Black Esports Players: The Struggles of Going Pro

Esports is growing faster than ever and is even a potential billion dollar industry. But what is it about the industry that’s keeping out Black pro players?  

BY: KHALIL ADEN

Photo courtesy of Joe Buglewicz

Growing up as the youngest of seven, I looked to my older brothers as role models. I would desperately copy their hobbies as I thought it would make me just as cool as them When I was first introduced to the world of gaming, I was blown away. Being able to play as LeBron James in NBA 2K  or Wolverine in Marvel Ultimate Alliance was an amazing experience for me as a child. As I got older, I would venture into different genres and I could always fulfill that joy that I felt as a kid. I spent many hours sitting in front of a TV screen as a child and I’m almost certain it’s the reason why my vision is terrible. Gaming became a huge part of my life and I considered making a living out of my passion. Once I realized that game development wasn’t as cool as it sounds and much more complex than it seemed, I quickly stuck to just playing.

About four years ago, I came across the fighting game Street Fighter and its competitive scene. As I watched players compete for prize pools of $250,000 with a stadium of thousands watching, I realized the viability of an esports career. Players at the highest level can compete for thousands of dollars at tournaments as well as have a chance at being noticed by esports sponsors. In esports, sponsors are essentially the equivalent of professional sport teams. Much like professional sports, only the best and notable players can achieve those sponsorships. The Street Fighter scene was my first exposure to esports, and it introduced me to the idea of professional gaming.

I continued to come across different esports scenes over the years such as League of Legends, CS:GO, and Rocket League. But one esport garnered my attention more than others—Rainbow Six Siege. After owning the game for a year, I came across the competitive league, but one thing that I noticed in contrast to the Street Fighter tournaments was that there were little to no Black players within the esport. I couldn't help but notice that out of the 40 players in the league, only one of them was Black.

I wasn’t sure whether this was only apparent within the Rainbow Six competitive scene or it was common throughout other prominent leagues.

I took a look at the League of Legends LCS League, the Dota 2 League and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive League to see how many players within the North American teams were Black. Dota2 and LoL had 1 player each while CS:GO had none. If there’s a small percentage of Black esports players, what is it that’s turning them away from competing? 

One of the factors that deter Black-identifying people from esports would be the accessibility of PCs. I spoke to Daniel Rosen from The Score esports, who shared that socio-economic issues play a critical role in the lack of diversity within esports. He expressed how expensive PC gaming can be. When you look at the cost of gaming PCs, an above-average PC can cost you 700 to 1000 dollars. Those who are in low-income households might not have hundreds or thousands of dollars to spare on gaming equipment. In contrast to console gaming, it’s easier to invest in a console as the average price range is around 300 dollars. 

With new consoles released every seven years, you’re able to make a smart investment that's going to benefit you for years to come.. A console is a one-time cheap investment in comparison to the constant upgrading of an expensive PC.

Photo courtesy of Peter Chau

Let’s say that you're able to afford a PC and you’re on your way to becoming a pro player. Like with most gaming communities, toxic behaviour is common. When you become a prominent figure in the community, whether you’re known for being a good player online or an already established pro, you automatically open the door for trolls and the worst kind of people to attack you. 

To put themselves in the eyes of sponsors and teams, players tend to create a streaming channel to build their platform and give esport organizations the chance to see their talent. Players who successfully create their platform have a higher chance of being noticed by orgs. When in the public eye, you’re now forced to deal with the racism and harassment that comes with that notoriety.

As a POC, the discrimination that you face when building your platform is more severe than your average player. Especially when those who are commenting can continue to do so with anonymity. Terrence Miller, a Black Hearthstone player, was bombarded with terrible messages when he was competing at a Hearthstone tournament. As he was playing, viewers in the Twitch chat were spewing out racist speech as well as using emotes (Twitch-exclusive emojis) in a discriminatory way. 

Terrence had done nothing to invite this reaction as he was just competing at a high-level. But his appearance was enough to prompt a full attack. The moderators of the chat claimed that due to thousands of people in chat, it was incredibly difficult to stop the flooding of the hateful messages. This can be a major turn-off to those who have any hopes of becoming a pro, since they know the harassment that comes with their success is based upon their appearance. 

In the gaming community, women have always dealt with misogynistic comments and haven’t always been accepted. Sharpie, a Tournament organizer for fighting games SkullGirls and Super Smash Bros. Melee, spoke to me about her experience in gaming as well the glass ceiling that may or may not exist for Black-identifying players.

“When it comes to those communities on PC, they're not the most accepting people,” she said.  “I was fine with letting people know that I was a woman, but I never wanted people to know I was Black. I wouldn't have been able to deal with the harassment from that.”

She explained that a lot of communities tend to be toxic towards women, but the hate is much worse when it comes to Black women and men. She expressed that harassing non-white players is particularly annoying because the first real competitive gamers were of Asian descent. It’s not like professional gaming is something white people created. There’s no real reason to push others out as if you built the community yourself.

From a player’s standpoint, there are issues of prejudice that Black-identifying players have to deal with. But when making the right moves as the CEO of an org, the level of respect that you should receive doesn’t occur. 

Sharpie brought up Nicole Lapointe Jameson, CEO of the infamous esports org Evil Geniuses. Nicole, a Black woman who’s shifted the brand entirely, has barely made any headlines for her position as CEO. Recently she’s made moves to sign arguably the greatest fighting player of all time in Sonic Fox and even changed the brand’s iconic logo. But her name seems to be missing from the news.

Photo courtesy of Evil Geniuses

“I’m not going to lie, it’s incredibly frustrating seeing someone get to that point in gaming on an organizational level and not be recognized for their accomplishments,” Sharpie said.

This was my first time hearing about Nicole, despite her being the CEO for over a year now. In our conversation, I mentioned other CEOs such as Nadeshot from 100 Thieves, who makes headlines for a lot less in comparison to the rebranding that Nicole has done. Not even acquiring a CS:GO team could help. For Black folks, it’s demoralizing to see someone who looks like you work so hard and not be given the proper respect she deserves.

Black folks in esports face adversity before they even use a mouse and keyboard. But the real adversity starts as soon as they begin to see success. Through different mediums, Black people are reminded that their talents are not enough to save them from prejudice. Your success as a player should be determined by the skill you possess and not the colour of your skin.