This year, we’re honoring Women’s History Month with an exciting lineup of content, streams, and celebration. Here are some of Ashley's favorite community leaders, developers, and creators working to innovate the gaming industry.
An important part of Women's History Month is taking time to celebrate the acheivements of trailblazing individuals. Get to know and support these four pioneers in the gaming industry who are redefining community, reimagining gameplay, and innovating the space.
Geguri
Debuting as one of the youngest professional players and the first female player signed to an Overwatch League, Se-yeon "Geguri" Kim is an eSports legend, streamer, and trailblazer. At seventeen, she started playing for the Shanghai Dragons, quickly rising to fame with unmatched stats and win rates. With the world's eyes on her, Geguri was accused of cheating and was reported to Blizzard Korea. However, she was quickly proven innocent, with Blizzard and fans globally attesting to her raw talent.
During her competitive career, she dominated the eSports landscape, bringing home countless wins in Overwatch tournaments, including the Overwatch League 2020 Asia Playoffs. In 2019, Time honored Geguri by including her in the list of "Next Generation of Leaders" for fighting gender bias in gaming. Greguri's contract with the Shanghai Dragons ended in 2020 but she has kept her momentum going, building a community of over 120 000 followers on Twitch and streaming almost every day.
Jay-Ann Lopez
Community is such an integral part of the gaming industry, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done to create and foster inclusive community spaces for all gamers. Since 2015 Jay-Ann Lopez has been a pioneer in creating such spaces, serving as the CEO and Founder of Black Girl Gamers (BGG), the largest gaming safe space for Black women in the world, with nearly 10 000 memers globally. BGG creates authentic content, hosts online and offline events, and even offers external consulting for studios and developers.
In an interview with Spotify, Lopez shared how BGG came to be: "It was a need that I experienced... I tried starting my own channel. I then abandoned that, because I was like, I’d rather ‘do for everyone’ than just ‘do for myself.’" Since the community's conception, Black Girl Gamers has grown across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok. They've even partnered with a variety of brands from PlayStation, Riot Games, and EA, to Google, Adidas, H&M, and more. In 2020 they partnered with Twitch to host its inaugural Black Girls Gamers Online Summit increasing the visibility of black voices industry.
If you're interested in being a part of Black Girl Gamers, check out their website. To support BGG, follow them and be sure to enage with Lopez on Instagram.
Plumbella
Jesse McNamara, AKA Plumbella, is a content creator and streamer known for their Sims content, humor, and vulnerability. With nearly a decade of video under their belt and over a million followers across YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram, Plumbella has established themselves as a pillar in the Sims community, with entertaining gameplay, collaborations, reviews, and various video series.
But what's made Plumbella grow to become so beloved in the gaming community is their vulnerability and openness about their health, sexuality, and experiences as an autistic person. In addition to content creation, Plumbella also operates a merch store, Lunar Isle, alongside their mom and sister.
Lilith Walther
FromSoftware has delivered some of the most iconic titles in gaming history, including Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows, and its newest release, Elden Ring. But an independently created remake, or rather a demake, of Bloodborne, titled Bloodborne PSX (BBPSX) captivated gamers globally when it was released for free in early 2022. Developed by Lilith Walther using Unreal Engine 4 and styled after the original PlayStation's graphics, BBPSX brought a new way to play one of the most challenging games out there. In addition to her work on Bloodborne PSX, Walther is a Lead Programmer at Heartstrings Studios and is working on an upcoming indie JRPG . You can support Lilith by playing Bloodbourne PSX or buying her a cup of coffee!
Join SteelSeries as we celebrate Women's History Month throughout March! Be a part of the SteelSeries community on:
