Women in Esports: Sjokz, Frankie & more break down the challenges & goals

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 home the first two EMEA Game Changers titles, Nelo gave her insight into how Game Changers has helped women’s esports and the importance of creating safe spaces for women in gaming.

When Valorant Game Changers began in March 2021, it was a North America-only event. The NA region ran three Game Changers events, and six Academy events, over the course of the year. The format was brought to the EMEA region in September, with the first series in the region starting on September 27.

On October 3, TENSTAR Nova were crowned the first EMEA Game Changers champions after beating Rix.GG Lightning 3-1 in the grand final. Nelo, the MVP of the title decider, could hardly contain herself when the team put the series to bed.

MissMarie has earned an in-game reputation as a ‘clutch queen’

MissMarie, a long-time Rainbow Six Siege pro player, joined player-centric org Delta Project in 2021 and spoke to Dexerto about the need for women’s esports to be taken more seriously, and the importance of giving women in the industry better exposure.

Her biggest issue has often been finding opponents who are willing to take a women’s team seriously.

“People they make assumptions when they find out they are scrimming a women’s team and so they don’t get it their full effort,” she explained. “We’re a serious, professional team and we are often unable to practice properly because people think, ‘oh they’re girls, they’re going to play badly.’”

With Delta Project, MissMarie won the first season of Project Athena, a women’s league established by OPL and Rainbow Six caster Jess Bolden. With Delta Project working to create their own women’s tournament in 2022, MissMarie is hopeful that other organizers will follow suit.

“I am really excited for a Delta Project tournament,” she said. “Because I am part of the creator project at Ubisoft, there are restrictions on the competitive events I can enter. But overall, there just needs to be more tournaments for women that take women’s teams seriously.

“I hope we get another season from the CCS Women’s League and Project Athena. but I just want to be able to play in as many tournaments as possible. There are so many great women out there playing the game, they just need the opportunities to compete.”

MissMarie is a long-time R6 pro who joined Delta Project in 2021

MissMarie also advocates for helping create spaces where women can be themselves.

“I am completely myself when I stream because there’s no point in pretending to be something you aren’t,” MissMarie said. “There is a certain way that people think women in esports are meant to be but I hope I can show other women that they can be themselves too.”

While a member of Delta Project’s women’s team, MissMarie’s primary focus is content creation. She streams on Twitch and also produces YouTube and TikTok content. That gives her a unique insight into how women’s creators are also treated when it comes to esports-related content.

Twitch Rivals, the popular show match format, has invested heavily in Rainbow Six. And while women are frequently seen at the smaller Twitch Rivals Showdown events, just six women have participated in the six mainline Twitch Rivals events – and MissMarie would like to see the streaming giant do more to increase inclusivity at its bigger events.

“I completely respect that captains at Twitch Rivals get to choose their team,” MissMarie said, “and I have nothing but love for the women who have played in those events before. But I feel that Twitch needs to do more.

“They could reach out to smaller female creators in the scene and offer them the opportunity to play. Because I feel it works both ways. If you pick a big streamer, then lots of people will watch your event. But if you pick a smaller streamer, then lots of people will go watch their streams after the event. It’s just a win for everyone.”

MissMarie always believes in being herself, and wants to show other women in esports that they can too

As for what needs to change with esports in general, MissMarie said that everything comes down to people.

“Companies can do really great things like tournaments and supporting women,” she said, “but if people still view women as less, and don’t take women in esports seriously, nothing changes.”

Frankie Ward – Broadcaster and host

Frankie Ward is a long-time esports personality, best known for her work in CSGO

Frankie Ward is known to many for her work in the Counter-Strike scene, but 2021 saw her take on desk duties at The International 10, and the role of commentator for the reboot of 90s gaming show GamesMaster. Her conversation with Dexerto centered around how Valorant’s success has impacted CS:GO, facing abuse at TI, and being the female face of gaming television.

