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XSET starriebun: “I never thought I’d get signed by an org until I saw how many were supporting women in VALORANT.” 

It’s a well-known fact that women and other marginalized genders in gaming often don’t have it easy. The community... Fragster | 5. October 2022

It’s a well-known fact that women and other marginalized genders in gaming often don’t have it easy. The community is known for its toxicity, and bullying, harassment, underestimating, and not being taken seriously are just a few examples of why many people often choose not to speak in online multiplayer games or even avoid pursuing higher ranks completely. 

In esports, this issue is even more complicated, as there is a serious lack of competition and opportunities for marginalized genders when compared to opportunities available for male players. Ultimately, it’s one of the main factors that hold equality and inclusivity in gaming and esports back. 

However, the situation has been improving in the past two years, especially since the launch of the VCT Game Changes in early 2021, as well as the launch of the ESL Impact League earlier this year. Some of the biggest esports organizations, including EG, Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, NAVI, and BIG, started signing female rosters in VALORANT and CS:GO, and G2 even recently signed a women’s League of Legends team, raising the question of whether Riot is planning to launch women’s League of Legends esports circuit

And while the industry still has a long way ahead before it reaches the desirable state of inclusivity and the same volume of opportunities for everyone, it’s good to see that things are moving in the right direction. 

To take a closer look at the current state of the esports scene when it comes to women and other marginalized genders, we spoke with Katherine “starriebun” So, a 24-years-old American VALORANT player who currently plays for XSET Purple. Besides her experience as a female in esports, we also discussed the importance of role models in the professional scene, as well as the role that esports organizations play in making players realize that their dreams can become a reality. 

Being a girl in esports is rewarding

Fragster: Katherine, you’ve been in competitive VALORANT since 2020, having played for TSM Female and the free agent team Nothing2Lose before signing with XSET Purple last year in September. Can you talk about your experience as a female in esports?

starriebun: Being a woman in esports, I’ve always faced a lot of sexism. There will always be people who will throw my games or purposefully grief me to ruin my experience. Occasionally, there have been experiences where teams don’t want to scrim us because we are girls, or they won’t take the scrim seriously. Although there have been a lot of bad experiences, I think being a girl in esports is very rewarding. The number of times a girl has told me that I’ve inspired them to get better in the game or that I gave them the confidence to talk in their ranked games has really motivated me to continue on this path. 

Do you think there is a future for mixed rosters and tournaments with a format similar to the recent Misfits Gaming Invitational, where players of male, female, non-binary, or other marginalized genders unite in teams? Or do you feel more like for now, we’re sticking to a clear division on male and female tournaments?

For now, there is a clear division but I do believe that in the future, mixed rosters would be more normalized. I believe that the VCT Game Changers events are building a foundation and are a stepping stone for women to step up into the Tier 1 tournaments. The goal for every Game Changers team should be to compete at the highest level and play in all tournaments (not only specifically female tournaments). 

So you believe that in the future, we will see female & mixed teams in a regular VALORANT Champions Tour competition apart from Game Changers?

Yes, all the Game Changers teams should play in the regular VCT qualifiers and participate in them.

Need for inspiring role models and supportive orgs

How do you think more women & people of marginalized genders can be motivated not to hide their talent and go pursue their dreams on the competitive scene?

I think it is really important to have good role models in the scene. One of the reasons I got into competing was because I had really looked up to the female competitors in CS (Emuhleet/Artstar/Goosebreeder). Seeing everything that they were achieving and the fact that they were breaking that glass ceiling really inspired me to want to do the same. It is crucial that the signed players now, step forward to be good role models and work hard to break the stigma about women in gaming, in order to help inspire others to do the same.

And what impact esports organizations can have in this regard? Do you think they could change the narrative that gaming is “typically a boys’ thing”?

Esports organizations play a huge role in this regard. In CS:GO, there weren’t that many orgs that had a female roster until very recently, but when VALORANT came out, the number of orgs that picked up female players was insane, which is why I believe the participation in these female tournaments is now so high. 

In CS:GO there used to be only 8 teams that would sign up for tournaments, but in VALORANT, there’s like 48+. I think esports organizations that openly support women in gaming give women/marginalized genders a reason to grind the game as well and make them realize that their dreams can become a reality. I never thought I would be able to get signed and play for an org until I saw how many orgs were supporting women in VALORANT, which gave me even more motivation to get signed. 

Grind and let people know you’re grinding

What advice you would give to amateur players of marginalized genders who aim to be noted by an organization?

The biggest advice I would give to these teams is to put their head down and grind. They need to play in all the tournaments (small and big) and build up their tournament experience. Another big thing is to have a social media presence. Before our team was signed, we were a free agent team named Nothing2Lose, and we had created a Twitter account specifically promoting our team to showcase our tournament wins and game highlights. This played a big part in us being noticed and eventually getting signed by XSET.

Header: Starriebun / Twitter