The International eSports Federation (IeSF) has backtracked on a male-only policy in many categories after receiving a ton of backlash from the gaming community for denying women the opportunity to compete in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft at this year’s 6th World Championship.
Kicking off in November with a $100,000 prize pool, the eSports World Championship had planned on hosting female-free competitions for hugely popular titles Hearthstone, Dota 2 and Ultra Street Fighter 4, dividing and limiting female competition in an attempt to “legitimise” the sport.
Having originally planned to open female categories in just StarCraft 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, both of which are closed to men, the IeSF were asked by fans to defend their decision on the federation’s official Facebook page.
“The decision to divide male and female competitions was made in accordance with international sports authorities, as part of our effort to promote e-Sports as a legitimate sport,” the South Korean-based IeSF posted.
An IeSF emergency board meeting was held on Wednesday and the official response has resulted in a now open gender competition for all the previously male-only categories, while retaining the female only division.
“The IeSF Board addressed its reason for maintaining events for women, citing the importance of providing female gamers with ample opportunities to compete in e-Sports—currently a male-dominated industry,” the IeSF said in a statement.
“Female gamers make up half of the world’s gaming population, but only a small percentage of eSports competitors are women. The IeSF’s female-only competitions aim to bring more diversity to competitive play by improving the representation of women at these events. Without efforts to improve representation, eSports can’t achieve true gender equality. “
Other competitive gaming events, such as the Evolution Championship Series and The International, are open to both genders.
Photo: Facebook
