Women in Games (WIGJ) är en ideell organisation som förespråkar fler kvinnor inom spel och e-sport. I dagarna presenterar de en rapport över kvinnors underrepresentation inom e-sport, tillsammans med en föreslagen strategi för hur detta kan åtgärdas.

Ett av de huvudsakliga problemen, menar WIGJ, är att kvinnor inte känner till e-sport i samma utsträckning som män:

"In the core 18-24 age group the lack of awareness was 19 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women," said Women in Games. "The 'awareness gap' between genders creates a self-fulfilling prophecy that allows some men in esports to say that women are not interested in esports."

I rapporten nämner organisationen separata ligor och turneringar för kvinnliga spelare som en temporär lösning för att fostra den kvinnliga e-sportscenen. Detta, menar Women in Games, för att inspirera, främja födelsen av nya kvinnliga lag och skapa synlighet i en trygg miljö. Just separata ligor och turneringar är något som mötts av blandad kritik tidigare, bland annat i Counter-Strike Global Offensive.

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Samtliga punkter från WIGJ:s rapport:

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  • Women's esports should be seen as a product in its own right and not an add-on or proving ground for the existing male-dominated industry.

  • Intel/ESL and other market leaders should be encouraged to make board level appointments and take responsibility for developing women's esports.

  • Product directors responsible for women's esports should agree targets to decrease the "gender awareness gap" on a country-by-country basis, and be given sufficient resources to achieve the targets.

  • Data and analytics should be defined and built into tournament software to capture and track gender statistics, and measure progress in all areas like sign-ups and tournament results.

  • Women's esports product directors should work closely with organisations like Anykey -- a diversity in esports advocacy group -- allowing participation and intervention in daily management activities of leading esports organisations.

  • The budget of Anykey should be protected.

  • Increased investment in marketing to reach the non-core audience, promote the successes of women in esports, and demonstrate that esports is for everyone including gender non-binary people.

  • Significantly increase the number of women-only tournaments and leagues with the aim of growing both audience and player base, providing more opportunities for women staff behind the scenes and in forward facing roles.

  • Product directors should be asked to lead the search for non-endemic and endemic sponsors.

  • Organisation of additional tournaments, sponsorship and prize money -- plus discussions with established esports organisations -- with the aim of inspiring and promoting new women's teams.

  • Direct and co-investment should be considered is schools, universities, and esports academies to promote the birth of new women's teams

  • Intel/ESL and other market leaders should work with existing women's groups and grassroots organisations to build networks and communities with information and resources for parents, young women and allies to foster the growth of women's esports.

Källa: Gameindustry.biz