What’s next for the women seeking success in esports?

There are more women in the esports industry today than ever before, but that truthfully isn’t saying much. The history of esports is still relatively brief, and throughout that short count of years, it’s been a predominantly male-dominated space when it comes to pro players, coaching staffs, and even organizational operations.

This hasn’t stopped women with a passion for competitive gaming from carving out their own paths in the industry, creating new opportunities as they go for other women chasing the same dream. But most female professionals in esports would tell you it’s still not enough. So why is it that women struggle to become meaningfully involved in esports, and what’s needed to make a meaningful change to that status quo?

Why do women struggle getting into esports?

It was probably one of the stand-out moments from the earlier seasons of the Overwatch League. Many fans still remember when the Shanghai Dragons signed Kim “Geguri” Se-yeon, the first and only female player in the league’s history. After being accused of cheating in 2016 just for being as good at the game as she was, the tank main earned a spot with the Chinese OWL team in 2018.

Unfortunately for her and her fans, Overwatch’s sharply changing pro play meta and Geguri’s particular specialization meant that she didn’t see much time on stage — but she still inspired many women in that short time in the spotlight.

Geguri

It sounds like a heartening story— and it is one — but the exceptional nature of Geguri’s story shines a light on something concerning: that there are almost no women on professional esports’ main stages. Hence why Geguri stood out so much despite her minimal time at the forefront.

Geguri was by no means the first or only woman to play at the highest level of her chosen game. One can look back as far as Counter-Strike player Thelma “Queen” Lundin in the early 2000s, or more recently at Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn, a tournament-winning competitor in StarCraft 2. But these examples are very few and far between in a sea of male players.

Scarlett

Why is that? Unfortunately, the oft-repeated claim that there’s a skill gap between male and female competitors is largely true, keeping many women from competing at the top level. But while that gap does continue to persist, it may not be for the reasons that many think.

Encountering sexism and hostility online can actively hold women back from playing as often or as early as their male counterparts. According to the Gender Justice Project, a significant majority of women, over 63%, have reported being harassed while playing games online. This includes sexist comments targeting gender, threats made by men to harm or sexually assault women, stalking outside of the game, and doxxing  by revealing personal information online.

These are behaviors that no one should have to deal with, and it’s a stark point that more than half of women who play online admit to facing such difficulties. And that still doesn’t count those who are unwilling to speak up about it, whether because of shame, intimidation, or other factors.

As one can imagine, this behavior is very disruptive in and around multiplayer games where teamwork, strategy, and focus are often all paramount. Women are distracted by a constant barrage of harassment, and some of those who choose to push through it will even mute themselves and refuse to communicate in order to hide and protect their identity. The important teamwork dynamic is lost when women cannot effectively communicate with players on their teams who are being uncooperative, rude, or even potentially dangerous in their willingness to dox or stalk female players they encounter.

While esports presents a more professional environment less prone to these hazards, the skill gap is established far earlier because female players have fewer opportunities to confidently grind and practice their skills up to that point.

The gap is then maintained in part by structural differences between formal male and female divisions in esports. Through all of this, women are often faced with immediate disadvantages that set them behind their male counterparts, and those who persevere then encounter divisions that make it difficult to ever truly catch up.

Pro Valorant player Aleyna “Vania” Keskin of G2 Gozen told jaxon.gg that despite the success she has achieved, she is among the many women who have found it “difficult” to play games online due to the sexism she experienced.

“I’ve encountered toxic players in the game, but my love for gaming kept me going. But I believe this negativity can drive some women away from the industry,” Vania said.

Vania

Team Vitality’s Counter-Strike 2 manager Amy “Aphiren” May agreed that a skill gap does exist due to women’s negative experiences making it difficult to continue pursuing competitive gaming. However, she believes opportunity does exist for women who are willing to continue working towards closing this gap as more competitors like Vania push through these challenges.

“I think right now it’s very clear there is a skill gap. There are no women competing in top teams, like in all games right now,” Aphiren told jaxon.gg. “It’s still possible for women to achieve the greatness they set out to, however.”

Aphiren also speaks to the importance of safe spaces for women in gaming, and the need for a safe space away from harassment and related issues has in part led to the creation of all-female tournament circuits. These include Riot’s Game Changers for female Valorant pros, and women’s tournaments for Counter-Strike 2.

In theory, these women’s events could provide a safer environment for competing women to practice and compete without negative interference, while also getting the experience they need to reach the same skill level as their male counterparts.

But to date, it hasn’t really been working out that way. There are multiple reasons for that, and some come down to the financial realities of an esports industry that remains young and in flux.

Aphiren explained to jaxon.gg that female esports tournaments are often the first to see cuts when financial difficulties impact esports organizations’ operations. This is due to women’s esports not yet serving as a large source of revenue for esports organizations, which can lead to a cycle in which events aren’t given sufficient support and are then shuttered when that lack of support results in a lack of attention.

