Many people consider eSports to be a man’s business. But what if we told you that there are dozens of successful female esports players who, like male players, have made gaming a very lucrative career?
Female esports gamers do not have worldwide renown, and the gaming community practically treats them as backup-backup players, even though these ladies kick major arse. There is no viable reason to discriminate against women in esports, and yet they are still considered inappropriate for the job. Be that as it may, nowadays, women are becoming more and more visible, especially in the eSports niche, so let’s meet some of them!
1. Janet “xchocobars” Rose / $ 40,000
Rose is a Canadian eSports player who has been playing Apex Legends, Fortnite, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant, among others. One of her greatest accomplishments was winning first place in League of Legends at Twitch Rivals 2019. The prize pool was not huge, but $7,000 is not too shabby. She then finished second in the Fortnite Fall Skirmish Series Leaderboard, nabbing another $10,000. But her biggest prize, however, came in week six of the Fortnite Fall Skirmish series — $13,750.
2. Anna “ant1ka” Ananikova / $ 40,000
Anna made her fortune on CS: GO. She played in Team Secret, Lazarus, and Counter Logic Gaming and was a member of the Russian national team. The largest amount Anna received in a single tournament was $20,000 at the 2016 eSports World Convention when she was still with Team Secret.
3. Sarah “Sarah Lou” Harrison / $ 50,000
Harrison played Dead or Alive 4 well enough to take first place at CGS 2008. Winning that tournament earned her $50,000. Since then, she has not participated in other tournaments. She is the only woman from the United Kingdom to make this list. It must have taken Sarah Lou a lot of practice to hone those skills and win that tournament.
4. Zainab “zAAz” Turkie / $ 53,000
Turkie, a Swedish player of Lebanese descent, has been a professional Counter-Strike player since 2002. Zainab joined her first CS club at the age of fourteen. Today, almost twenty years later, zAAz enjoys head-tapping noobs in CSGO, but she retired in 2020 after taking part in thirty-two tournaments.
5. Marjorie “Kasumi Chan” Bartell / $ 55,000
In 2006, Marjorie finished second in the CGI competition for Dead or Alive 4, where her prize was just $5,000. But in 2007, she came out on top, beating the competition to a pulp. This victory won her $50,000, but since then, she has not competed anywhere else.
6. Rumay «Hafu» Wang / $ 84,467
Just a year ago, Hafu was in almost every good Amongus Us lobby, trolling Sykkuno, Fuslie, Toast, and the rest of OTV+ squad. But while streaming is fun, the real money is in the tournaments. Rumay used to play a lot of WoW, Hearthstone, and TFT, winning occasional tournament or 10, until she racked up $84,000 in winnings alone!
7. Ricki “Ricky O” Ortiz / $ 81,000
Ortiz first started identifying herself as a woman in 2014. The earliest tournament she entered was Evo 2006, where she finished second, earning $2,000. Since then, Ricki has played in over sixty tournaments and earned a total of $ 80,000! By far, the juiciest reward she’s ever gotten was at Capcom Cup 2016, where she showed everyone how good she was at Street Fighter V. The second place earned her $60,000.
8. Siobhan “HaganeNoTema” Bielamowicz / $ 122,700
Bielamowicz is a professional player from Australia who can easily beat you up in games like Attack on Titan and Brawlhalla. In fact, she is the Attack on Titan World Cup Champion. Siobhan has competed since 2014, but her most successful years were 2017 and 2018. HaganeNoTema is considered one of the best Attack on Titans players of all time and simply one of the best female players ever.
9. Katherine “Mystik” Gunn / $ 122,000
The earliest record of Gunn’s competitive gaming feats dates back to the 2007 CGS competition where she took second place playing Dead or Alive 4. That’s already $15,000 in the bag. The next year Gunn walked away with $ 7,000 after finishing in third place. But then she beat everyone in season 2 of WCG Ultimate Gamer, earning a nice $100,000.
10. Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn / $ 322,066
$332,066.27 is currently the highest score for a woman in esports. Hostyn’s career started sometime around April 2011. She competed in the StarCraft II all-women online league and won tournaments twice in a row that year. A few months later, Scarlett became the National Champion of Canada in StarCraft II with an outstanding 12-1 score. Sasha owned the 2012 WCS North American Championship as well, winning $24,000, and then stomped all over IEM XII, which earned her another easy $50,000. It’s hard to imagine, but throughout her career, Sasha participated in 178 tournaments and is now with Brave Star Gaming team from China.
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