An all-female French league for League of Legends, the most popular esports game, will launch in 2023, publisher Riot Games announced Monday.
“We have this desire to give women the opportunity to have dedicated competitions that they can thrive on,” added Julie Jeanniot.
A springboard to mixed tournaments
Video game tournaments are theoretically mixed but, in fact, women represent only 6% of professional gamers according to the Women in Games association. Main barrier: environmental sexism and cyberbullying.
To encourage diversity, many esports players point to the need to create tournaments reserved for women. “The fact that they have access to these women’s competitions allows them to have more confidence to move up a level and then access mixed competitions,” Julie Jeanniot told AFP.
The outlines of the league, which are still under discussion, should be finalized in mid-February. “The will is announced and we will arrive this year. We still don’t know how to tell you when or how, but there will be an official women’s competition. This is good news,” said Bertrand Amar, head of esports at Webedia, the company that produces the French League of Legends championship.
Source: BFM TV
