September 10, 2024
If we look at surveys concerning gaming, it’s evident that the number of male and female gamers is split almost equally. This equality is, however, still not present in esports events. Even with the industry’s rise in inclusivity and diversity, the low representation of women in the esports industry is still evident. Thankfully, looking at recent trends, it seems that these numbers are slowly starting to change. 2024 has proven to be a fruitful year for women in esports. This has helped both women and all members of marginalized gender identities in the esports community.
For this reason, it’s imperative to highlight some of this year’s biggest women’s esports events.
Calling All Heroes – The Challenger Series 2023/2024
Calling All Heroes is Blizzard’s gender-inclusivity initiative that supports members of marginalized gender identities. Their Challenger Series is a year-long competitive circuit that features qualifier events hosted by third-party organizers. This event aims to support gamers of marginalized gender identities in the Overwatch esports ecosystem. Teams that finished at the top during the competitive circuit qualified for a Championship event hosted by Blizzard in February of 2024. The official partner of this year’s challenger series was Raidiant. The first event was the Raidiant Heroes Major 1, which took place in April of 2023. The winning teams split the prize pool of $20,000. The first prize went to team Timeless Ethereal, a North American Overwatch team.
The Milk Cup 2024
Milk Esports, in collaboration with Raidiant’s all-women production team, WOTE, and @ThePeachCobbler, organized a Fortnite tournament under the name The Milk Cup. The tournament aims to help women in the esports community. It does so by allowing them to compete for the largest prize pool in North America. The tournament was split into three qualifiers, and 11 teams earned their spot in the LAN finals. The winning team was Team Moxie, who went home with a prize of $75,000. If you want to see how the tournament went, check out Moxie’s video here.
MLBB Women’s Invitational 2024
MLBB Women’s Invitational is an online tournament organized by Moonton and EWCF. It’s the world championship of the female MLBB scene. Therefore, it is no surprise that this tournament featured quite a prize pool. The prize pool was $500,000 and was split between the winners, with the winning team being Omega Empress. Omega Empress is a Phillipines-based all-women team under Omega Esports. The winning team went home with a prize of $180,000. The runner-up team was Vit.Fe, Vitality’s women’s team.
Equal eSports Cup 2024
Equal eSports Cup is the largest League of Legends tournament for women and non-binary people. It was organized by the Equal eSports Initiative. This initiative aims to promote equality and inclusion in esports. Deutsche Telekom, SK Gaming, and the Esports Player Foundation launched this initiative in 2021. The initiative has a fantastic support program for their esports talents, which you can check out here. The Equal eSports Cup took place from the 5th to the 8th of March 2024. The winning team was NNOwO, a German team consisting of women and people of marginalized gender. The team went home with the $10,000 prize for first place.
Verizon VALORANT Game Changers North America
Verizon VALORANT Game Changers North America is a tournament series for women. It was organized by Riot Esports in collaboration with Raidiant. The tournament kicked off in February, with the championship taking place in November of 2024. One of the teams that qualified for the championship was Shopify Rebellion, last year’s tournament winner. With a prize pool of $16,000, this tournament aims to prepare teams for more significant events in a lower-stake environment. If you want to read more about this event, check out this article.
Why female representation in esports events is important
According to a 2022 study by Bryter, women are severely underrepresented in esports events. This lack of representation leads to discrimination and misogyny. Thankfully, looking at the past few years, the number of women in esports is finally picking up. Hopefully, the esports industry will stay on this trajectory, offering a more inclusive and diverse scene. This way, more and more women can join the playing field as equals.