Female esports in 2025: 25 stats about women in competitive gaming

The rise of female esports is shaking up the gaming world, with more women in esports stepping onto the main stage, breaking records, and proving they belong in the spotlight. 

But what’s really going on behind the scenes? From growing prize pools to viewership challenges and online harassment, the journey for women in esports isn’t easy. 

This deep dive reveals the latest stats, standout players, and the hurdles female competitors still face today.

Esports audiences are mostly male. In 2024, around 67% of esports viewers were men, which means only 33% (one in three viewers) were women (Deloitte, 2024). 

This gender gap shows up across the world, but the numbers shift a little depending on the region.

In 2024, the percentage of female gamers worldwide stood at 46% (Entertainment Software Association, 2024). 

These male vs. female gamers statistics highlight the difference between how many gamers are female and how many are actively engaged in esports.

Some popular female gamers have made a big impact when it comes to prize money. These women in esports have proven they can hold their own in some of the toughest games.  

Here’s a closer look at the top 5 female earners in esports, some of whom are also famous gamers (Esports Earnings, 2025). 

Prize money for female esports players has grown in recent years but still makes up a small share of the overall scene. Some games, though, are making bigger efforts to support women.

In 2024, VALORANT led the way. Almost 24% of all VALORANT tournaments were women-only, which was much higher than in other games. These competitions awarded nearly 14% of the total prize pool for the game, supporting female pro gamers even though the richest esports player remains male (Esports Charts, 2025).

MLBB Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) followed, with 11.7% of its tournaments for women and 9% of its total prize pool for the game awarded to pro female gamers. 

In Counter-Strike, tournaments for female pro gamers were harder to find, making up just 5.3% of tournaments. Less than 3% of its total prize pool was awarded to women gamers. 

All in all, female esports prize pools hit nearly $3 million in 2024. A big chunk of that – about 73% – was awarded at offline events, even though they only made up just over a quarter of all tournaments (Esports Charts, 2024).

Looking at where the money came from, the MENA region (led by Saudi Arabia) topped the list with 32.1% of total prize pools, followed by Europe (30.8%) and North America (21.5%). 

Other regions, like South America (8.8%) and APAC (6.8%), contributed smaller shares. This spread shows that while female esports is global, the big investments are coming from a few key areas.

Even though prize money for women in esports is growing, getting audiences to watch remains difficult. 

In 2024, viewership for women’s events dropped by 26%, which raised questions about how strong the fanbase really is (Esports Charts, 2024). 

A big part of that was simply fewer events being held. There were about 21% fewer tournaments for female esports players in 2024, which naturally led to less content for fans to watch. Still, the commitment to growing prize pools shows that organizers haven’t given up on the space.

When it comes to which games drew the most viewers, VALORANT and MLBB dominated the scene, together making up almost 90% of the total viewership of pro female gamers. 

VALORANT led the pack, pulling in almost 60% of all watch time, while MLBB followed with close to 30%. Other titles like Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Fortnite made up the remaining share, though their numbers were much smaller.

But here’s where things get interesting. Even though VALORANT and MLBB drove most of the female esports viewership overall, women’s events in these games still accounted for only a small slice of their total audiences (Esports Charts, 2025).

In VALORANT, women’s events accounted for 5.6% of the total esports watch time for the title in 2024. For MLBB, that figure dropped to 1.3%. Counter-Strike had the smallest share – only 0.2% of its overall viewership came from women’s events.

But there are bright spots. At the SEA Games 2023, the MLBB women’s tournament pulled in a peak audience of 1.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s esports event so far.

In 2024, female esports teams continued to grow their audiences, with some squads pulling in millions of viewing hours (Esports Charts, 2024). 

At the top of the list was MIBR GC, one of the leading female esports teams, who clocked over 3.5 million hours watched, making them the most popular team of the year. Their peak audience reached 464,500, showing just how much gamer girls can draw in esports.

Close behind were G2 Gozen (2.3 million hours) and Shopify Rebellion (2.25 million hours), 

and ZETA DIVISION GC (1.59 million hours). 

In the MLBB scene, Team Vitality Female reached 1.5 million hours watched, leading for mobile gaming-focused gamer girls. 

According to male vs. female gamers statistics, the way they choose to play is quite different. 

Mobile gaming attracts the majority of the percentage of female gamers worldwide. In 2024, the percentage of female gamers aged 8 and up who played on mobile devices totalled 84%, while 74% of male players did the same, making mobile a big part of the gamer girls community (Entertainment Software Association, 2024).

Furthermore, nearly half (40%) of female players preferred PC gaming, and one in three (33%) preferred console gaming. Only 8% preferred virtual reality gaming. This data highlights how men lean toward these platforms more than women.

Even though girl gamers are growing in number, many still face serious challenges when they go online.

Yet, many stay silent – a quarter of women said they wouldn’t tell anyone about the negative comments they’ve received.

Because of this environment, 31% of female gamers have chosen to hide their gender or stay anonymous during online play. And for 50% of gaming girls, abuse made them uncomfortable even when live streaming.

There is some hope, though. 71% of gamers – both men and women – said they’ve stepped in to stop abuse when they saw it happen. And 66% agreed that women are more likely to get negative comments while gaming.

This shows that while the number of women in video games is growing, making the online space safer for girl gamers is just as important as increasing participation.

Female esports is making steady progress, with more women in esports stepping into the spotlight. Prize pools are growing, dedicated tournaments are increasing, and top female players are earning recognition. 

But challenges remain. Viewership is still low for women’s events, and online harassment is a major issue. With more support and investment, female esports can continue to improve, creating a stronger, safer space for pro female gamers.