For centuries, there has been ongoing discrimination against females in traditional sports based on their physical strength. However, this argument is no longer valid for eSports because anyone can be good at video games without the need for “dense bones” and “incredible muscle strength.” Instead, all you need is cognitive ability and patience, which females are often known for.
Over the years, the number of female eSports players has been on the rise. As video games become popular, we are proud to notice that the female eSports presence is steadily growing.
Women and the eSports Industry
It’s no secret that the face of the eSports industry is changing, and the number of female gamers is on the rise. In fact, in Asia, which is considered the global capital of gaming and holds half of the world’s gaming revenue, 38% of the 1.33 billion players are gamer girls.
On the other hand, 45% of gamers in Europe are women, and in the United States, women comprise 41% of the eSports industry. Overall, across different platforms like console, mobile, and PC, women are responsible for 46% of the gaming industry.
When it comes to mobile gaming, women play 25% longer than men. In addition, single-player games are more popular among top female gamers; however, multiplayer games like Call of Duty and Fortnight have their fair share of female gamers, with 36% on Call of Duty and 34% on Fortnight.
Another interesting fact is that many women gamers are mothers. Activision Blizzard conducted a study and found that 71% of mothers aged 25–54 were more likely to play video games. This high percentage is due to many reasons, including entertainment purposes, relaxation, socialization, and competition. However, 45% of the mom gamers reported that they play because video games help them understand their children better.
Top 10 Women eSports Players in the World: Highest-Earning Females
Fortunately, women have managed to build a name for themselves in eSports due to their persistence and dedication. Females makeup 29% of eSports fans and spend about 15 hours a week playing different eSports, showing their interest in competitive gaming.
Even though the best female eSports players are getting the respect and praise they deserve, there is still loads of stigma that women players have to deal with. Despite this, many female gamers have risen to the top and even surpassed some of their male counterparts.
Here are the highest-earning and most successful females in the eSports industry:
1. Scarlett—Sasha Hostyn
Sasha Hostyn is one of the highest-paid female eSports players, with a total earning of $408,541.18. Hostyn started her gaming journey back in April 2011. She took part in an all-female online tournament, the NESL Iron Lady, and took home the cup twice in a row, earning her the title of best female eSports player.
In 2012, she won the Playhem “Sponsor Me!” tournament, winning a trip to Las Vegas. In addition, Hostyn managed to secure a spot as one of the IPL 4 open qualifiers.
That same year she became a part of the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series Canada. She beat her opponent in the Grand Finals, securing a place in Canada’s national championship with a brilliant record of 12-1.
Hostyn also won the WCS North American Championship, earning a grand prize of $24,000. Overall, Hostyn has participated in over 230 tournaments.
2. Mystik—Katherine Gunn
Have you ever heard of Remember Reach? If so, you should know about the brains behind it. Katherine Gunn started her gaming career in 2007 when she took part in the CGS competition, playing a fighting game called Dead or Alive 4. During this tournament, she came second place and won $15,000. Gunn took part in the competition again the year after but could not match her previous year’s victory. Still, she finished in third place and won $7,000.
After this loss, she didn’t participate in any more competitions until Bungie released “thank you and farewell,” Halo Reach. Due to her casting in season two of WCG Ultimate Gamer, Gunn was fortunate enough to get a copy of the game a couple of months before its release. After many hours of dedicated practice, Gunn was able to win the competition and earn $100,000.
3. HaganeNo Tema—Siobhan Bielamowicz
Australian female gamer HaganeNo Tema is known for fighting games like Brawlhalla and Attack on Titan. In fact, her hard work and determination have made her the World Cup Champion for Attack on Titan.
HanganeNo has been in the eSports community since 2014. However, her most successful years were in 2017 and 2018. She is considered the greatest Attack on Titan player to have ever existed. Many female eSports owners consider HanganeNo the best player of all fighting games due to her sheer talent.
4. Ricki Ortiz
Ricki Ortiz is a successful gamer known for her love of fighting games. The first competition she participated in was the Evo 2006, playing Capcom vs. SNK 2. Ortiz was so good, she finished in second place, receiving a nice reward of $2,000. Ever since then, Ortiz has taken part in over 60 tournaments and has won over $80,780.
However, the tournament that earned her the most money was the Capcom Cup in 2016—Street Fighter V. Even though she finished in second place she won $60,000. In addition to this success, her dedication gained the attention of Evil Geniuses, the American eSports Organization, and in 2010 they sponsored her. To this day, Ortiz remains their official representative.
5. Kasumi Chan—Marjorie Bartell
Another successful female eSports player is Bartell. In 2006, she won second place at the CGI competition that featured Dead or Alive 4, winning $5,000. Her career took off when she became affiliated with the Chicago Chimera eSports team. In the CGS 2007 competition, she proved her talent and dedication, winning first place and an astounding $50,000. This win ended up accounting for 90.91% of her total earnings.