The success of Valorant, and its women’s circuit, Valorant Game Changers, has had a knock-on effect within the FPS scene.

“I think Game Changers is great, and it’s amazing to see these opportunities being afforded for women,” Frankie explained. “But because Riot has seen so much success with Game Changers, the women’s scene in CS:GO is dying as a result. There isn’t the same level of opportunity or developer support, so women are leaving for Valorant.”

The exodus from CS:GO to Valorant is one that has been extensively reported on, but rarely with a focus on the women’s scene. In May 2021, Dignitas Female, one of the most prolific women’s teams in CS:GO, switched their focus to Valorant. Iconic European CS:GO talent like Julia ‘Juliano’ Kiran, Petra ‘Petra’ Stoker, and Zainab ‘zAAz’ Turkie, all left CS:GO for Valorant, and now play under the G2 brand.

To Frankie, it’s clear why they are opting to switch.

“Valve [developer of CS:GO] is just very hands-off when it comes to things like tournament organization,” she said. “Women’s tournaments especially are organized by external groups and increasingly, it’s just not a viable path for women. But Riot is the complete opposite – it simply presents better prospects.”

While CS:GO is Frankie’s bread and butter, she also received the opportunity to serve on the broadcast team for The International 10, the end-of-season tournament in Dota 2.

“I was so honored to be chosen for TI,” Frankie said. When the opportunity came around, she immediately began to learn the game, playing and streaming it consistently throughout 2021. [Editors note: A previous version misquoted that Frankie did not play Dota prior to TI – we apologize for the error.]

Frankie, a long-time Dota fan, was honored to be offered a position on the TI broadcast team

But once there, she was hit with the ugly reality of being a front-facing woman in esports.

“I wasn’t looking at Reddit during TI, mainly because I literally didn’t have the time to,” Frankie explained. “But then stuff started to come on my Twitter.”

Frankie put some of the comments down to ignorance.

“People on Reddit don’t know how much work goes into producing an event like TI,” she said. “We were working insane hours to ensure that we could provide the best experience for the fans. But beyond that, when people say I asked the wrong question, or demand to know why I am asking a certain question, it’s not like I’m just making up as I go along. I go through everything with the broadcast team beforehand but even then, when you’re on stage and you have someone in your ear telling you that they are cutting back to the desk in 10 seconds and you’re nowhere near done with the questions you had in mind, you ask the questions that are going to get great soundbites. That are going to give the most watchable answers.

“No one on the broadcast team had an issue with the questions I asked or how I performed at the desk. It’s why I don’t take advice from Reddit.”

But she also felt that more personal attacks she received were symptomatic of the attitudes people hold towards women in esports. In contrast, the response from the professional community was very positive.

“Obviously I’m not saying that men in esports don’t get criticized,” she said. “They just get criticized in different ways. When people see a woman working in esports and take issue with that, the things they say are so much more personal. It’s not about the performance, it’s about them as a person.

“When people, especially my male colleagues, started challenging people about what they were saying, that was really big to me. I think we’ve seen a lot of occasions where a woman in esports gets harassed online and people who could have spoken up didn’t. But a lot of big-name people were speaking out this time.

“Richard Lewis did a whole video debunking all the ridiculous stuff people were saying. I didn’t watch the whole thing because it was like, 90 minutes long, but it was just crazy to me that here’s Richard Lewis talking about all these things Reddit is saying about me”

But TI was not the only big new project for Frankie in 2021. She also joined the cast of GamesMaster, an E4 reboot of the iconic 90s gaming gameshow.

“I was so excited when I heard about the casting call for GamesMaster,” Frankie said, “and when they told me they were going to cast me, it was because I had come with this really deep knowledge of esports.

“While iconic, the original show didn’t have the best attitude towards women,” Frankie explained. “I felt that ‘women gamers’ was a little too much of a punchline and Zoe Ball was kind of treated like a joke.

