Valorant leads all esports titles by share of women’s competitions
Over the past few years, women’s esports has gradually become a more visible and tangible part of the industry, especially within a handful of major titles. The number of tournaments is growing, prize pools are getting larger, and in games like Counter-Strike, recent changes to the competitive ecosystem have even opened the door for women’s teams to compete on equal footing with top-tier men’s rosters, drawing sizable audiences in the process.
Still, women’s esports (including participation from other marginalized gender identities) remains relatively small, both in terms of event count and total prize money awarded. The team at Esports Charts analyzed the state of women’s esports in 2024 and uncovered several noteworthy insights.
Women-only tournaments account for just 3% of the entire esports ecosystem
Last year, the Esports Charts database recorded over 6,700 tournaments, and only a couple hundred of them were exclusively for women. In most esports titles, there’s no formal separation between men’s and women’s competitions, meaning women-only events typically receive little to no dedicated support from publishers or third-party organizers.
In total, we identified just 15 esports titles that featured women-only tournaments. Of those, only two saw these events make up more than 10% of all competitions held in the game. In most cases, the share didn’t even reach 5%.
The most developed women's esports: Valorant, MLBB, CS
As we've highlighted in multiple annual reports, only three titles have shown consistent and tangible support for women’s competitions over the past few years, two PC shooters and one mobile MOBA. These games are Valorant, Counter-Strike, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB).
Valorant stands out as the title with the most developed scene for women and marginalized genders. In 2021, Riot Games launched Valorant Game Changers, a series of regional tournaments designed to support these players. Top teams from the circuit earn spots at the Game Changers Championship, the discipline’s premier event. Notably, the ecosystem also allows for promotion into regional Challengers leagues, which serve as tier-2 events in the game’s broader (and traditionally male-dominated) competitive structure.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) continues to stand out as one of the few games with a growing and consistent women's competitive scene. One of the key pillars of this ecosystem is the MLBB Women’s Invitational, a popular tournament series that gained even more visibility last year after being included in the Esports World Cup program. In addition to that, the game regularly features smaller, sponsor-backed women’s tournaments that help broaden exposure and provide additional opportunities for female players.
A significant boost for the women’s scene also comes from large multi-title esports competitions that include dedicated MLBB women’s brackets. Notable examples include the Asian Esports Games, IESF World Esports Championship, and various regional sporting events that feature esports as medal disciplines, particularly the Southeast Asian Games. The 2023 edition of the SEA Games, for instance, hosted a women’s MLBB tournament that drew a peak audience of over 1.3 million concurrent viewers. To this day, it remains the most-watched women’s esports event on record.
In the case of Counter-Strike, women’s tournaments have existed throughout the series’ long history, but for years, they remained isolated events rather than part of a sustained competitive ecosystem. That changed in 2022 when ESL, one of the leading tournament organizers in the space, launched ESL Impact, a dedicated league for women in Counter-Strike.
Since its inception, ESL Impact has provided structure and consistency to the women’s scene. The league features two seasons per year and divides competition into regional divisions: Europe, North America, and South America. Additionally, wildcard qualifiers are held to give teams from other regions a chance to compete. Each season culminates in an international LAN final held as part of DreamHack festivals. Currently, the league is in its seventh season, with the finals scheduled for May 2025.
Valorant leads in share of women’s tournaments and prize money
Among all esports titles, Valorant stands out as the game with arguably the most developed ecosystem for women and marginalized genders. Nearly a quarter (23.9%) of all Valorant tournaments are women-only events, and over 13% of the game’s total prize pool is awarded in these competitions. These figures are exceptionally high, even among games that have some level of support for women's esports, and they highlight Riot Games’ consistent efforts to build a more inclusive competitive scene.
By comparison, women-only tournaments make up just 11.7% of all events in MLBB, and only 5% in the stacked Counter-Strike ecosystem. The disparity is even greater when it comes to prize money: women’s competitions account for just over 9% of the total prize pool in MLBB and only 2.7% in Counter-Strike.
In absolute terms, women’s esports accounted for just under $3 million in prize money last year, with over $1.2 million coming from Valorant alone. Interestingly, MLBB outpaced Counter-Strike in total women’s prize pool, despite lacking a fully structured competitive ecosystem and relying instead on select standalone tournaments — unlike CS, which does have a dedicated league. The key factor here was the inclusion of the MWI in the Esports World Cup ecosystem, where the tournaments featured significantly higher prize pools compared to the average in women’s esports.
The audience turnout for women’s esports is still underwhelming
While both audience interest and prize pools in women’s esports had been steadily growing over the past few years, 2024 saw a reversal of this trend, with viewership dropping by a staggering 26%.
Even in Valorant, which stands out as one of the most developed ecosystems for women’s esports across various metrics, the numbers paint a bleak picture: women’s events accounted for just over 5% of the total esports watch time for the title in 2024.
The situation is even more dire in other games. In MLBB, women’s tournaments made up a mere 1.3% of total hours watched, while in Counter-Strike that figure dropped to a shockingly low 0.2%. Naturally, the state of women’s esports viewership in other titles is even less encouraging.
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In conclusion, while the growth of women’s esports over the past few years has been encouraging, the current state of the scene remains far from ideal. Despite significant strides made by titles like Valorant, MLBB, and Counter-Strike in terms of tournament offerings and prize money, women’s esports continues to face challenges, especially in terms of audience engagement and the depth of competitive ecosystems. The viewership decline in 2024 highlights the fragile nature of this progress, and while some titles are making commendable efforts to foster inclusivity, the overall numbers tell a different story.
However, the foundation has been laid for positive change. As more organizations and developers recognize the importance of supporting women and marginalized genders in esports, there remains hope that the scene will continue to evolve, providing more opportunities and expanding the audience base in the years to come.
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