How Is VCT Game Changers Combating Gatekeeping?

Time and again women have been told that they do not belong in the gaming and esports ecosystem and have always been treated as outsiders by the industry. According to the 2021 stats by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE), in Europe, 47% of video game players are women. But this figure translates very poorly when it comes to the representation of women in esports, understandably so when women gamers get objectified and harassed online for playing competitive online esports titles like Valorant or League of Legends. Most women gamers, including me, have always felt the need to hide our identities online to avoid threats and harassment that are directed toward us on a near daily-basis

Women have proven that they can shine in esports when given the right opportunities. As a result of the lack of a support system, most women do not see esports as a career option. Even the few that manage to break barriers against all odds and emerge as successful esports players are not given their fair share of the limelight.

Sexism in the esports community seems to be deeply rooted and is often a subconscious reaction against women. Gatekeeping and sexism in esports has begun rearing its ugly head once again in 2022. We heard about how influential people in the industry like Motif Esports’ founder Jack “JawsYT.” actively undermined and prevented female players from stepping into the space.

The team had to disband its Valorant women’s team after members shared instances of alleged sexual harassment, racism, and verbal abuse during their time at the organization. And who can forget the mass exodus of Dota 2 and Smash talent in March 2020 after a slew of sexual harassment allegations came to light. Even Riot Games had a culture of sexism that was exposed during this same time-frame.

Former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) pro and Twitch streamer Jason "JasonR" Ruchelski was spotted deliberately avoiding female players, including pros, in his Valorant lobbies by allegedly faking technical difficulties. Incidents like these only serve to further distance women from gaming and esports culture.

However, it looks like change is in the air. Esports organizations are trying to bridge this evident gap by making esports events gender-inclusive and helping women perform without any added pressure or mistreatment. One such event that has evoked positive responses from the women gaming community is Riot Games’ Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers which has been lauded by many.

AFK Gaming had the opportunity to discuss VCT Game Changers with VLT Asteria’s in-game leader Shreya “ShreyUwU” Prasad and Valorant Caster and Host Daniela "Dryad" Herrera about how VCT Game Changers is actively enabling women to pursue competitive esports.

Valorant Champions Tour Game Changers- What is it and how does it help?

VCT Game Changers is a program that was introduced by Riot in February 2021, aimed at diversifying Valorant’s competitive space by creating new and varied opportunities for women and other marginalized genders in its esports ecosystem. The series runs parallel to the VCT and looks to foster these talents in a safe environment away from any potential harassment.

Currently, it consists of two initiatives: the VCT Game Changers Series and the VCT Game Changers Academy. While the VCT Game Changers Series is focused on top-tier competitions across multiple regions, the Game Changers Academy is a series that allows players to compete at semi-pro and grassroots level tournaments. The tournament drew inspiration from Spectacor Gaming’s For The Women (FTW) Summer Showdown, a women-only tournament hosted by Nerd Street Gamers (NSG) as part of the Ignition Series in 2020.

The team at Riot was inspired by the work and effort of NSG and FTW to provide a platform for competitive female players. “We were so inspired, we asked Nerd Street Gamers and FTW if we could officially make it part of the Valorant Ignition Series and contribute $40,000 to bring the total prize pool to $50,000 to match previous Ignition Series events,” said Riot Games.

VCT Game Changers was launched in North America first following which Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (EMEA) also received their own VCT Game Changers events. Later, Game Changers was brought to the Asia Pacific region. Riot Games hopes to build a toxicity-free environment within the game through VCT Game Changers. It hopes to lend a helping hand to women who want to pursue a career in Valorant esports.

Given the way the system is built and run, it is often very difficult for women to break barriers and enter the esports industry. “Women players aren't really supported as much to play video games by their families. That becomes the first major setback because, without your family's support, a player feels really helpless. I can't forget to mention the sexist comments that get passed on in our careers or games, with the casual hint of kitchen jokes. No funding or events to play becomes another thing that the women were losing out on for years but luckily Valorant saved us all,” said ShreyUwU.

Further explaining the troubles she had to personally endure and overcome, ShreyUwu added that there were times when she felt like giving up. “I pushed through that and I reached a point in my life where I had made a decision to pursue gaming full time even without reaping any benefits from it,” she said. “VCT Game Changers made the rocky road a little smoother because finally, women in Valorant had a goal to achieve. We weren't just playing for a yearly event with a small prize pool. This was something bigger and not just in terms of money.”

Dryad shared the importance of creating a safe competitive space for women to play video games, stating that it increases the chances for women to be interested in the esports scene and to feel like they belong there. “Game Changers is not only great for the already successful female players so that they have some stability doing what they love but for the upcoming players who want to see their gender represented on the screen,”she said.

Dryad feels like VCT Game Changers’ success comes from the fact that Riot and its Valorant team listen to feedback from the community. The fact that such a serious and competitive scene is backed up by a solid goal of creating a positive environment is a feather in the cap. She added, “Game Changers players are not locked into the female scene but they are encouraged to compete in VCT and other mixed tournaments to get as much competitive experience as they want. This way both players and organizations are more willing to invest their time competing knowing that the opportunity to succeed can come from more than one door.”

Need for a dedicated women’s circuit and recognizing talent

Those in the esports ecosystem feel that one of the ways to break away from gatekeeping is by organizing all-female events. These events are viewed as a non-threatening and welcoming way to include the minorities and help them establish their presence in competitive gaming.

The very nature of women-exclusive tournaments have been questioned by many. If the end-goal is to host tournaments that aren’t just uniformly male, why are separate tournaments being normalized and added to the circuit?

