Photo: Overwatch by Tom Maillioux via Flickr
The world of professional e-sports is arguably just as competitive as most professional positions in traditional sports. Only the best players in the world get asked to be on the teams and are typically hand-picked from popular Twitch live streams where players rise up in the competitive ranks in an area of expertise in a particular game.
In the popular first-person shooter “Overwatch,” this level of fierce competition amongst the best players is no different; players that specialize in support-based characters, high damage-per-second (DPS) characters, and tank players are selected from the region’s top players in the world to compete in invitational tournaments with the goal of reaching the highest level of competition: The Overwatch League.
Se-yeon “Geguri” Kim, 17, from South Korea is no exception. She is known for being the best “Zarya” player in the world; Zarya is a tank-based hero in the game “Overwatch” that requires strategic placement of damage-blocking bubbles around teammates and her own character that boosts her power if struck by the enemy team. Zarya naturally regenerates parts of her own health, as many tanks do, and can alternate between sending out short-range bombs out into the field and firing her laser canon onto attacking enemies.
Geguri, the tank-expert, is one of the youngest people to be signed on to the Overwatch APEX team in South Korea, as well as one of the youngest players to be signed on to the Overwatch League. Currently, Geguri has been playing for the Overwatch League’s Shanghai Dragons team since her signing on Feb. 13, 2018.
Geguri’s teams in both APEX and the league have won multiple titles across the realm of e-sports…
Geguri’s teams in both APEX and the league have won multiple titles across the realm of e-sports, including first place in the Overwatch Shanghai Masters Invitational on Dec. 1, 2019. While her team did not see success in the 2019 regular season, the Dragons won first place in the stage 3 playoffs earlier that year. Though the Dragons themselves have had a harsh losing streak in the past season, Geguri’s talent as a tank player, especially as Zarya, still stands strong.
It is essential to note that Geguri is the first woman to be signed onto both of these major leagues. In a competitive sports environment where women are few and far between, this is a massive success for women looking to build their talent in e-sports and seek out professional representation.
As Geguri rose to Overwatch fame in 2016 with multiple invitations to smaller gaming leagues, her impeccable aim aroused suspicion that she was using an “aimbot” — a computer-generated program that essentially aims your character for you. After she was investigated by Blizzard, the game development company for Overwatch, she was cleared of all suspicion and several players who accused her of hacking quit the league for good after making public apologies.
Female players in the world of e-sports are rare, and almost impossible to find. In the world of Overwatch, Geguri still remains the only female in the Overwatch League as of Jan. 2020 — and a young female at that. It’s no secret that traditional female sports teams, such as soccer or basketball receive less pay than their male counterparts, regardless of their performance and that any male-dominated field (sports or otherwise) is sure to prove hostile to young women looking to make a name for themselves.
In the world of Overwatch, Geguri still remains the only female in the Overwatch League…
In all, accusations of her cheating undoubtedly prove that men still feel threatened by the success of a young woman, as she had to prove herself beyond her thousands of Twitch followers just to be taken seriously for her talent. Many male players have been allowed to stay on their teams despite numerous racist and homophobic comments directed at other players, which shows just how much scrutiny is deflected from other men and placed onto women.
“Being the icon or being looked up to because I’m female — I’m grateful,” she said in an interview reported by ESPN news. “But I don’t really have any thoughts about it. That’s not how I want to be known.” In the past, she has expressed worry over the backlash her team would face, should they not do well with a girl on their team and often deflects questions related to her gender in the realm of e-sports.
Ideally, Geguri’s talent as a professional gamer will inspire young women who look to make a career out of their passion. She may have shattered this particular glass ceiling with her resiliency and unbending will to prove herself for who she really is, but it doesn’t mean that women who follow in her footsteps won’t have to do the same.
Samantha Walsh is a fourth-year student majoring in special education and English. SW850037@wcupa.edu.