As these tournaments are shuttered, opportunities for female players shrink.

“We’ve seen tournament organizers with reduced prize pools, reduced money going into teams…this hurts the ecosystem. Without a big prize incentive, top teams simply can’t afford to keep running a female team. It’s an expensive effort,” Aphiren said, while adding that she “can understand that it’s impossible sometimes to justify the costs.”

aphiren

It seems quite the challenge to make female esports events as profitable as their male counterparts when those tournaments are not given the same time, space, and promotional opportunities. That’s on top of existing preconceptions around women’s events related to the level of skill on display, which goes back to the cyclical skill gap issue that begins to build as soon as female players first begin competing online and face additional hurdles related to their very identity.

G2 Chief Operating Officer Sabrina Ratih told jaxon.gg that women are often treated as an afterthought at esports events, making it difficult to make gains in viewership that can help to justify costs to tournament organizers or draw interest from potential sponsors.

“Sometimes you see male finals being played in one area and female finals being played at the same time in a smaller room. We all have to make sure we are not cannibalizing [women’s events] and are putting up a big stage for both events,” Ratih said.

When both tournaments are competing for the same viewers, many will tune in to the event with the bigger names and the teams they’re already familiar with by default. This again leaves women’s tournaments to struggle with viewership, again leading to a lack of sponsors and financial support and putting a cap on the visibility of women’s events. This keeps the profiles of female players and teams that much lower, and is yet another example of the cyclical issues that women face in esports.

Even when women’s tournaments are present, there are many examples of this juxtaposition between male and female tournaments. Take the annual Esports World Cup. Its main Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament at its 2025 event has a $3 million prize pool. There’s also a separate women’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament, but it features a $500,000 total prize pool, one-sixth the size of its counterpart.

The argument to justify this is that there are likely to be more viewers for the main event, meaning more sponsors and a greater overall value for tournament operators. But even with this reasoning, the disparity contributes to the cycle that helps to maintain this gap and perpetuates this separation in audience interest.

Prize pools remain smaller because tournament organizers don’t want to throw more money at an event with limited viewership. But this lower prize pool leaves esports organizations less willing to compete because it’s often not worth the cost of putting together a team and flying out to an event that’s relatively lacking in prize funding.

It’s worth noting that this example is far from the norm, but not because most women’s tournaments are better in line with their counterparts — rather, most women’s tournaments are even smaller, if they exist at all.

The female teams that do compete at these events may not have sponsors, inhibiting practice opportunities and preventing them from traveling to a full schedule of events. Without that full schedule or ideal practice opportunities, women don’t have the same potential as their male counterparts to train and compete, or to gain a significant following. One can see how the cycle is hard to overcome. And as Aphiren notes, there’s more to it yet.

“This is another reason we don’t see many women competing — it’s hard to compete if you don’t have a salary. How do you dedicate yourself to the sport if you can’t live off it?” Aphiren said. “Only the biggest organizations can supplement that. It’s difficult. The money isn’t there to support a competitive environment. That’s why orgs are pulling out and why women are not getting as much competitive experience.”

What’s the future of women in esports?

Prospects for the future of women in esports may seem bleak when you consider the struggles women immediately face in practicing and competing, and later face in support at the game’s highest levels. But the women in and around the esports industry are not giving up. In fact, they’re more determined now than ever before to push women into greater success in esports.

While hosting all-female tournaments is in some ways a good start and does provide a dedicated space for women, it’s not the ultimate goal. The real hope is that men and women will one day consistently compete together in mixed pro tournaments, and that women will see consistent success at the highest levels of competitive gaming.

The initial barrier to entry is women’s distinct experiences with sex-based harassment while playing competitive games online. Various non-profits aimed at making gaming more inclusive urge women to report any inappropriate in-game behavior in hopes of getting perpetrators punished, as well as joining supportive groups online.

Luckily, many game developers are continuing to push to end harassment, like Riot Games recently revealing stricter punishments for toxic behavior in League of Legends and Valorant.

Addressing the normalization of sexism in competitive games is a good start. But it’s not a guarantee that women will be able to avoid running into a toxic or dangerous teammate online, even with better structures in place. Having support groups and feeling more confident in gaming spaces — both online and in person — can encourage women to ignore harassment or even stand up for themselves.

It’s unfortunate that so little of the focus when it comes to sexism online falls on the perpetrators. While encouraging women to find support and report offenders is necessary, it doesn’t do much to change gaming culture’s toxicity from the end of the aggressor. But as more women continue to take up space in the scene, the experience should be better normalized for them. Both at the grassroots level, and among the ranks of pros.

As a female pro player herself, G2’s Vania has had experience playing with both all-female and mixed teams. In fact, she started getting more serious about her esports journey when she formed a mixed team with her male friends.

“All-women tournaments are important as they provide a safe space for us to showcase our skills,” Vania said. “However, in the future, I’d love to see more mixed events where women and men can compete equally.”