“Both [mixed tournaments and women’s circuits] are necessary and must coexist in the same environment for different reasons,” explained Dryad “Women and marginalized gender circuits create safe spaces for players to feel more welcomed in the scene while also giving them a chance to grow in a high-level competitive environment. Mixed tournaments are necessary because they are the end goal. As many women in Game Changers have said, this is only the beginning; women have the opportunity to develop their skills through female circuits so that they can then apply those skills in mixed tournaments as is the case of VCT which allows all these Game Changers teams to compete freely.”

It has been very exciting and refreshing to see organizations field women players to compete in Valorant tournaments. Evil Geniuses paved the way in the early competitive scene as one of the first high profile mixed-gender rosters. Cloud9 also announced its all-female squad Cloud9 White which saw a lot of success early on as this squad previously known as MAJKL won the FTW Summer Showdown where it placed first with an 11-game unbeaten streak.

In October 2021, G2 Esports announced its all-women Valorant team called G2 Gozen.

“To me, they aren’t a female team, they are our Valorant team,” Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez, founder and CEO of G2 Esports, said in the organization’s announcement. “At G2, we build teams and bring in players based on skill and brand fit. These are amongst the best female players in the world and we’re proud to have them.”

Since then, Valorant has greatly expanded into the space, featuring so many women-only teams. Currently, on average, there are more than 80 teams participating in the VCT Game Changers circuit across the regions of South East Asia (SEA), North America (NA), and EMEA. Apart from this, there are teams that compete in the VCT Game Changers Academy. “A lot of new female players are entering the VALORANT scene as a result of the ever-increasing competitive opportunities Riot provides,” said Dryad. “Some of my favorite examples are Florescent from the NA scene and Hinata from the LATAM scene. Some players will still shy away from these opportunities as the scene is still so young but I believe VALORANT is making really good progress to motivate women and other marginalized genders to compete and be a part of their community.”

ShreyUwU had similar thoughts about this. She said that having monthly events year-round with a main event towards the end gives women the opportunity to hustle and grind for something that they can claim as theirs. “For me and the girls in VLT Asteria, we wait through our Christmas holidays just to play this event. We get super excited whenever there is a VCT Game Changers event coming up and then get that surge of motivation to play. At the end of the day, we are all here to achieve something and Riot has given us the platform to do so,” she said. “In terms of female players, if you had asked me the same question a few years ago, I would have laughed it off, saying that isn't possible. Surprisingly now there are over 100,000 new female players of all different skill levels and it's so exhilarating to watch them play.”

Most organizations making announcements and publishing news of their Game Changers rosters seem the same as they would do for any team, regardless of gender, which is definitely one step in the right direction towards smashing gatekeeping in the industry.

Is VCT Game Changers drawing in sustainable viewership?

The top two regions of VCT Game Changers NA and EMEA did rake in significant viewership in 2021. According to Esports Charts, in VCT Game Changers 2021 Series 3, EMEA had a peak viewership of 21K and NA had a peak viewer count of 16.5K.

Dryad also pointed out, “In terms of viewership and fans, records have already been set in Brazil for the number of people watching female tournaments which in some cases has been even more than mixed and male-dominated tournaments.”

A report by Esports Chart said that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) accounted for nearly half of all women's esports HW (Hours Watched) for 2020 - June 2021. It noted that MLBB tournaments were mainly held only in Southeast Asia and if the discipline began to actively develop women's esports in other regions, the indicator could be even higher. Second in place was Valorant with 18% of total HW.

Future of VCT Game Changers

While Game Changers is enabling female competitors to compete on a level playing field, its ultimate aim is to elevate marginalized communities and allow them to grow and compete against the male-dominated main-circuit.

The Game Changers scene is not going to get stale anytime soon since the Valorant team continues to plan for regional and now international tournaments exclusively for women and other marginalized genders. According to a report by NME, EMEA Valorant Esports Head Daniel Ringland said that the Game Changers event will have “a global event that will happen toward the end of this year [2022].” This event is expected to be an entry point for teams from different regions.

Dryad said that she would like to see more international tournaments in the future of Game Changers. “I am super excited for the Game Changers Global that will take place in November but it is the only international event we are going to see in this circuit for the entire year. I just think it would be nice to have at least one more international event, kind of like Valorant Masters because teams could familiarize themselves with other regions' playstyles and players before the biggest event,” she added. ShreyUwU too hopes to participate in international LANs via Game Changers. “I want to compete at an international stage against some of the top-tier teams in the world like C9 and G2 Gozen,” she said.

The fact that most top esports organizations have fielded a women’s roster just to build their Valorant presence is a breath of fresh air in an industry that is dominated by men. Top-dogs like G2 Esports, Team SoloMid, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Liquid, and Nigma Galaxy all have their own Game Changers rosters and it is only a matter of time before other esports titles follow in the footsteps of Valorant.

In December 2021, ESL Gaming announced the first women’s league for CS:GO called ESL Impact as part of its #GGFORALL initiative. The tournament also boasts a prize pool of $500K USD. Valorant and CS:GO being forerunners in this new era of nurturing female gamers is truly promising.

“Diversity in our globalizing world is super important and will continue to be in the years to come. It is our job to make sure we are being inclusive and promoting a positive environment in the industry we love. I hold FPS games very close to my heart so I would like publishers to continue to grow their esports opportunities for women and marginalized genders,” proclaimed Dryad.

I’m sure all of us in the esports community share the same sentiment and would love to see more tournament organizers promote women’s only events to actively build a thriving competitive scene.

Finally, I would also like to wish all the incredible women a Happy Women’s Day. On this occasion, we at AFK Gaming would like to appreciate and acknowledge everything women have accomplished in the realm of esports and hope to see many more women step forward to compete professionally.