its Burlingame, California campus in early May.

This will be Meta's first hardware retail store and it will open starting on May 9 from 11 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. The idea of the store is to allow users to get hands-on experience with its products, similar to how Apple's retail stores allow customers to interact and demo various products in the tech giant's ecosystem before buying.

The new retail store will feature a dedicated space to test the Meta Quest 2. This includes trying games such as Beat Saber, Real VR Fishing, and GOLF+, and an option to take home a mixed reality recording of you trying out the virtual reality headset.

Meta's retail store will also include a demo area for customers to test video calling videos on the Portal videophones and an opportunity to demo the Ray-Ban Stories, a pair of smart glasses released by Meta last year in collaboration with the luxury sunglasses company Ray-Ban.

This is not the first time Meta provided a chance for potential buyers to try its VR headset. Back in 2016, Meta teamed up with retail chain Best Buy to provide VR demo stations.

While the retail store sounds spacious, Meta notes that the storefront is only 1,550 square feet. This is unsurprising given that the location is near the Meta Reality Labs headquarters and not located in a major metropolitan city such as NYC or Los Angeles.

News of Meta opening its first hardware retail store come as the company is preparing to develop new products in the VR and AR market. Current projects in the works include Project Cambria, a high-end headset that focuses on face and eye-tracking.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Meta announced today that it will be opening its first retail store at its Burlingame, California campus in early May.

This will be Meta's first hardware retail store and it will open starting on May 9 from 11 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. The idea of the store is to allow users to get hands-on experience with its products, similar to how Apple's retail stores allow customers to interact and demo various products in the tech giant's ecosystem before buying.

The new retail store will feature a dedicated space to test the Meta Quest 2. This includes trying games such as Beat Saber, Real VR Fishing, and GOLF+, and an option to take home a mixed reality recording of you trying out the virtual reality headset.

Meta's retail store will also include a demo area for customers to test video calling videos on the Portal videophones and an opportunity to demo the Ray-Ban Stories, a pair of smart glasses released by Meta last year in collaboration with the luxury sunglasses company Ray-Ban.

This is not the first time Meta provided a chance for potential buyers to try its VR headset. Back in 2016, Meta teamed up with retail chain Best Buy to provide VR demo stations.

While the retail store sounds spacious, Meta notes that the storefront is only 1,550 square feet. This is unsurprising given that the location is near the Meta Reality Labs headquarters and not located in a major metropolitan city such as NYC or Los Angeles.

News of Meta opening its first hardware retail store come as the company is preparing to develop new products in the VR and AR market. Current projects in the works include Project Cambria, a high-end headset that focuses on face and eye-tracking.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Star Wars fans have been wanting a closer look at Disney Plus’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series ever since the trailer dropped. Thanks to the folks over at Total Film, we have three new images to pine over while we wait for the next tease.

Many have wondered exactly what Obi-Wan Kenobi was up to after he dropped a very young Luke Skywalker off on Tatooine, and the series aims to do just that. It follows Obi-Wan ten years after the end of Revenge of the Sith. These new photos give us a glimpse at Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan in both Tatooine and on the neon-lit planet of Daiyu.

New stills for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has been released.

(Via: @totalfilm) pic.twitter.com/KBN5SbN1cT

— Mr. Scoop (@mrscoop_) April 25, 2022

We’ve heard from Hayden Christensen on the “surreal” experience of returning as Darth Vader. Darth Vader won’t be the only villain in the series Obi-Wan deals with, though. The final photo highlights the foreboding and sinister Grand Inquisitor, played by Rupert Friend. The Inquisitor is known to fans of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, but he’s far from the first animated Star Wars character to make the jump to live-action.

Inquisitors are Jedi-hunting assassins who work for Darth Vader. For a full rundown on these deadly villains, be sure to check out our Sith Inquisitors guide for the low down on who they are and how they fit into the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres Friday, May 27 on Disney Plus.

Casey David Muir-Taylor is a freelance writer at IGN.

Star Wars fans have been wanting a closer look at Disney Plus’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series ever since the trailer dropped. Thanks to the folks over at Total Film, we have three new images to pine over while we wait for the next tease.

