The Current Situation and Debate on Gender Segregation in Esports Tournaments

Esports have grown to be a billion-dollar industry, with millions of players and viewers on a global level. Being neither dependant on athleticism, nor feats of physical exertion, esports enable players from all genders to compete on equal terms, however, gender-based division among male and female players remains (seemingly inexplicably) in practice. In this pa-per, we summarize related research work, and contribute insight to the ongoing discussion on gender discrimination in competitive video games. We highlight some of the most profound challenges that still need to be addressed for esports to become a more inclusive environment. We also discuss emerging opportunities and solutions, that esports industry stakeholder groups can leverage, to support equal participation of both genders in mixed-gender tournaments and competitions, thereby realizing esports true ubiquitous potential.