“It can be the Wild West online, but we’re very fortunate to now have countless gaming events happening across the country and world on any given weekend,” says Garozzo. “There are university and high school programs. There are tons of opportunities to contribute to the gaming space.” The opportunity to build something greater and more meaningful drove Heather to found Raidiant, a broadcast, events, and content platform working to improve conditions for women in gaming and esports through education, experiences, and inspirational storytelling. “I want to introduce competitive gaming to every gaming community and hope that they, too, will choose to either compete or work in esports.”
“‘Women gamers’ is just as diverse and massive an audience as ‘adults 18+,’” said Erin Schendle, Founding Partner at Climbing Vine Media, a gaming-focused media agency that has been working with women gamers as the industry has changed. With the influx of interest comes a delicate balancing act of what makes sense for the community. “Gamers especially appreciate — and actually require — nimble authenticity. They’ll sniff out, call out, and reject brands and messaging that ‘don’t get them,’ just as much as they’ll latch onto and pledge loyalty to brands and products that they love.” Schendle, along with Climbing Vine co-founders Rachel Alexander and Sonya Artz, have worked with major brands, influencers, and communities in the space to identify opportunities that really connect with and honor the diverse backgrounds and preferences of the massive gaming community rather than default to outdated and less inclusive stereotypes.
More resources and role models spur more would-be competitors to enter the field, and new faces in the competitive landscape foster a diversified audience and support system. While some channels and guilds have been breeding grounds for exclusion and misogyny, the reverse is also true — inclusive and supportive communities have been existing and growing for some time, a welcome change from when Emsy was first starting. “The biggest thing I wish existed when I was younger was just the vast amount of servers and ways of making like-minded gaming friends that exist now on apps like Discord,” she says.
While progress has been made, the industry still has a ways to go, with asymmetric representation looking all the more stark next to explosive growth in other competitive sports like women’s basketball. Beyond inclusive communities, enduring diversity in gaming falls on the entire ecosystem — community management, programming, and advertising & brand deals. “Supporting women across a variety of games who have achieved successful careers in gaming has a big knock-on effect,” Emsy says. When women are treated as fully legitimized esports competitors — complete with sponsorships, visibility, and audience exposure — they’re one step closer to being recognized as more than an exception or niche.
