𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬?

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 “𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥” 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 is a Danish Dota 2 player and has competed in more than 100 tournaments to amass his fortune The 30 highest-paid male Dota 2 players after him in the list are all men.

However, even in those places where other games like Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Call of Duty start to show up, men continue to dominate the list.

𝐒𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 “𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭” 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐧, a Starcraft II champion, is the first female to appear, at position #367. Since 2011, Hostyn has won roughly $400,000 (£300,000) in prize

Money, a pittance compared to the millions of men in positions higher than her.

Only two other women, except Hostyn, have earned six figures in prizes. In 2019’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals, 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐠 “𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐧” 𝐋𝐢 took first place, and 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 “𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐤” 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐧 also participated. They are respectively rated #760 and #1478.

Although the prize money isn’t the main source of income for esports competitors, there are still differences in other aspects of professional gaming careers. Very few women hold paid playing positions.

For instance,”𝐆𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐢” 𝐒𝐞-𝐘𝐞𝐨𝐧, the sole female player in the Overwatch League, sat out the most recent season, reverting the league to a male-only player base.

When they are not competing, many competitors use Twitch to augment their wages by live streaming, but only three of the top 100 paid artists were female, according to a recent breach of the company’s financial information.

The only effective remedy for the sexism in the esports culture is to address misogyny more generally, a number of organizations have been working to increase opportunities for women and non-binary persons in esports.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬.
(Lifetime earnings)
𝐒𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 “𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭” 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐧 – $400,000. 

𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐠 “𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐧” 𝐋𝐢 – $240,000

𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 “𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐤” 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐧 – $122,000

𝐑𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐲 “𝐇𝐚𝐟𝐮” 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠 – $90,000.

𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗮 “𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗮” 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹 – $86,000

𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.