First all-female team to join Honour of Kings pro e-sports league say they are better than men
- Gender diversity in e-sports has become a talking point in the industry, with women still under-represented
- Honour of Kings has been the most popular and lucrative mobile game in China in recent years
Five women who play China’s most popular game Honour of Kings are forming an e-sports team to join the game’s professional league – and they say they are better gamers than their male counterparts.
According to the King Pro League (KPL), the gamers are forming the league’s first all-female club, called Fire Leopard, and will compete against all-male teams at the King G-League, KPL’s development league, next year.
KPL is the highest-level professional league for Tencent Holdings’ smash-hit 5-versus-5 game Honour of Kings, which is known as Arena of Valour overseas. In KPL’s four-year history, there has only been one female player previously – who goes by her in-game name Nu Di.
One of the Fire Leopard team – known by her in-game name Nu Qi – told local Chinese media that she believes she is better than most male gamers but has not had enough opportunities at the professional level to showcase her talent.
“I’ve stayed with some e-sports teams before. But I was really just idling my time away because they didn’t play me in any games,” Nu Qi said. “Most teams believe that female gamers are not as capable as men. So very few ever recruit female gamers and as a result, female gamers never have the chance to prove themselves.”