Valorant Game Changers

Women working in the background of the esports industry have similar hopes for the scene. Aphiren noted that while all-female tournaments are a space for women to feel safe, it’s not the end goal.

“The way you close this gap is by starting to integrate mixed-gender teams and tournaments to allow the barrier to be broken,” Aphiren said. “Female tournaments will provide safe spaces, but men and women wouldn’t be separated for the ‘main’ tournaments.”

If larger esports organizations and event organizers really want to see women succeed in esports, they’ll likely have to back up that aspiration financially. This is something that G2 and some other teams have begun to pursue — but they still need more organizations to join them in those efforts.

Ratih told jaxon.gg that G2 saw that women in esports needed to be a “strategic pillar for the organization, a long-term investment.” The organization has signed female rosters for many of the most popular esports titles — League of Legends, Valorant, Rocket League, and Counter-Strike 2. Male and female teams are treated the same, provided with the same levels of coaching, organizational support, and opportunities for practice.

Sabrina Ratih

“Creating awareness and giving them an actual shot [will help bridge the gap]. Just us [signing teams] is not going to move the needle. I want our female players to play,” Ratih said. “We don’t want to pay for them to scrim, train, have media days  —we want them to compete.”

This brings us back to the problem of too few organizations providing such support. G2 and similarly inclined organizations can sign teams, provide them with coaches and practice spaces, and pay them a livable salary. But with so few other esports organizations doing the same, and so few tournament organizers hosting meaningful female events, it’s difficult to give these female teams a full competitive schedule similar in structure to their male counterparts.

Given the financial realities of esports and women’s tournaments in particular, it can be difficult to incentivize teams and event organizers to make these significant investments and stick to them for the long-term.

So what more can be done? Ratih believes there need to be more role models for women to get involved in esports at the foundational level and further build on its growing roots. The more competitive players and support staff members that join in, the more potential impact women will be able to have on the scene.

Ratih has seen how many women have responded to that inspiration firsthand when G2 signed its first female teams: within six months the org’s female fanbase increased by more 75%, nearly doubling in size. It’s clear that women become more interested in esports when they feel not only represented, but empowered, and are able to see examples of other women competing.

“We need role models and women on the casting side, pro player side, staff side, coaches, content… On- and off-stage we need more female leaders in the space,” Ratih said. “For me, outside of structural challenges, this is one of the biggest challenges why women don’t pursue a career as a pro in esports.”

Vania agreed, noting how the presence of female players in esports made her feel at the start of her own career: “Seeing other female players made me feel inspired. It reminded me that I am not alone and that there are so many talented women in the industry.”

Now, Vania is a role model herself. She says it makes her feel proud, while also realizing that if she can fill such a role, “anyone can.” Vania hopes her career in esports helps other female players to continue to work hard to chase their own dreams.

There are notable pockets of progress across the industry. The VCT, Valorant’s top level of pro play, saw its first female competitor debut in 2025. Meanwhile, G2 Hel just became the first-ever female team to be promoted to a Tier 2 League of Legends tournament, and the response to G2 Hel’s success has been almost universally positive. This also stands as further proof that female pro players receive more recognition for succeeding in mainstream esports events than when segregated to smaller all-female tournaments.

G2 Hel

Ratih is hoping to see similar stories of successful talents in League of Legends and other games in the near future, in part through establishing means for building into that success.

“Like Game Changers in Valorant, we’re pushing for a similar setup in League of Legends. It’s finally happening this year,” Ratih told us. “It’s an incredible step in the right direction to ensure players get the tournament experience and time. And get to practice on an international level.”

Having full schedules for female League of Legends pros will allow teams like G2 to provide the complete esports experience — regular practice, consistent tournament experience, content creation, and organizational support. Consistency is key in ensuring that female esports pros are the “best version” of themselves off and on stage, Ratih said, taking steps towards closing the skill gap that has kept so many from playing at the highest levels.

Potential remains high for women in esports

If enough esports organizations follow suit, whether it’s teams like G2 investing in female talents or tournament organizers like Riot Games creating opportunities for women to compete, the numbers show that the interest in female players and teams can grow. Increased viewership and more sponsorships could allow organizations to invest more money into supporting these female talents. That means more effective practice and more opportunity.

If the skill gap gets tighter, more women could then make the jump to mixed teams and play in mixed tournaments at the top level.

The opportunity to watch women compete alongside men has been seen as motivational and exciting for many — and not just women. This will put more eyes on women in esports since they will be in the “main” circuit, making it a lot easier to reach a wider esports audience and find greater support for what is still an industry working through growing pains.

Not every female team is quite there, but the progress we’ve seen this year alone shows what can happen if female players get the support they need to bridge the existing gaps. While all-female tournaments are a great start, it’s ultimately just one step on the path to seeing women fully integrated into the highest levels of play across esports.