Gaming and Women: VALORANT

The game industry usually works for men because they are the target audience. However, many game producers forget women play games too. In this stereotypical scenario, there is a FPS game that was a bit revolutionary. In this blog, I will talk about how VALORANT attracts many women.

Unlike the usual FPS games, VALORANT includes many female characters in the game. Even though it may not mean a lot, these agents are as strong as the male agents. In this game, there is not a main character. They can all be your main! People can freely choose the one they want to play. And in this case, they actually feel included and represented. These women, and also men, and in 2024 only one non-binary agent are from different parts of the world. There is a Turkish character, Norwegian, Russian, American, Moroccon and more. Not just women, but also different ethnicities feel represented too.

From the beginning of its journey, VALORANT has tried to reach all types of people. The game itself is already attractive with its colors and many choices. However, representing many people certainly attracts more people. The more people feel included, the more people play the game. However, it is not flawless. VALORANT is not that safe or fun at all.

This video shows the women experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlXPTEJ5eJY

In the game, you can communicate with a team and the team consists of 5 people. When you communicate, sometimes people are misogynist. For example, in a competitive game people are playing hard to win. Moreover, playing as a team is not easy. That is why they get mad easily to one another. However, if you are a woman and you press that communication button, many people will get more mad at you. The reason is your gender. Even though the company wants women to play more, its (many) men players are not making this easy. They make women uncomfortable just because they are playing. Some people may even disturb women. Some even go further and sexually assault them with words.

VALORANT e-sport teams also represent many women now. There are many succesful VALORANT e-sport players, and we are truly proud of them! They play wonderfully and do great stuff in the championships. What I basically mean is that trying to silence women in games are useless. Gaming is not just for men anymore; women play a lot too. That is why game producers and the industry should be more careful about their women players. Even though VALORANT represents many women, it still needs to be more safe women to talk freely without getting assaulted. I hope you had fun reading this content. And, if you are being mean in online games, just remember that people are more important! Stay safe, have a nice game.