The world of sports is incredible. When we enter the arena as a fan or as a participant, we share a union with others. Attending college sporting events has helped me feel connected to my community, even if I don’t know what all the rules of the game are.
However, this unity has a small rift in it. Men and women have traditionally been separated, and not always for the better. When I attended both men and women’s hockey games there were some key differences. The men’s games were heavily advertised, had all the flashing lights and packed out crowds chanting and cheering for the players. The women’s games, however, could barely fill a section of the arena and lacked in flashy lights and loud cheers. The two teams played the same game and had the same skills, but were treated as separate with one side holding a disadvantage.
Now I’m not here to bash at sports and rally the masses to demanding gender equality in sports. Anyone who knows me knows I am not much of a sports person anyway, but even someone as non-sporty as myself has felt the divide. I’m pointing all of this out instead to shed light on something fascinating that has happened with the world of sports’ oddball cousin, esports.
In 2016 Blizzard company released a game called Overwatch with the tagline, “the world could always use more heroes.” This game is a team-based, first-person-shooter style where you can choose to play any of the now 27 heroes to battle another team. This game became an instant success, partly because of its diversity in heroes. Before Overwatch most games of this style, such as Team Fortress 2, had characters who were primarily white, male, and heterosexual. Of the 27 heroes of Overwatch: 13 are female or display feminine characteristics, the iconic character Tracer is a canon lesbian, and a variety of races and ethnicities are represented.
That’s great, but what does this have to do with esports? In November of 2016 Blizzard announced that it would be joining the world of esports with Overwatch League. Multiple teams have formed internationally and have been competing for fame and glory in the world of Overwatch. However, up until rather recently all teams have been male-only. Which is why, as of February 2018, the announcement of its first female pro player being signed on for the Shanghai Dragons team has hyped the fans of the league.
By signing Kim “Geguri” Se-Yeon, age 19, to a professional team based in her gameplay skills and teamwork, the world of esports has taken a step towards progress. For one thing, this suggests that men and women aren’t so different that they need separate teams. A woman has every chance to compete alongside men in an industry that has been pointed towards male audiences for years now. This helps set the standard for esports taking a different path from the traditional segregation of sports, which allows the world to look and see that women and men can be equal when it comes to competition. For another, Geguri has overcome in-game sexism even before being signed for the League. When she reached a high rank in Overwatch’s Competitive Mode with the hero Zarya, she was accused of using an aimbot (a cheating device that helps a player auto-aim, which is worthy of accounts suspensions and bans). She disbanded these claims through live-streaming her plays and showing she is simply that good. Disbanding the accusations by just showing how talented she is is a simple but meaningful step forward for women players of any game or sport.
Does this mean we have cured all problems with sports, gaming, and teamwork when it comes to sexism? Not at all. But as a female who likes to play Overwatch, I’m not about to let this little victory go unnoticed. Most of us have grown up with the same feeling of dismissive sexism from one thing or another. For some of us, it was the first time we had to play separately from the boys in team sports because of “skill differences.” For others, it was being told video games aren’t really for girls. In the end, Geguri’s stepping into the role of pro player sends a simple but effective message: we are women, and we want to play too.