Despite the rise in prize money earned by female eSports players, Bartell hasn’t been participating in any competitions lately. Finally, to summarize just how skilled Bartell is, you should be aware of the fact that she is the first female gamer to have ever gotten to the finals of the Championship Gaming Invitational.
6. Sarah Lou—Sarah Harrison
According to research, Dead or Alive 4 helped many female gamers earn a lot of money. Harrison is one of the players who played the game very well; she received first place at the CGS 2008. Her performance was so great that she ended up earning a total of $50,000. Despite this win, she hasn’t taken part in many tournaments since.
Harrison is the only female eSports player from the United Kingdom to make it to this list. Harrison’s reasoning behind choosing to play fighting games was because she loved how straightforward they were. However, she still dedicated lots of time to perfecting her gaming skills. In fact, before she won the tournament, she said she spent entire days training.
7. Tinares
Tinares is an American female gamer who competes in Fortnight in NA-East. She is known to be one of the most successful female gamers of Fortnight in its entire 3-year existence of eSports. Tinares gained popularity when she won the TwitchCon 2019 competition, making her name known among Fortnight players.
In that tournament, Tinares managed to win $40,000. In addition to this, she’s played in various online competitions, earning the rest of her income from them. Ever since she won TwitchCon in 2019, her name has become known to all gamers. Nowadays, Tinares streams every day and continues to practice her gaming skills.
8. zAAz—Zainab Turkie
Swedish player Zainab Turkie has been a part of the gaming community for a very long time and is known to be a dedicated gaming veteran. At only 14 years old, she started playing Counter-Strike and became a professional player in 2002. Nowadays, almost 20 years after starting, she’s a part of the Besiktas eSports team.
So far, Turkie has played in 32 tournaments and has managed to earn over $43,201.43 from them. In addition, Turkie keeps herself busy by being involved with organizations like Fnatic and Alternate aTTaX, known for their brilliant player pools.
9. Ant1ka—Anna Ananikova
Ananikova is an experienced CS: GO player. In fact, 50% of her money has been earned by playing with teams, such as Lazarus, the Russian National Team, Team Secret, and Counter Logic Gaming. The highest sum of money that she earned from one competition alone is $20,0000.
Even though Ananikova has not participated in many cash-awarding tournaments, her skills are unmatched, and leading female eSports owners recognize her raw talent. In addition, her success has earned her a membership in Team Secret. During the 2016 eSports World Convention, Ananikova won her first Minor tournament.
10. Xchocobars—Janet Rose
Canadian player Janet Rose is one of the best female League of Legends eSports players to exist. Rose plays various games, including Team Fight Tactics, Apex Legends, League of Legends, and Fortnite. One of her biggest accomplishments was winning first place at the Twitch Rivals 2019 playing League of Legends and winning an impressive $7,000 in prize money.
In addition to that, she also won second place in Fortnite Fall Skirmish Series- Club Standings, earning an additional $10,000. However, that’s not all; her greatest prize was won in the sixth week of the Fortnight Fall Skirmish Series, earning her $13,750. During her time as a female eSports player, Rose has won a total of $39,100 from playing only 10 tournaments. Much of her popularity nowadays comes from streaming and her massive Twitch following.
eSports Betting Guide
1. Focus On the Game You Are Familiar With
You will find many eSports available that are waiting to be bet on. Whether it’s first-person shooting games like Counter-Strike or battle arenas like League of Legends, you’ll be overwhelmed by the number of betting options available. Although you may be tempted to place your bet on a new game, you should only bet on games you are familiar with.
If you spend a significant amount of time learning about the heroes in Overwatch, you’ll probably have a fair idea of how the match will begin. Similarly, unless you know every rule of the eSports game, you won’t be aware of how it really works, and hence, won’t be able to win a bet. The key is to only wager a bet on eSports tournaments and games you know well.
2. Keep Track of Your Favourite eSports Teams
Before you figure out your betting budget, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the eSports teams you want to bet on. Think about this as betting on your favourite football team—you know the strengths that Manchester United has compared to Barcelona, so you make your bet accordingly.
Over the past couple of years, only a handful of teams have managed to win, making it easier for the general public to place bets. Some of the best eSports teams include Cloud9, Fnatic, SK Telecom T1, Faze Clan, and Astralis. All these teams ensure the best eSports odds. However, keep in mind that eSports betting can also go wrong, so always conduct research first.
3. Learn More About the Key eSports Players
Even though you may know that Overwatch, CS: GO, and LoL are great teams, learning more about specific gamers never hurts. Over the past couple of years, we have witnessed pro players like Marcelo David and Lee Sang-Hyeok win brilliantly and bring home numerous trophies for their teams.
