The finals of the League of Legends World Championship, the LoL Worlds Finals 2022, will take place this weekend.

Worldwide and also in this country, e-sports tournaments fill entire arenas, the players are real stars with corresponding rewards in the millions – no question, e-sports is still booming.

 

 

Large corporations have long since recognized the marketing appeal of the industry, not least in order to reach young target groups. Sponsors include Mercedes-Benz, DHL, Intel, Monster Energy and many more, including global companies. They all fund huge e-sports tournaments with thousands of spectators – a record-breaking 174,000 fans on site at the Spodek Arena in Katowice (IEM 2022), for example. But in Germany, too, the sport is celebrated in a big way at the “IEM Cologne” in front of around 15,000 fans in the “cathedral of Esports,” the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

The majority of the e-sports scene is still dominated by men – be it the e-sportsmen themselves or the decision-making positions at the companies. According to estimates, however, less than 5 percent of e-sports professionals are female. Yet e-sports is actually different than most physical sports – the competition requirements are the same for everyone, so the stage would be set for more diversity in e-sports. So what is the reason for the lack of equality?

The reasons are certainly complex. First and foremost, there are still many prejudices against female gamers, and the infrastructures with accommodations in training camps are not suitable for them. Sexism is still very widespread, all these reasons are hurdles for a professional entry into the scene.

Nevertheless, efforts for more diversity in e-sports are growing – internationally as well as nationally. “Any Key” in the U.S., for example, is a non-profit organization that has made it its mission to make the gaming and e-sports world more accessible to all.

In Germany, the E-Sports Federation has a dedicated “Gender Diversity” committee that aims to make it easier for people to enter the industry, as well as to better communicate the career paths available in e-sports. A dedicated mentoring program is designed to help young interested parties to be linked with seasoned experts in the games industry.

The E-Sports Player Foundation alongside SK Gaming (sponsors Telekom, Mercedes-Benz and REWE) would like to see more women as well as non-binary players in the e-Sport – this is to be achieved with various workshops, teaching materials, support programs for aspiring female professional players as well as the first all-female League of Legends SK Gaming team with competitive training conditions are to change the e-sports landscape in the long term. A dedicated festival, the “equal eSports Festival” with “diversity” as a central value celebrated its second edition this year with showmatches and panel talks.

There is also a lot going on with the teams in the scene: G2 Esports is taking probably the most ambitious step towards inclusivity – in 2021, the e-sports organization’s all-valorant women’s team started, moreover a novelty with the first player buy-out as an investment in team reinforcement.

In September 2022, the next step followed: an all-female League of Legends team. However, at this year’s highly acclaimed Worlds, only male teams are on the road, with the women (still) competing separately on the “League of Legends Women’s League” – hopefully soon a picture of the past.

The way is paving for joint major events – with diversity.