It’s hard to deny that competitive gaming has become a highly lucrative and entertaining industry to get involved in. For both spectators and professionals, gaming is filled with all kinds of adventure. Now with the opportunity to go competitive, more and more people are getting in on the action. Let’s take a look at female gamers in Esports.

Women In eSports

It’s not wrong to assume that when it comes to competitive sports, men dominate the market, and esports is no different. What’s surprising is that, unlike other sports, esports has equal men to women taking part, but when looking at the professional league, the numbers are down the line-up. 

One of the main reasons the number of women going pro diminishes from the number of those taking part is that the market is male-dominated, with everything from management to game options not providing options women feel they can identify with. 

Key Points:

Lack of role models

Representation is a big part of people feeling like they can relate to the market. Currently, due to the lack of female figures in the industry, other women do not see esports as a viable career path. 

Gender discrimination

Due to the lack of inclusion of women, when those confident enough take the next step, they are often met with uncertainty and a lack of ‘seriousness’. According to one of the few female pros, Marieke’ Miss Marie’ Denise, “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. 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.

Lower earning capacity than men

Unfortunately, esports seems to follow the same trend as most other competitive sports, with women generally expected to pocket less than their men counterparts at the same level. A great example is that DOTA 2 is the market’s biggest game, with $235 million awarded. Out of this, only 0.002% ($6,300) was won by women. More facts about this are that zero females rank in the top 300 earners in esports, nor do any appear in the top 100 esports streamers on Twitch. With lower expected earnings, the esports career isn’t viable for most women.

Harassment, toxicity and abuse

Women face harassment in the workspace often, with esports being male-dominated. Unfortunately, this industry is no different. For those interested in pursuing the market, be sure to dispel all naysayers, with plenty of harassment online, including swatting, doxing, flaming, griefing, botting, hate speech and online voice chat abuse. 

Top 10 Women In eSports

eSports is a fast-growing market, with thousands of competitive video games to partake in. The professional esports market is incredibly lucrative, with it being valued at $1,178 million in 2021, with growth predicted to bring that value to $5,743 million by 2030. 

That said, now is the time for women to take charge and take home their piece of the prize. With the pace of growth the industry has shown, let’s hope that this means that we can expect to see more inclusivity for women, resulting in equal pay, opportunities and interests.

To understand women in the esports sector, here is a complete list of the top 10 female gamers in esports, along with earnings and game choices. 

Scarlett – Sasha Hostyn

Earnings: $322,066.27

Games Played: 

  • StarCraft II

Mystik – Katherine Gunn

Earnings: $122,000.00

Games Played: 

  • Dead or Alive 4
  • Halo: Reach

HaganeNoTema – Sioban Bielamowicz

Earnings: $122,716.22

Games Played: 

  • Attack on Titan
  • Brawlhalla

Ricki Ortiz

Earnings: $80,780.18

Games Played: 

  • Capcom vs SNK 2
  • Marvel vs Capcom 2
  • Marvel vs Capcom 3
  • Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
  • Street Fighter IV
  • Street Fighter V
  • Street Fighter X Tekken
  • Super Street Fighter IV
  • Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
  • Tekken Tag Tournament 2
  • Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
  • Ultra Street Fighter IV

Kasumi Chan – Marjorie Bartell

Earnings: $55,000.00

Games Played: 

  • Dead or Alive 4

Sarah Lou – Sarah Harrison

Earnings: $50,000.00

Games Played: 

  • Dead or Alive 4

Tinares

Earnings: $64,513

Games Played: 

  • Fortnite

zAAz – Zainab Turkie

Earnings: $43,201.43

Games Played: 

  • Counter-Strike
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Ant1ka – Anna Ananikova

Earnings: $39,958.89

Games Played: 

  • Counter-Strike
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

xchocobars – Janet Rose

Earnings: $39,100

Games Played: 

  • Apex Legends
  • Fortnite
  • League of Legends
  • Teamfight Tactics

Show Your Support And Get Involved In The eSports Action.

There is still plenty more to come in the market, and with technology expanding the game possibilities, it is expected that more games with shared interests and well-represented figures will pop up. Get involved in the esports action and show the women of the industry the support they deserve. 

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