Girl gamers are truly on the rise.
Gone are the days video games and console gaming are only limited among males. If anything, girl gamers and streamers prove to be on par with their male counterparts in many famous titular games such as Valorant, League of Legends (LoL), Fortnite, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
Gaming has evolved drastically over the years. From a national pastime, it is now considered as a booming, multibillion-dollar industry. This trend has seen a lot of gamers make a career out of streaming, turning their hobby as a primary bread and butter.
However, even if the number of girl gamers continue to increase, a lot of females still meet challenges as they enter the male-dominated world of gaming. Sometimes, they are met with demeaning remarks, unfair and negative stereotypes, and hostility. This does not stop the “girl gamer”, though. It would take more than that to truly stop a girl who holds a great love for gaming.
With continued perseverance and hard work, girl gamers can rise above the stereotypes and be as successful as their male counterparts — if not more.
If you are planning to add to the growing number of gamer girls, this article is a great starting point for beginners. We’ll be discussing what you need to jumpstart your career, from having technical requirements such as a PC or a console to some tips on how to improve while you’re grinding levels.
Read on, gamer girls!
The Rise of Girl Gamers
The demographics of the play are shifting. Newzoo, a gaming and esports analytics outlet, conducted a research that goes to show how over 46% of gaming enthusiasts today are women. That’s about as many as one billion female game enthusiasts across the globe.
Recent statistics show the rise of “girl gamers” over the past decade or so, thanks to a growing number of females playing games regularly. There is also an ongoing diversification of available games to be played: from genres of Role-Playing Games (RPGs) to the new Battle Royale games, plus cross-platform downloads — as a result, it is now more accessible to play them.
While the poster image of the “gamer” persona as a headset-wearing boy with an almost religious devotion to computers and consoles may still linger in popular culture, that perceived gaming demographic is entirely out of date. Today, more girls are now downloading and playing games more than ever before.
Whether it’s for recreational and leisure purposes, or to venture into game streaming as a primary career, girl gamers are now continuously on the rise. Girls, who make streaming their bread and butter, must work as hard as their male counterparts.
If you aspire to be one of those girl gamers who are making history with every game, you too should understand the tastes, interests, and habits of over 2 billion people globally with a shared enthusiasm and love for games.
What You Need to Have to Become a Gamer Girl
In starting your gamer girl journey, you need to have high quality equipment to ensure that you give your viewers the best experience.
The basic gamer girl starter pack includes: a decent PC set to cater to your game qualifications (preferably mid to high range), a streaming platform of your own choosing, a microphone and a high-quality camera, and other gaming units should you wish to play on consoles.
Invest in your equipment if you want to stream your games on a long-term basis. These tools, especially your microphone and camera, can either make or break your streaming career. You wouldn’t want your viewers to be infuriated over annoying echoes or watching you play on a low-quality, almost pixelated broadcast.
For starters, you may want to check out the AmazonBasics Desktop Mini Condenser Microphone With Tripod for convenient, high-resolution recording. The Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam is another great choice for beginners; it is dubbed as the most versatile webcam with a built-in ring light for low light videos.
Remember that being a gamer girl doesn’t necessarily mean you need to play on PC exclusively. Today’s industry has seen a trend in cross-platform gaming. Keep your options open when it comes to mobile or console (PS4, Xbox) gaming.
Another important streaming element is to play some good tunes in the background as you grind. To avoid the pitfalls of possible copyright claims, you may want to check Spotify gaming playlists which are available for everyone to use. These are mostly composed of royalty-free music, so there’s no need for you to worry.
With the basics now sorted out, let’s proceed to what’s next in line for you!
Popular Streaming Platforms
With the rise of Twitch, Youtube Gaming, and Esports, watching gamers broadcast their live gameplays is now made a whole lot easier. Viewers can now follow streamers or teams, and even immerse themselves in game-specific online communities (such as on Discord or Reddit).
Choosing the right streaming platform means you need to take into consideration your streaming goals. If you’re planning to be a long-term, regular streamer, or a gamer who uploads content occasionally, here are some popular streaming platforms you might want to check out:
Twitch
Twitch is easily one of the most popular live streaming platforms online. It caters to the multitude of interests among its millions of users. The platform is home for all kinds of streamers that brings a variety of flavors to the gaming industry.
While the platform’s gaming space is currently dominated by male steamers, women compose the 35% population of Twitch’s streamer base.
More and more girls are taking their passion for gaming and other creative talents online. Twitch is only one of the communities that provides these girl gamers the support they need: a tightly-knit group of subscribers, donors, followers, and tippers.
Youtube Live
Choosing Youtube Live to broadcast your gameplays gives you an advantage in terms of content searchability and SEO. There’s no need to be overwhelmed by these technical terms, this just means Youtube videos tend to show up in search results much more effectively compared to other platforms.
The site’s search functionality is powerful too. Users can find your videos and livestreams on Youtube easily, paving the way for more views and potential subscribers.
Their service also has a Youtube Live API that enables programmatic access to their live streaming service. Hence, it’s easy to stream live on Youtube while streaming on other services at the same time. Users can also integrate other apps with Youtube live streams. Talk about functionality!
Facebook Gaming
It’s been 2 years since live video sharing is now made possible on the platform, allowing many users to widely adopt this feature. Many people across the globe use Facebook daily, thus sharing and watching a variety of video content has turned out to be a natural extension of this service.
