Gender and Toxic Meritocracy in Competitive Overwatch: Case “Ellie”

Abstract

This chapter examines toxic meritocracy in relation to gender in competitive Overwatch, asking how gender affects a player’s opportunities for engagement in that scene. It analyzes online news stories and community discussions concerning “Ellie” – a fabricated competitive woman gamer created as a “social experiment” by a man player. The confluences between gender and toxic meritocracy become visible in the assumption there must be an experienced man gamer behind the battletag, the gender-based harassment targeted at Ellie, and the reflections on the importance of setting an example as the first team taking a woman player for Contenders. The analysis shows that despite a strong belief in meritocracy upheld within the community, there are many barriers limiting the participation of those entering competitive Overwatch as women.

Communicating and Practicing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Finnish Esports Organizations: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Many of these DEI contents focused on participant behavior, by emphasizing the value of sportsmanship and fair play, but also by setting rules and guidelines for participants to follow. This is not surprising, as the existing research literature on this topic too emphasizes the role of player behavior in DEI issues in esports (Choi et al, 2020;Friman & Ruotsalainen, 2022;Pauketat, 2022;Ruotsalainen & Friman, 2018;Ruvalcaba et al, 2018;Siutila & Havaste, 2019;Witkowski, 2018) -and rules and guidelines as a solution for improving the situation (Amazan-Hall et al, 2018;Pauketat, 2022). Among the websites we examined, only the national esports representative, the Finnish Esports Federation, presented specific action plans for increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion in the organization's activities, through their public equity and equality plan and a guide for organizing accessible esports events.…”

“…These and many other studies (e.g., Gray, 2020;Groen, 2013;Ruotsalainen & Friman, 2018;Ruvalcaba et al, 2018;Siutila & Havaste, 2019;Witkowski, 2018) highlight the systematic nature of discrimination and harassment targeted at women, persons of color, and participants representing gender and sexual minorities in esports, and demonstrate the cultural structures and practices leading to exclusion of these marginalized player groups. Despite this, there is a culture of toxic meritocracy (Paul, 2018) in esports, an underlying false belief that everyone, despite their background, has an equal chance to succeed solely based on their skill and dedication (Fletcher, 2020;Friman & Ruotsalainen, 2022;Ruotsalainen & Friman, 2018;Siutila & Havaste, 2019;Taylor & Stout, 2020).…”

“…As such, they also have power to initiate change and create more sustainable esports culture. In this study, we investigate ways of improving cultural sustainability in esports (Friman et al, 2023) by examining how different aspects of DEI are present at such grassroots esports organizations in one national and cultural context: Finnish esports.…”

Trolligans: Conceptual Links Between Trolling and Hooliganism in Sports and Esports

“…An example where trolling and hooliganism overlap in esports players’ out-game online behavior is the case of “Ellie” in Overwatch (Friman & Ruotsalainen, 2022). In this self-titled “social experiment,” a high-level man player pretended to be a woman (utilizing the anonymity afforded by the online space) while reaching the fourth rank on the North American competitive ladder.…”

An Auto-netnographic Approach to Understanding Alternate Gaming Accounts: How Smurfing Impacts the Prosumer Experience in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive

“…This paper is limited through only reflecting the male perspective, based on my experiences, fieldnotes, and the interviewees. First-person shooter games in general have been a genre dominated by men with a culture that can be perceived as being hostile toward women (Friman & Ruotsalainen, 2022), as extant research has demonstrated barriers to female engagement with esports; yet, solutions to overcome this are still needed (Cranmer et al, 2021). Studies focusing on the female experience of peer-to-peer prosumption and associated aspects such as smurfing may allow progress on these issues.…”