Esports organization Cloud9 takes steps to end discrimination in gaming

Despite the recent creation of Cloud9’s first all-female esports team, discrimination towards women in esports still remains rampant. Screenshot taken from Twitch streamer Chica.

Discussion of the misogynistic culture toward women in sports, for the most part a male-dominated field, has become prevalent of late with multiple high-profile figures in the MLB being accused of sexual harassment.

Yet that culture not only exists in the locker rooms and front offices of physical sports; it’s also apparent in the esports world, according to Diego Sunico, a sophomore Chapman student and avid player of the massively popular multiplayer games “Valorant,” “League of Legends” and “Counter-Strike.”

“I would say for the professional scene, girls are given a lot less opportunities than guys usually are,” Sunico said. “People don’t expect many girl gamers to be as talented as guy gamers ... Companies that are hosting these tournaments are mostly inviting the guy teams and (hold) a separate bracket for females.”

Recently, Cloud9, a prominent esports organization, signed its first all-female team to compete in the game “Valorant.” After being reprimanded for cultivating a toxic environment for women, the move represents a step forward for both the esports industry and “Valorant,” says Claire Johnson, a sophomore environmental science major and frequent gamer. 

However, to Johnson, further improvement needs to be made.  She said she has noticed that people have a certain stereotype when it comes to women that play video games. Once their identity is revealed, men have a tendency to belittle them. 

“A lot of times when I play games and people find out that I’m a girl, they say, ‘I can’t believe that you’re a girl playing games,’ and they’ll kind of baby you,” Johnson said. “Or they’ll be like … ‘If I win, will you give me your number?’” 

She also believes there’s inherent inequality within the gaming industry, as developers can have a bias in marketing certain games to certain genders, she said. 

“Games that are geared toward more male audiences — like shooter games — have more of a negative bias towards females,” Johnson said. “First person shooter games are more (geared toward males), compared to ‘Animal Crossing’ or ‘Minecraft,’ which seems to be more geared toward females.”

Discrimination and misogyny can exist at all levels of the videogame world, most prominently on highly public streaming platforms such as Twitch. Streamer Katia Li, who goes by “Khyli” on Twitch, has noticed that people underestimate her abilities because of her gender.

“When I am playing, there are a lot of ‘backseat gamers’ who will try to tell you what you should do or what to do,” Li said. “This happens more if you are a girl, because people assume that you don’t know what you’re doing at times.”

It's also a regular occurrence for viewers to sexualize female streamers. Recent incidents have included popular streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys being referred to as referring to “eye candy,” or another female Twitch streamer, Emme “Negaoryx” Montgomery, being asked, “What color is your thong today?” While Li has moderators and words banned on her stream to prevent inappropriate comments, some have nonetheless found ways to bypass them. 

“You do get the occasional sexual comment here and there, but I just don’t respond to them and immediately ban them,” Li said. “Feeding into it fuels the problem even more, and there is no point in engaging because they’re obviously trolls.”

Moving forward, for equal treatment and representation in the esports industry, many more women hope to one day play in the same leagues as men and earn equal pay. 

“I like that (Cloud9) made an all female team and it’s a great start, because it brings a lot of recognition and shows that girls can also play games professionally,” Johnson said. “However, it will be hard, because most of the professional teams are all male and change is not going to happen right away.”