Finally, gamers will be able to enjoy their sport safely…
In accordance with esportsnewsuk, **Riot is planning to create a League of Legends Women’s Esports League* just like they did with Valorant Game Changers. At the time of writing this article there is no official confirmation, but lately there have been bets to get to this point like FemaleLegends, ESWC Paris, GirlGamer Oradea Festival EU LOL, among others.
Sources said that the arrival of Game Changers in the EU League of Legends in particular is something that has “definitely” been discussed further and may be more likely than ever. For example, recently G2 Esports announced that they had signed League of Legends women’s roster, G2 Hel, today. The first competitive team of only female competitors on the scene.
A global women’s League of Legends circuit by Riot Games, similar to VALORANT’s Game Changers, is tremendous news.https://t.co/MDe5O8vl4L
– Fernando Cardenete (@fercardenete) September 1, 2022
One reason we haven’t seen these types of proposals move forward is the differences in local League of Legends leagues like the one in the Middle East that makes it difficult for women and LGBTQIA+ players to compete. So well known are their practices that even the Rocket League team, Moist Esports, refused to play in the Saudi Arabian GWB eventand UK coach Noah vowed “not to associate with a country that doesn’t recognize LGBTQ+ people as human beings.”
Riot’s Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers women’s circuit first launched in North America in early 2021 and was added to the EMEA region following its success. In May 2022, G2 Gozen won a record three VCT Game Changers tournaments in a row, again beating the British organization Guild in the final.
League of Legends bets on inclusion with this women’s league
William ‘Kaiprioska’ Roche, European Regional League NLC Product Manager, commented to Esports News UK (from a personal perspective, not representing the NLC): “I’ve always been a big advocate of trying to help attract more women through the industry. As someone who was involved in the women’s scene before and has understood some of the many barriers they regularly face when trying to break into esports, finally having a dedicated league that puts League of Legends on par with other esports is a huge step forward for our industry and hopefully translate into a better environment for more women to turn their passion into a career.”
But, she is not the only one who welcomes this initiative. The commentator Fernando Cardenete from LVPEs, specialist in League of Legends has commented that: “The reality is that esports and the Internet, as part of a macho society, continue to be quite hostile territory for women”. Her words are not for less when in recent years there have been several cases of femicide within the competitive esports scene such as League of Legends or Call of Duty.
Because, although it is true that it does not affect ability, the reality is that esports and the Internet, as part of a macho society, are still quite hostile territory for women. Encouraging their incorporation with safe spaces is beneficial at all levels.
– Fernando Cardenete (@fercardenete) September 1, 2022
Oliveira Bueno da Silva, known online as “Sol”, was killed by another player at her home. ESPN Brazil reports that Silva, a 19-year-old who had just started her career in the esports scene, was killed by another player named Guilherme Alves Costa, known as “Flashlight” in the gaming world. Silva is said to have met Costa a month ago online, and according to the police report, there is evidence that he had been planning the attack for at least two weeks in his notebook.
a female call of duty mobile esports player ‘Sol’ has reportedly been murdered by a male player ‘Flashlight’ in São Paulo, Brazil. According to the investigation the man pre-meditated the killing weeks beforehand, recorded it and even shared it with friends. absolutely sickening
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) February 23, 2021
This is not an isolated case, because as Fernando Cardenete mentions, the esports scene is still a hostile territory for women. The League of Legends initiative to create a women’s scene not only seeks to avoid this type of violence, but to generate a safe environment for the free development of gamers.