January 3, 2026
2025 was a significant year for inclusivity in esports. With the growing demand for more inclusive competitive spaces, many organizers have responded with dedicated tournaments for women and marginalized genders. While in previous years, women and other marginalized genders were primarily included in one-off tournaments or short-term programs, 2025 brought us major events with consistent prize pools, recurring seasons, and professional broadcast standards. Women’s esports tournaments are finally reaching the status of a real, parallel competitive ecosystem of their own. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant esports events for women and other marginalized genders in 2025.
Calling All Heroes 2025
Organized by Raidiant and Blizzard, Calling All Heroes is an Overwatch tournament series that first started in 2022. The purpose of this tournament is to promote equality, visibility, and community support for underrepresented genders and to provide competitive opportunities for women and other marginalized genders. This year’s season consisted of multiple qualifying events, culminating in an end-of-year championship held on 14 December, featuring a fantastic prize pool of $28,000 USD. Calling All Heroes has been growing as a tournament, with the 202 season made accessible to more players.
The Milk Cup 2025
Raidiant, gonnaneedmilk, and ThePeachCobbler joined forces once again to bring us The Milk Cup, a North American Fortnite tournament. The main idea behind The Milk Cup is to provide women with more opportunities in the competitive esports scene. This year’s finals were held on 18 October with a prize pool of $210,000 USD. The amazing ilyynina and Vader took the victory in this year’s Milk Cup. If you want to find out more about The Milk Cup, check out our interview with Kelly.
Valorant Game Changers 2025
Riot Games organized Valorant Game Changers is an offline Valorant tournament. The tournament aims to create new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalized genders within Valorant esports. With an impressive $500,000 USD prize pool, the Valorant Game Changers grand final was held on 30 November. The winning team was Team Liquid Brazil, who took home the $180,000 USD prize.
Equal Esports Cup 2025
Deutsche Telekom hosted the 2025 Equal Esports Cup (“EEC 2025”), a League of Legends tournament for all women and non-binary players. This tournament intends to give women and non-binary players a chance to showcase their skills and establish themselves in professional esports. The winning team, G2 Hell, went home with a prize of €5,000 and qualified for League of Legends Game Changers 2025 Rising.
Other notable women’s and other marginalized events in 2025 included ELITE FE #4 and ESL Impact League Season 7. ELITE CS and Team Vitality organized ELITE FE #4, an online European CS2 tournament with a prize pool of €10,000 EUR. Another notable event, that was first launched in 2022, is the ESL Impact League, a competition series launched by ESL as part of its #GGFORALL campaign to promote female Counter-Strike players.
In conclusion, 2025 was a year when the playing field leveled slightly. We can finally see more large, professionally organized tournaments for women and other marginalized genders. However, not only do these tournaments offer amazing prize pools, but they also help women and other marginalized genders break into the competitive esports scene. Breaking through in this competitive scene is no easy feat, but with proper inclusion, support from organizations like Raidiant, and more chances to practice, 2025 has made it better than ever.