As 2021 draws to a close, Dexerto spoke to several women around the esports industry to hear about their experiences from the year.
In October 2021, a post appeared on the League of Legends subreddit that boldly asked the question: ‘why are there no female League of Legends pro players?’ The replies to this and other posts on the topic are eerily emblematic of the challenges women still face in esports, and gaming more widely.
On one hand, there was the creation of Valorant Game Changers, an all-women pro circuit for Riot’s FPS. On the other, the announcement of a $500,000 CS:GO women’s circuit run by ESL as part of its #GGForAll initiative has sparked a heated debate about whether or not separating tournaments by gender is doing a disservice to women in esports.
in 2008 there was literally a world of warcraft team named “gonna rape hafu at regionals” that qualified for blizzcon regionals
no i’m not surprised at the news
— Hafu (@itshafu) July 28, 2021
All this begs the question: when it comes to esports, how do women currently in the industry feel about the state of affairs as 2021 draws to a close?
Dexerto spoke to five women – Rainbow Six Siege player and content creator Marieke ‘MissMarie’ Denise, broadcaster and host Frankie Ward, two-time Valorant Game Changers champion Mathilde ‘Nelo’ Bartoise, host and esports personality Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere, and broadcaster and esports org owner Erin Ashley Simon. They shared their thoughts on the past year, and what still needs to change in esports.
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Mathilde ‘Nelo’ Bartoise – Valorant Game Changers champion
Nelo is a two-time Valorant Game Changers champion
Nelo dominated the early stages of the EMEA edition of Valorant Game Changers, the all-women pro circuit for Riot’s FPS title. Having taken