For a video game to be eligible, it must contain "outstanding LGBTQ-inclusive content",[2][3] consisting of LGBT characters and stories that are "authentic and impactful".
The game's Legacy of the First Blade downloadable content attracted controversy for featuring a storyline placing the player character Alexios or Kassandra in an unavoidable heterosexual relationship that results in an offspring.
[10] Following the category's announcement, Polygon's Owen S. Good lamented that, given the award's eligibility criteria, indie games inclusive of LGBT characters and themes such as Tacoma, Butterfly Soup, and Dream Daddy could not be nominated.
[2] CJ Adriessen of Destructoid was disappointed by the inaugural nominees in 2019, arguing that The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories deserved a nomination given its positive and respectful representation of trans people,[24] and described the game's exclusion as having "le[ft] a rotten taste in [his] mouth".
[24] Also discussing the category's inaugural nominees, Jay Castello of Rock Paper Shotgun criticized the inclusion of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, particularly in light of its Legacy of the First Blade DLC.
[25] Furthermore, they argued that indie games such as Heaven Will Be Mine and Hardcoded, which deal heavily with LGBT themes and are made by LGBTQ+ people—unlike Assassin's Creed Odyssey and The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset—were more deserving of recognition.
[27] While King acknowledged some of the nominees' representation was minimal and the games were included likely to "make up the numbers",[27] she recognized that progress is not a linear process, and described the list as being well-founded.