CS2 pro Zana highlights the difficulties for women in esports

CJ Published December 12, 2024

After ENCE announced it was pausing its female Counter-Strike 2 project, CS2 pro Ana “Zana” Queiroz shared her thoughts CS2 esports for women.

Recent reports claim that ENCE, TSM, and Spirit have paused their female CS2 projects going into the 2025 season. Many players, primarily men, questioned if any female team could even compete at a Tier 1 level. These critics claimed the teams were a “money sink” for esports organizations. Others wondered why women had to be segregated from the men’s division in the first place, especially as it was not a physical sport.

Much like traditional sports, esports has seen its fair share of misogyny in the community. As the discourse continued, Big Clan pro player Zana took to X to explain why it’s been hard for women to compete at the same level.

Female CS2 pro reacts to sexism in the esports community

Pro CS2 player Zana explained the deeply rooted misogyny in the CS2 esports scene.

After reading some of the comments under the ENCE announcement, Zana called out men who claimed women can’t qualify for events and “don’t bring any value” to the scene. She emphasized that the only way to raise the skill ceiling is by welcoming more female players. “We all know we aren’t good enough to play against Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams. How could we be when we have a few hundred girls playing FACEIT versus tens of thousands of men grinding pugs even before hitting level 10?” stated Zana.

“How many young girls will survive hundreds of hours of unsupervised sexism, harassment, etc on Valve servers?” said Zana. She points out that many women struggle to compete in CS2 esports. The gender discrimination problem extends to the general online gaming community. In a report by The Guardian, a UK-based survey found that half of British female gamers experienced sexism. 80% of those instances were reportedly sexually inappropriate.

Multiple female esports players champion more women in CS2 the right way

Retired pro player and current CCO of FlyQuest Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey previously discussed these same concerns. Harvey explained that supporting an underserved community is “very hard” and not all teams have what it takes. She claims that hiring women’s teams for the sake of PR could lead to “virtue signaling and ungenuine people.”

Regardless, Harvey has advocated for getting more women to play Counter-Strike 2 and other esports. In past interviews, she’s explained that the goal is always to get women to join the main esports circuit. Even so, all women’s circuits are designed to help more women get into the game in a safe environment. Fans hope their voices are heard amidst a sea of negativity online.