Riot Games does not have a women’s League of Legends tour. However, over the years, there have been a few third-party female-only LoL tournaments, such as FemaleLegends at DreamHack Paris and ESWC Paris. The GirlGamer Oradea Festival EU LoL tournament was won by the squad that signed with G2 later that same year and will feature a final global set to be held in early 2023.
NUEL’s Women and Non-Binary university tournaments in the United Kingdom are held in League of Legends and Valorant.
Recently, Riot’s LCS in North America has introduced a Women’s Stream to help increase the visibility of women competing. There are also quite a few all-female LoL teams from North America, for example, CLG Red and Dignitas Fe.
Riot to add a women’s League of Legends esports circuit
The lack of opportunity for women in the current esports landscape is appalling. G2 Hel’s announcement on Thursday made headlines because it was a vital sign of support for women’s initiatives in esports – something that has been controversial, especially for League of Legends. Women have long described League of Legends as unwelcoming and hostile, so this news is very encouraging.
Analysts frequently point to body differences as a cause for competitions separated by gender in traditional sports. That’s irrelevant in esports. Everyone is sitting at a computer clicking a mouse, after all. Nonetheless, women haven’t achieved the same success or opportunity in competitive gaming as males.
There are several causes for this. One is that most esports games are male-dominated, with sexed female characters or avatars. This might make it challenging for women to feel at ease in the gaming community. Furthermore, internet gaming may be a breeding ground for negative behavior such as sexism and bullying. This makes many women feel unwelcome and discouraged from participating.
It was a big deal when G2 Esports announced their all-female Valorant team. Not only is Valorant a relatively new game, but it’s also one of the few that doesn’t have sexually suggestive character designs.
Women’s Circuit
The VCT Game Changers women’s circuit is a crucial step forward for Valorant competitive diversity. On the other hand, the MENA region’s involvement may have been a stumbling block in the creation and announcement of such a circuit sooner. However, the decision to add MENA has been controversial, as there are fears about how LGBTQ+ people will be treated in the more conservative region.
Riot’s announcement that it was working on the VCT Game Changers circuit for the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region has yet to be seen how Riot will handle these issues and whether the MENA area will ultimately be included in the VCT Game Changers circuit. However, representing the region would be a significant step forward for LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion in competitive gaming.
William ‘Kaiprioska’ Roche, product manager at European Regional League NLC representing the company, told Esports News UK: “I’ve always been a massive advocate of trying to help bring in more women through the industry (from a personal perspective).
“I’m excited that Riot is finally launching a dedicated esports league for women. As someone active in the female scene before and understands many of the numerous hurdles they face when trying to break into esports, I am ecstatic that we now have a league dedicated to League of Legends that places it on par with other sports.”
Roche was delighted with the NLC thus far and how it has been an excellent opportunity for European up-and-coming players and teams. He said he’d had the pleasure of working with many of them in different ways over the past few years, and it warms his heart to see them doing so well on such a large platform.
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