Many have wondered exactly what Obi-Wan Kenobi was up to after he dropped a very young Luke Skywalker off on Tatooine, and the series aims to do just that. It follows Obi-Wan ten years after the end of Revenge of the Sith. These new photos give us a glimpse at Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan in both Tatooine and on the neon-lit planet of Daiyu.

New stills for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has been released.

(Via: @totalfilm) pic.twitter.com/KBN5SbN1cT

— Mr. Scoop (@mrscoop_) April 25, 2022

We’ve heard from Hayden Christensen on the “surreal” experience of returning as Darth Vader. Darth Vader won’t be the only villain in the series Obi-Wan deals with, though. The final photo highlights the foreboding and sinister Grand Inquisitor, played by Rupert Friend. The Inquisitor is known to fans of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, but he’s far from the first animated Star Wars character to make the jump to live-action.

Inquisitors are Jedi-hunting assassins who work for Darth Vader. For a full rundown on these deadly villains, be sure to check out our Sith Inquisitors guide for the low down on who they are and how they fit into the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres Friday, May 27 on Disney Plus.

Casey David Muir-Taylor is a freelance writer at IGN.

Microsoft's Xbox Series hardware was the best selling platform of the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 per dollars made. The NPD Group's latest analysis revealed that the combined front of Xbox Series X and S topped not only March's sales figures but the entirety of Q1, despite the PlayStation 5 leading the way early on in the year.

While the Xbox Series made the most money, Nintendo's Switch took first place in terms of units sold both for March and Q1.

It also marked the most successful March for Microsoft in over a decade, as its previous best for units sold was set in 2011 when the Xbox 360 was still the latest available console. Its record March in terms of dollars made came in 2014 after the Xbox One was released.

Hardware sales across all platforms dropped 24% compared to Q1 2021, accessories fell 16%, and games 7%, amassing to an overall decline in games industry spending (incorporating hardware, accessories, and games) of 8%.

Elden Ring remained on top of software sales in March, growing by a double-digit percentage compared to its launch month of February. It's still the best-selling game of the year and is now the second-best selling game of the last 12 months, falling only to Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Microsoft's Xbox Series hardware was the best selling platform of the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 per dollars made. The NPD Group's latest analysis revealed that the combined front of Xbox Series X and S topped not only March's sales figures but the entirety of Q1, despite the PlayStation 5 leading the way early on in the year.

While the Xbox Series made the most money, Nintendo's Switch took first place in terms of units sold both for March and Q1.

It also marked the most successful March for Microsoft in over a decade, as its previous best for units sold was set in 2011 when the Xbox 360 was still the latest available console. Its record March in terms of dollars made came in 2014 after the Xbox One was released.

Hardware sales across all platforms dropped 24% compared to Q1 2021, accessories fell 16%, and games 7%, amassing to an overall decline in games industry spending (incorporating hardware, accessories, and games) of 8%.

Elden Ring remained on top of software sales in March, growing by a double-digit percentage compared to its launch month of February. It's still the best-selling game of the year and is now the second-best selling game of the last 12 months, falling only to Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Activision has very high expectations for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.

The publisher said in its first quarter financial results that the sequel to its 2020 Battle Royale will feature "groundbreaking innovations" that will be revealed later this year.

"Development on this year’s premium and Warzone experiences, led by Infinity Ward, is proceeding very
well," Activision said. "The new free-to-play Warzone experience, which is built from the ground-up alongside the premium game, features groundbreaking innovations to be revealed later this year."

The report didn't indicate a release date for Warzone 2 but at least said that fans will hear more about it relatively soon.

Activision announced the sequel in February, saying it would be built in a new engine and feature an "all-new playspace and a new sandbox mode".

Developer Infinity Ward's co-studio head Pat Kelly admitted that it "f**ked stuff up" in the original Warzone as the team is "not happy" and "determined to fix the issues with the game". Fans had criticized its overall stability and lack of content, especially given the install sizes that Infinity Ward itself admitted were "f**king crazy".

Warzone was refreshed with its Season Two Reloaded update, and Infinity Ward certainly tries to keep things interesting with its various events. These include the additions of Godzilla and King Kong plus colossi from both the anime and rap worlds with Attack on Titan and Snoop Dogg DLC.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.