The Female Faces of the Esports Industry

One of the features of cybersport disciplines that distinguishes them from standard sports is that there is no strict segregation of genders. Women and men can compete at the same level.

Cybersport has long ceased to be just fun for the children. Around the world, this industry is treated very seriously; it builds a reputation and earns a lot of money. Last year, Ukraine also joined the cohort of countries that have officially recognized e-sports.

Moreover, the number of women and men among cybersport athletes has almost reached the balance — 41% and 59% respectively. Thus, there are still fewer women than men, and this difference is narrowing soon.

Recently Riot Games, the company that represents League of Legends and VALORANT, announced the holding of VCT Game Changers EMEA games for women and representatives of other genders. The tournament series will start this autumn.

The prize fund of the first two will amount to 20 thousand euros and the final to 50 thousand.

There are plenty of women’s teams in world cybersports. Besiktaş Esports/XSET is a CS:GO team representing the Turkish football club Besiktaş. In 2019 they won the qualifying tournament. They did not manage to be the first, but they showed that the women’s teams could be real competitors.

Multi-gaming American company Evil Geniuses announced in the middle of this year that two women joined their strictly male teams. The company joined VALORANT by introducing two female players — Claudia Clawdia Che and Capitan Christine Potter Che. It is known that the latter has shown unbeatable results from CS: GO and is also a knowledgeable analyst.

Dignitas Female is one of the highest-scoring female teams in CS: GO. They ranked first in the Intel Challenge Katowice women’s league, taking home 25,000 USD. Prior to that, they had already won victories at GIRLGAMER Esports in 2018 and the Copenhagen Games in 2019.

Russia created the Vaevictis eSports team from League of Legends, which included nine girls. In 2019, their debut was marked by discriminatory attacks from competitors. However, the women’s team was later accused of unprofessional behavior.

As a matter of fact, Vaevictis eSports lost the competition, ending up in the last position.

As for the players, the real legend among the eSports players is Julia Juliano Kiran. The 27-year-old player began her career in 2010 and is now ranked as one of the best players in Counter-Strike.

During this time, she has been invited by the world’s top teams to play — she has changed seven clubs, and her team became the most prestigious Intel Challenge Katowice for three consecutive years. Recently, the girl announced that she was changing disciplines and would now play for VALORANT.

Chinese streamer Bі axx Xia is known not only for her achievements but also for the fact that she often plays on the roster of male teams in Dota 2.

In 2017, the promising player was remembered by Newbee.Boss. Later she moved to the club Baze. There, the Chinese player once again showed unbeatable results and took the prize place during The International tournament.

The 22-year-old Korean Kim Geguri Se-Yon has made quite a splash in Overwatch, quickly making her way to the world’s top players.

After being requested to play for the UW Artisan, she also qualified for the Nexus Cup. The results were so shocking that she was accused of cheating.

However, after a lengthy investigation, the charge was dropped. In February 2021, Kim joined the Shanghai Dragons’ all-female team and became the first woman in the Overwatch League.

Sasha Scarlett Hostyn, 27, from Canada, is known for her entry into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016. She won the most prizes of any female cyber athlete — a total of 384.2 thousand dollars.

In winter 2018, Sasha won the Intel Extreme Masters in Pyeongchang and became the first woman to win the StarCraft 2 World Championship.

And we finish the list of the most outstanding females in esports with the name of Ukraine’s Antonina Predko. The girl is considered one of the best esports hosts on the territory of Eastern Europe in esports, including CS: GO, Dota2, Point Blank, World of Tanks, PUBG Mobile, StarCraft, Valorant, etc.