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Showing posts with label allwomen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allwomen. Show all posts

Cloud9 launches first all-women esports team for Valorant

  October 26, 2020   , , , , , , ,   No comments

Esports organization Cloud9 will field its first all-women esports team in Riot Games’ Valorant esports tournaments.


Los Angeles-based Cloud9, which runs a number of esports teams for games such as League of Legends and Fortnite, will partner with AT&T in creating more opportunities for women and making esports more inclusive. The team will debut at Riot’s First Strike tournament qualifiers starting on Monday October 26.


Cloud9 has been doing some enlightened work in an esports industry that has grown up as both toxic and male-centric. Back in May, Cloud 9 teamed up with Kaiser Permanente to improve mental health in the U.S. gaming community. These moves are signs of the mainstreaming of esports, video games, diversity, and mental wellness efforts, said Kristen Salvatore, senior vice president of marketing at Cloud9, in an interview with GamesBeat.


“One of the coolest things about esports and competitive gaming is that, unlike traditional sports, you’re playing with a mouse and keyboard,” Salvatore said. “It genuinely does not matter who’s behind the game sitting at that keyboard in terms of their physical prowess or their gender or their cultural background. None of that matters. And so there is every reason that this should be a really powerful way to change what people think a team should be.”


Above: Cloud9’s Melanie “meL” Capone

Image Credit: Cloud9


A 2019 Newzoo study found women make up 46% of the gaming industry; Momentum Worldwide reported 29% of esports fans are women. According to WomenInGames.org, 71% of respondents say women aren’t represented enough in esports and gamingo . Momentum Worldwide noted 62% of female esports fans do not believe brands market to them. Salvatore believes that for esports to change, some of these stats have to improve.


“At some point, you have to realize you are not a mom-and-pop organization,” she said. “You’re not a startup industry. And actually, if you really want to grow and be more profitable, you need to start diversifying every part of what you’re doing. And that definitely includes bringing voices that are different than the ones that are already there.”


Above: Cloud9’s Jasmine “Jazzy” Manankil

Image Credit: Cloud9


The ultimate goal is for the women to play on the same team as the men. In the interim, the female team and the male Valorant team will play in the same league. They will practice against each other and share strategies and feedback to make both rosters stronger.


“We have two competitive teams. And our goal is to actually have one competitive team that has the best players on it,” Salvatore said. “We’re starting a women’s team and the goal is parity. The goal is pay equity. But we have a keen understanding that to get there, we need to make sure we are surfacing and supporting opportunities for women. There isn’t parity now, which means we’ve got to do some work to get there. But the ultimate goal is to normalize this so it...




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