Hence, learning more about each of the eSports players you come across is not a bad idea; the more you know, the more likely you are to win the bet. Moreover, you should keep up with the news so that if a star player hasn’t been playing well, you’ll choose to stay safe and not bet on them.
4. Make Use of Live eSports Betting
You should be aware that eSports betting is not purely based on luck. The right way to place successful bets is to first start small by making pre-match bets. Then, once you get the hang of it, you can attempt live eSports betting. In addition, when you bet after the match has started, you can compare the eSports odds tracker with the live game.
To take advantage of live eSports betting, we recommend that you look for a free live streaming service. You can find updated recommendations for these on Twitch. You should also closely monitor the on-screen action and the rapidly-changing odds to get an idea of where to place your bet. It’s crucial you do so before the betting sites adjust the prices on bets. You will have to stay patient and gain knowledge overtime to get betting returns successfully.
5. Figure Out a Betting Budget and Don’t Stray From It
If you want to participate in eSports betting, it’s crucial that you first set a budget. After all, you could fall prey to wagering too much only to lose it all in the heat of the moment.
Betting budgets are crucial with eSports as this field is incredibly unpredictable. Every now and then, you will lose some bets, which means you will lose some money. However, this shouldn’t be a problem if you budget your bets responsibly.
6. Learn the Best Time to Use an eSports Betting Bonus
If you are lucky, eSports betting sites will help you make your bet by presenting you with an eSports betting bonus. This could include sign-up offers, promotions for members, and many other bonuses that could help you make extra money from your bets.
However, you should pay attention to the terms and conditions that come with each bonus. Usually, these will place some rules on how customers can use their betting funds. So make sure to do your research before falling prey to a tricky situation.
7. It’s Okay to Stray From Match-Winner eSports Bets
Once you have learnt how to participate in eSports betting, it’s time for the next step. Many betting sites will present customers with many betting options, like betting on the correct score or whether an even number of maps will be won. This information will increase the number of wagering options you have.
Therefore, even with the tightest matches, you can still place some good bets. If you want to support the favourite, you can also take part in handicap betting.
8. Pay Attention to Timing When Placing Your Bet
There are lots of eSports tournaments that you’ll come across. Therefore, you can place multiple bets and may even get lucky with most of them. Long-term predictions about who will get through the eSports tournament successfully, and win the prize money, are always fun.
However, you must understand that timing is crucial when placing your bets on these competitions. If you bet too soon and your preferred team doesn’t even make it past the semifinals, you’re in trouble. If you bet too late, the betting odds may not be worth it. Hence, make sure you follow each match and understand the best time to place your bet.
9. When Betting on eSports, Do Not Follow the General Public
ESports betting comes with loads of raw emotions. When you’re watching big tournaments like the League of Legends World Championship in public, it’s easy to get swept in with what others think. As a result, you may feel tempted to wager on a team that’s getting the most attention, which may also lead you to second-guess yourself.
The best thing to do before betting is to find out as much as you can about the competing team. Once you know the pros and cons, you’ll be able to place a bet successfully without losing any money.
10. Look Around to Ensure the Best eSports Odds
Of course, never put your eSports bets down unless you know that you’re betting on the best eSports odds. This will take some time to figure out, as you’ll have to look at all eSports betting sites and check the odds for yourself.
However, you can always use an eSports odds tracker and ensure that you get the best price. Even though the difference between odds on each website may not look significant, it can increase your profits by a lot.
Conclusion
Overall, female eSports players are slowly changing the world of eSports for the better. For example, Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn ranks on top for being the first female eSports player to win a major StarCraft 2 Tournament. She is also currently the highest-paid female gamer.
In the future, we hope to see many new female faces in the gaming industry as more and more female eSports players follow their passions and continue to be recognized by different platforms and fandoms.
FAQ
Who is the best female gamer?
Among the top 10 players listed above, the best female gamer is Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn. Hostyn plays Starcraft 2, which is an insanely competitive game and has dominated every competition she’s joined.
Is there a female eSports player?
Nowadays, there are many successful female eSports players. You can take a look at the list above to see our top 10.
Are there any female pro sc2 players?
There have been many female pro sc2 players. The first one was Shee-Yoon “Eve” Kim, who joined team SlayerS 11 years ago. Nowadays, the most well-known name in sc2 is Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn.
Who is the highest-paid female gamer?
The highest-paid female gamer is Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn, who has earned $408,541.18 from over 230 tournaments.
Is Scarlett still playing SC2?
Scarlett continues to dominate the eSports industry as a successful female gamer playing multiple games, including SC2.
Who is the best StarCraft 2 player?
The best StarCraft 2 player in 2021 was Korean gamer Maru. However, Scarlett remains the best female StarCraft 2 player.
