Gaming is a unique medium. It provides the most immersive form of escapism in the world of entertainment, whilst simultaneously allowing its players to unleash their competitive side with each of their chosen titles requiring very different skill sets to master. Gaming professionally has become an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars though, like so many other sectors, Esports is still a land dominated by harassment, discrimination and gender disparity in its earnings.
Over 60% of women aged 18-29 claim to play video games, so we here at Faze thought we would look at some of the most inspiring females tackling the patriarchal gate-keeping traditionally associated with gaming, and how they are making Esports a safer, more welcoming space for everyone in 2023.
Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere
Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere has become one of the most recognized and respected faces in the League of Legends scene over the years. Whether it be through her playing career or as a renowned host of the LEC and World Championship, the Belgian host presenter holds a Master’s Degree in History and Journalism from Ghent University. She made her first moves in the industry as an interviewer for org SK Gaming and CyberSportsNetwork where she hosted the weekly show Summoner’s Recap.
She has won the Best Esports Host award at The Game Awards four times since 2017, and recently expanded her portfolio by hosting the first CS:GO Major in her home country at the PGL Antwerp Major in 2022.
Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn
Known as the ‘Queen of Blades’ and the ‘Korean Kryptonite’, Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn holds the record for the highest career earnings as a female professional gamer. Having first begun entering Starcraft competitions in 2011, Scarlett became the first female in the game’s history to win a professional event.
One of the few successful pros in the game from outside Korea, she has been labelled one of the most ‘accomplished’ professionals in the entire Esports industry, expanding her range of titles to include Dota 2 in more recent times. As of 2023, she has competed in over 190 tournaments, winning over $350,000 in the process.
Stephanie ‘missharvey’ Harvey
When it comes to trailblazing influencers behind empowering women in Esports, few individuals match Stephanie ‘missharvey’ Harvey. Having first entered competitive video gaming all the way back in 2003, she has become one of the most acclaimed and accomplished figures as a player, organizer and personality.
Having played professional Counter-Strike from 1.5 to Global Offensive for the likes of SK Ladies and UBINITED, where they often stunned Esports betting markets everywhere by taking down the more-established men’s teams they faced off against, missharvey has used her experiences as a gamer to advocate against discrimination and sexism in the industry. Tackling issues such as discrimination, harassment and pay discrepancy, missharvey co-founded the online community Missclicks to address the lack of female representation in gaming. She received the Esports Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 Women and even won the third season of Canada’s Smartest Person!
Tricia ‘megumixbear’ Sugita
Tricia ‘megumixbear’ Sugita began her career in gaming as an Esports host and personality for IGN. She then made the move to streaming platform Azubu as their Director of Esports, was the Head of Partnerships at org Immortals before landing a COO position at FlyQuest.
Being promoted to CEO in January 2020, megumixbear became instrumental in helping the brand becoming one of the most recognized for supporting some of the world’s most progressive initiatives. As well as supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, FlyQuest partnered with the OneTree Planted organization with a tree-planting pledge based on their performances at the 2020 LCS Spring Finals.
Megumixbear joined Cloud9 as their Chief Marketing Officer, quickly becoming promoted as their Chief Operations Officer in 2022.
Jorien ‘Sheever’ van der Heijden
Known as the ‘Queen of Dota 2’, Jorien ‘Sheever’ van der Heijden is a renowned caster, presenter and content creator working within the game’s competitive circuit. Having developed a passion for gaming through hardcore raiding in World of Warcraft, Sheever’s professional life in Dota began in 2012.
Fast forward to the present day, and the Netherlands native has worked with companies such as ESL and DreamLeague, presenting tournaments ranging from the Major Championships all the way to The International. Her passion for her profession was shown in 2017 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to work and attend events throughout her treatment however, and has thankfully been cancer-free since 2019!
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