“So the fact that they are bringing me on and the attitude is just so different is really great. It feels like a show for 2021, that treats women in gaming just like anyone else”

Frankie is challenging perceptions with her TV role, but wants companies to do more

The attitude of the project is emblematic of what Frankie wants to see change in esports.

“I think companies and organizers need to do more for women in esports,” Frankie said. “Riot has been really really great with Game Changers but that’s just one company. Take the drama about the PGL Major for example. Obviously, there was the whole thing on Twitter about the broadcast team not being diverse.

“To their credit, they listened and they brought Freya [Spiers] in. And of course Freya absolutely killed it, but there’s no reason for her not to be on the team from the start. People always try to hit back with ‘who would you replace then’, and if they can add people to the team, then we don’t have to replace people.

“Bringing women in doesn’t need to be this big showy gesture, it just needs to be a thing that happens from the outset.”

From streaming to broadcasting to owning an esports org, Erin Ashley Simon does it all

Erin Ashley Simon is one of esports’ brightest stars, having taken on an ownership role at XSET alongside her work in streaming and broadcasting. She sat down with Dexerto to talk about women in leadership, the importance of diversity, gaming’s authenticity, and esports accountability.

In November 2020, Erin Ashley Simon was revealed as one of the owners of XSET, an esports organization established by former FaZe Clan executives.

“During the process of them getting everything together for the organization, I was tapped by Clinton Sparks, with whom I had a very solid friendship from his time at FaZe Clan.

“And he was like, ‘We’re setting up this new esports org that’s centered around the core values of diversity and inclusion. We would love for you to be a part of this.’”

But taking on an ownership role was a whole new challenge for Erin and one that spoke to why more underrepresented communities need to be a voice at the leadership tables in esports.

“To be honest, you cannot know the experiences of a marginalized community if you aren’t part of that community,” she said. “And if you want to learn about those communities, you have to go out and be part of them.”

“Esports has been unwelcoming to so many underrepresented communities for a long time,” she said. “That means people from those communities aren’t going to come to you, you have to go to them.”

However, diversity is often a topic mishandled by corporate entities. The ‘diversity win!’ meme speaks the often-seen corporate culture of favoring fleeting, photogenic diversity over meaningful change. It’s why Erin wants to see sincere, intersectional diversity in esports.

“You get a lot of celebrities who try to jump on this esports and gaming trend but the thing is, those spaces are becoming so much more aware of authenticity,” she explained. “You won’t get anywhere if the audience doesn’t feel like you’re there because you actually enjoy the space.”

Esports orgs who recognize this have seen great results in big-name signings. XSET signed Denver Broncos free safety and avid gamer Justin Simmons in November 2021. In January 2021, WNBA star Ariel Powers, who takes her Xbox to every road game, signed with Team Liquid.

Team Liquid signed streamer and 2019 WNBA champion Ariel Powers in early 2021

“There has been a ton of studies that all say the same thing – diversity increases profits,” Erin said. “If you are pushing back against diversity, you are literally hurting your business.”

Away from the bigger picture, Erin also stressed the importance of women in the industry being themselves.

“We are at our strongest, our most powerful, when we are true to ourselves,” she said. “Women especially get told all the time that there is a certain way for us to behave, look, be. But you can’t succeed until you accept who you are.”

Erin strongly believes success starts by accepting yourself

As for what still needs to change within esports, Erin was very clear.

“This is my answer, and I’ve said it on Twitter, but men need to step up,” she explained. “It’s not just a woman’s problem. Men, especially white men, have to understand the privilege that they have and they need to be the ones to hold other men accountable, to tell them that what they are doing and what they are saying is wrong. We should not just lean on women, and especially not just lean on women of color, to fix the problem.

“In order to fix the problem, it’s going to take a village. And that village requires men in the industry to step up, to speak up, and to do more. And I’m not saying all men, because there are men in the industry who do this and who are great allies. But we need more.”