Esports titles in particular were seen as men’s sports titles for a long time now. That is changing with how many female gamers have been active in the scene, playing games like League of Legends and Apex Legends, and absolutely dominating games and lobbies, stomping noobs as it were.

But, female gamers didn’t have it easy and in some video games, they still don’t. There is a lot of prejudice about female gamers, specifically about them being worse, or immediately shifting blame to the female teammate once something goes wrong. 

Well, female gamers are here to play and here to stay. Here is more on the situation that females are currently facing in the communities.

A Lot of Prejudice and Judgment

Female gamers are typically met with a lot of verbal abuse in video games, once that it becomes apparent that they are female. No matter the game, they will often be blamed by male gamers for things which are inconsequential. Mistakes which should be acknowledged by the person who made them, often the one who is doing the blaming, are shifted to the female gamer.

This mostly happens in team games like Apex, League or to a lesser extent, Dota. While these cases are rare, they still happen and can make playing a game a very unpleasant experience. Communities are changing, though bans for voice chat are very rare, compared to written bans. Games that have voice chat have proven to be more problematic than the ones with written text.

Companies Are Clamping Down on Abuse

With voice chat being one of the more recent problems, most developers are clamping down on any type of verbal abuse, not being afraid to use the ban hammer as soon as someone steps out of line and is reported. The systems will check the report against recordings, again, chat being easier to record than voice, and will immediately issue a ban. Most games have three strikes, with the third being a permanent ban of the account. 

Inclusivity is important in gaming, so strict policies against verbal abuse are almost necessary in some parts of the industry.

Female Gamers Are More Prominent

The advantage of the internet and streaming platforms is that it gives a window for any girl to stream and show her skills or entertainment value to the world. With that, there are a plethora of girls who are competitive and also entertaining. Look up any competitive shooter and you will likely find a woman or ten, dominating lobbies at the highest level of competition. 

Women in Professional Gaming

Esports also has a place for women and there are many of them, most competing in CS: GO and Fortnite. Fighting games are also something women excel at, even though you will mostly hear about women in the more popular titles (as is the case in esports and sports in general). Professional gaming is getting more inclusive and mixed gender teams will most likely be formed at some point.

There are many women gamers, from amateurs, entertainers to professionals, providing us with fun and mesmerizing content.