Why are women underrepresented in esports?

Video games industry are seeing more involvement than ever nowadays, with female gamers now on almost equal standing with what was once a male-dominated sector. Multiple studies have also revealed that female gamers are now as prevalent as male gamers.

A report from Latis Global revealed that female gamers in India make up around 43% of the gaming population. Another report reveals that in 2022 alone, the US had 48% female gamers. The rest of the world follows a similar demographic.

A Statista report for Q3 2023 revealed that both genders stand on equal footing across various age gaps. These studies have not mentioned the preferred platform, but most female gamers usually prefer console or mobile gaming compared to PC gaming.

Why is esports still a male-dominated industry?

Despite all the shrinking gap in gaming gender barriers, the esports industry is still male-dominated. While the esports tournaments do not have a gender requirement to compete, the big stage usually sees close to none in terms of a female team or a mixed team.

Even the tournaments that are exclusively for women do not have as much coverage or prize pool anywhere close to the local events. So despite all of this advancement, what is the reason? It’s not that the games are specifically made for a gender, anyone can play any video game they want. The reason lies in multiple factors that affect the involvement of women in esports. Let’s have a look at them -

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Not enough support

Women and men both have very different upbringings. People are ready to believe a guy if he says he’s aiming to be a professional esports athlete, but women are never told they can start a career in esports even if they are better than a vast majority of gamers. Another classic example of not having enough support is the audience and events based around them. Most female-only esports events do not have as many viewers online or visitors in a LAN event as regular tournaments, which can further lower confidence.

Lack of representation

There are a lot of talented female gamers and while they are slowly being scouted, it isn’t enough just yet. Only a handful of esports organizations have their dedicated female esports rosters. Many of them are usually disbanded, in most cases even before getting a chance to prove themselves. A male esports pro achieving something is celebrated across the internet, while the same isn’t true for a female gamer. Instead of focusing on how they look while gaming, focusing on the skills of a talented female gamer will help much more.

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Lack of motivation

The esports industry hasn’t been as rewarding as it should be which it isn’t in general leading to many female gamers from entering the esports scene. With no one to care enough, most of female gamers choose the comfortable route of casual gaming or streaming, where they have seen massive success in the past few years. There are also not many female names in the esports industry that women can relate to and call role models compared to male gamers.

Toxic environment and sexism

This is another huge fear that stops many female gamers from entering the esports scene. While the situation might have improved a bit over the years, a majority of female gamers have experienced sexism while playing online video games. This also translates into the gaming industry itself, where several female gamers have reported similar things. Both of these combined have a huge effect on their decision to enter the esports industry.

Improvements expected in coming years

While not everything has been sunshine and butterflies for the female esports scene, things have been improving little by little. Several initiatives and women-only tournaments have recently emerged. Valorant is a great example of helping a female esports team get exposure.

The upcoming Esports World Cup also have a dedicated MLBB Women's Invitational tournament featuring a prize pool of $500,000. Few other games have also started the same and in coming years, things are likely to improve, prompting even more female esports teams. Maybe people will even see female rosters compete in more tournaments that were previously dominated by male teams.

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