Despite making tremendous strides over the years, the esports industry is still heavily male-dominated, with gender biases continuing to be a major barrier to entry for many women. However, there is a contingent of women challenging the social norms and making serious waves in the community.
In this article, we’ll trace the evolution of esports, starting from humble beginnings to its current state as a global juggernaut. We’ll also highlight a few key playmakers who have sought to level the playing field by championing gender equality on the digital battlefield.
A History Of Women In Esports
The Early Days Of Esports
It may surprise you to know that the first video game was created way back in the 1950s—a simple tennis game similar to Pong. More than two decades after that, competitive gaming (or “esports”) was born when the first esports event was hosted in 1972 at Stanford University and featured the game Spacewar!
Since then, the competitive nature of gaming has skyrocketed. Combined with technological advancements, esports spawned larger (and more lucrative) competitions. The industry had a major breakthrough in 2005 with the CPL World Tour. It was the first-ever $1 million tournament and set a new standard for the industry.
The professional esports scene continues to evolve and experience rapid growth in terms of its audience and revenue. In contrast, however, women are still heavily underrepresented at the highest levels of competition, despite considerable efforts and discussion to promote more inclusion in the esports industry.
Pioneers Of Gender Equality In Esports
Fortunately, esports has been on the receiving end of stronger advocacy for gender neutrality and support for marginalized people. Here are a few women who have boldly redefined the professional gaming arena.
Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn (StarCraft II)
Scarlett is a professional StarCraft II player for Shopify Rebellion. She holds the Guinness World Records title of highest career earnings for a female competitive video game player, with lifetime earnings of more than $471,000 across nearly 300 esports tournaments.
Also known as the Queen of Blades, Scarlett is a testament that gender is not a determinant of skill. She’s demonstrated exceptional proficiency with Zerg and clinched numerous championship titles against her male counterparts.
Stephanie “Missharvey” Harvey (Counter-Strike)
Missharvey is a long-time vanguard of women’s esports, and she also championed efforts to promote inclusivity and diversity in the competitive arena. As a former Counter-Strike pro, she boasts an impressive resume that includes multiple world championship victories!
Reflecting on the current state of esports in an interview, Missharvey said: “We’re still kind of in that time where we need to talk about it to be able to normalize it. We need to make sure that we continue pushing. The battle is not done. We are just starting. Equality in esports is not there yet.”
Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden (Dota 2)
Sheever stands as a role model for women in esports. She has had a successful career as a tournament host and caster at numerous Tier 1 events for Dota 2, such as The International, Riyadh Masters, ESL One, DreamLeague, and more. These accomplishments have helped to challenge perceptions and demonstrate that gender is not a barrier to excellence in esports.
In 2017, the Queen of Dota 2 was diagnosed with breast cancer but continued to appear at events while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. She beat cancer two years later and displayed a level of courage and strength that earned her immense respect, solidifying her status as an inspirational figure in esports.
Women-Centric Esports Initiatives
In addition to these playmakers, multiple women-centric initiatives have been launched in the world of esports. Here are a few key organizations committed to fighting the good fight:
- Women in Games: Offers networking opportunities, mentorship programs, and educational events to support women’s careers in gaming and esports.
- Women in Esports: Dedicated to promoting inclusivity and diversity while encouraging women and marginalized genders to participate in esports at all levels.
- Female Legends: A non-profit working to promote women and non-binary people within esports and the wider gaming community.
- AnyKey: A non-profit organization that fosters change and empowers the champions making a difference in esports, competitive gaming, and live streaming.
- Girl Game Esports Festival: An international festival that celebrates and promotes female talent in gaming. It includes competitions, panels, and networking events, aiming to build a community and showcase the skills of women in esports.
The Current Esports Landscape
Over the years, esports has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with a global audience of more than 530 million. But there’s still a big problem: esports faces a huge gender gap. According to Women in Games, women make up “less than 1% of professional players” while “women in the workforce [are] estimated to be around 5%”—this is in stark contrast to the 48% of women gamers reported by the Entertainment Software Association.
This disparity extends to earnings, with female players barely scraping the top 500 earners list, which men dominate. For example, the aforementioned Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn is the highest-earning woman in esports and has lifetime earnings totaling $471k. However, this pales in comparison to the highest-earning man, Johan “n0tail” Sundstein, who leads with a staggering $7.2m.
This imbalance is not about a lack of skill or representation. Instead, it has more to do with the challenges women face in the esports arena, including contending with a hostile atmosphere rife with online harassment, sexism, and cultural biases. Tackling these issues head-on could close the gender gap in esports and create a more welcoming and equitable space for everyone.
The good news is that the future looks bright for women in esports.
The Future Of Women In Esports
The establishment of all-women esports teams, leagues, and tournaments combined with initiatives like the Equal Esports Initiative, AnyKey, and Women In Games has already drawn a massive influx of non-binary and femme-identifying individuals to the global esports arena. As a result, we’re seeing a significant shift toward inclusivity.
This shift is also reflected in the gaming industry as a whole, which has seen a sharp uptick in the representation of strong feminine protagonists in AAA titles. From Kait Diaz in Gears 5 and Aloy in the Horizon series to Lifeline and Bangalore in Apex Legends (to name just a few!). Overall, we’re seeing stronger narrative diversity across the board.
These efforts mirror strategies to facilitate more sustainable entry points for women into esports, such as female-only wildcard qualification routes (like the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship). This provides women with the opportunity to showcase their skills as esports players without resorting to quotas that could be perceived as artificially diversifying the competition.
While the trajectory of discussions around inclusivity is promising, greater awareness of gender inequality is needed to maintain the momentum. Some key steps include actively promoting entry and advancement opportunities for women while also tackling cultural prejudices within the esports community.
