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The Overwatch League signs its first female player

The Overwatch League signs its first female player

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‘Geguri’ joins the Shanghai Dragons

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Kim “Geguri” Se-Yeon.
Kim “Geguri” Se-Yeon.
Image: Shanghai Dragons

The window for new player signings in Blizzard’s Overwatch League opened up at the end of January, and today comes the first major announcement, courtesy of the Shanghai Dragons. The Chinese team has added four Korean players to its lineup, most notably 19-year-old Kim “Geguri” Se-Yeon, who becomes the league’s first female player.

Geguri is well-known in Overwatch circles for her play with the character Zarya. When she was just 16, her win rate with the character was so high that other players accused her of cheating, and she was forced to perform on a livestream to prove she was actually as good as she seemed. Geguri was previously the first woman to play in Apex, a Korean league that served as the game’s premier competition prior to the launch of Blizzard’s Overwatch League.

The lack of women among the 12 teams in the league has been one of the major talking points heading into the Overwatch League’s debut season. On a media day ahead of the season kickoff on January 10th, teams offered a range of excuses for the lack of female players, ranging from issues of team chemistry to worries that the signing would be perceived as a PR stunt.

Though most managers and owners seemed open to the idea of signing a woman, none were ready to take the first step. “I think there are no limitations to anyone playing in any e-sport,” Kent Wakeford, co-founder and COO of Seoul Dynasty owner KSV Esports, told The Verge in January. “And as our coaches are out there scouting, there are no restrictions on who they ultimately choose for their teams.”

Geguri joins a Dragons club in desperate need of change. As the league heads into its second stage, Shanghai remains the only winless team, with an 0-10 record. In addition to Geguri, the team has also signed three other players in hopes of bolstering its chances for the rest of the season, including He “Sky” Junjian, Lee “Fearless” Lee Eui-Seok, and Chon “Ado” Gi-Hyeon. “The Shanghai Dragons look forward to tackling the core problems of the team with the help of these new signings, as well as showcasing more competitiveness in skills and tactics with better performances in the matches ahead,” the club said in a statement.

Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn.
Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn.
Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

The news come a week after another female e-sports athlete made headlines, when Canadian Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn became the first woman to win a major StarCraft 2 tournament, taking the top prize at the Intel Extreme Masters 2018, an Olympics-sponsored event in Pyeongchang.

As for Geguri and her new teammates, it’s not clear when they might first take the stage at Blizzard Arena. The Dragons’ next game is on February 21st against the Dallas Fuel, but the club says that it’s “now actively working to bring the four players to the United States,” including securing visas and dealing with other logistical issues.