Do Women Play in Major Esports Teams?

Computer games used to be the almost exclusive reserve of the teenage boy. It’s a lazy stereotype which can be used when someone doesn’t look at the real situation. When the truth is seen, this couldn’t be further from it, especially when we look at the world of esports.

Major teams are a picture of diversity and inclusion. The whole world of esports cares entirely around what you can do with a controller, rather than where or who you are. This means that there are some very prominent female players in some major teams.

GODSENT

Forget just finding a team with a single woman in it. GODSENT has scores of female only teams. Covering Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Apex Legends players, the teams have earned a notoriety for their skills. The five-woman CS:GO team currently have a 40% win rate and are making some waves in the Global Offensive scene. The GODSENT X project is aimed at welcoming even more women into the team and they have even recently launched a PUBG female only team too.

Team Quadrant

Set up by Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, Team Quadrant are new comers as a team, but their pedigree as individual players makes up for the team’s shinny newness. One of the original founding members is Maria Bish, an avid Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legends streamer. Her Twitch, RiaBish has close to 30 thousand followers.
When Quadrant added a Halo team onto their roster, this was driven by Maria and she now manages the team.

Version X

Version X is an interesting case of wealthy backing, professional sports and a great team of players. The team is owned by The Wilf family, who also happen to own the Minnesota Vikings American Football team. Running alongside four other esports team the Version X team are all based in Minnesota and train together in real life in the Vikings Innovation Centre.  The team hail from Chicago, Hawaii, Maryland and Detroit, but all made the move to Minnesota to take advantage of the world-class facilities in the Innovation Centre.

Tenstar Nova

While Tenstar Nova are a British-based all-female team, there is a vastly cosmopolitan look to their roster. With team members hailing from Algeria, France and Iraq, it’s fair to say they don’t suffer from being anglo-centrc. Just last year, Tenstar Nova won the Series 2 of VALORANT Champions Tour 2021, beating out fifteen other teams in the knock-out competition. Indeed, Tenstar Nova have a great record in Counter-Strike too, watch them on CS GO tournaments here if you get the chance.

With the successes of some of these female-lead teams within the main esports leagues, there is a wide representation of women within the esports community. Almost every tournament will have a top of the league clash involving a host of female players mixing it up with anyone who stands in their way. To say that women do play in major esports teams might just be underselling it.