Some Facebook gaming live streams, for instance, easily reach tens or even hundreds of visitors. Thanks to its built-in audience, you can take advantage of the social media following you’ve built over time.
Their streaming service is also sufficiently powerful. You can choose to stream from a high-quality compatible camera for live streaming with the FB Live API, and it also allows you to integrate with existing workflows.
Trovo Live
Have you ever wanted to stream mobile gaming content, but felt a little out of place with platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming? Trovo is here to become your new best friend.
The Tencent-backed streaming platform is forecasted to shake up not only the western live streaming market, but the global gaming scene in no time.
Major live streaming platforms have been heavily focused on broadcasting PC games, but Trovo Live wants to focus on mobile titles for a change. As mobile gaming continues to be on the rise as of late, more and more streamers opt to play mobile titles like PUBG, Fortnite, or Call of Duty Mobile.
Trovo Live wants to put their primary focus on mobile titles, providing an avenue for content creators on the small screen. Since the platform is relatively new, they also promise some solid support for its pioneer creators.
Tips from the Pros
Of course, nothing beats continuous effort and hard work in achieving your dream as a gamer girl, but here are some fool-proof tips from the pros that you may want to keep in mind to help you embark on this journey:
Find your game
With so many games to choose from and dozens of other girl gamers who are streaming across platforms, it is crucial to find your niche that will establish you as “unique” among the rest. What game would make you stand out? Are you better at playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) than first-person shooting games?
Experiment with a variety of games to find which one suits you best, while ensuring you are having a great time playing the game!
Post consistently
The secret to establishing a loyal and solid following is to consistently post your content. Consistency is important. Just like when people tune in to their favorite TV shows at the same time every night, your audience should know exactly when you’ll be live.
Whether you decide to broadcast early in the morning or in the afternoon, stick to your schedule and make your viewers regularly tune-in whenever you go live. Make sure you also prominently display your streaming schedule across your social media platforms.
Make some friends
While many gamer girl success can be attributed to a charming sense of humor and constantly interacting with viewers, your big break can stem from working with others. The idea of playing games with your friends and hanging out can make your stream much more natural and easier to manage.
Making a name for yourself means you need to play with other streamers, too. This helps you effectively showcase your content to a much wider audience. As the old saying goes: no (wo)man is an island.
Be interactive and listen to your audience
One thing that sets live streaming apart from other forms of entertainment is the way it includes the audience as a key part of the experience.
Live broadcasts are usually accompanied by a chat room, enabling streamers to directly interact with the people who are tuning in. Affectionately acknowledge the people who support you in each stream. If you manage to make your viewers feel more comfortable and at ease while you play, the better chances you have at building a loyal audience.
Decide on your theme
Theme designs such as overlays and logos are surely part of the whole gamer girl process, so it’s encouraged that you have that one figured out. If you’re a beginner, fret not, as there are dozens of newbie-friendly guides and tutorials in just one Google search.
This may get a little technical so if you’re having a hard time, try to find a friend who can help you with the process. You can crowdsource for anyone who can assist you, too. Try to set a distinctive theme that you think will best define you and the content you are planning to offer.
Be active on other social media channels
Whenever the live icon is off, you do not have to be disconnected with your fans entirely. One thing to keep them curious and eager as to what you’re planning next is by being active on other social media channels.
Use Twitter if you want your followers to stay updated with your daily life updates or just sharing with them your random thoughts, really. You can also be active on Instagram to share real-time moments through snapshots with your supportive fans.
Create a unique catchphrase
It is important to distinguish yourself from the rest of the gamer girl population. As the numbers continue to rise over time, you might want to make an effort in helping your viewers distinguish you at first greeting or catchphrase, per se.
A simple welcome greeting at the beginning of your livestream could go a long way. Who knows, the next time they hear the phrase “What’s up, gamers? It’s your favorite gamer girl here,” they might be conditioned to remember it’s from you. Think of it as your brand trademark.
Learn the art of ignoring haters
Girl streamers are known to face setbacks every now and then, especially when they are playing on solo queue and being teamed up with complete strangers. It’s not uncommon to have some rude and mean people ridicule you especially if they hear you’re a girl. Since it’s a no-face zone, it’s relatively easy to hide their prejudice and hostility behind their PC or console screens.
The solution? Learn the art of ignoring haters. You wouldn’t want to ruin your livestream by allowing them to trigger and get the better of you. In case it gets beyond your control, try to mute your microphone for the match and add them on your blacklist once the game is over.
Be patient and have fun
No gamer girl in history managed to achieve overnight success. If anything, top female gamers achieved the peak by hard work and perseverance. Even if you start out small, there’s a great chance your following will grow as you post more content over time. Be patient in the beginning.
Do not feel disheartened if you see your follower count becoming stagnant for a while. Gaming is supposed to be fun, so as a gamer girl— it is your responsibility to have fun and enjoy the experience. Keep in mind that your time will come, so march on, gamer!
Consider to sell merchandise
If you’ve built a generous number of followers on your streaming gig, you can further establish your branding and influence by selling exclusive merchandise.
For instance: Kelsey “KelseyDangerous” Impicciche, a well-known Buzzfeed and Twitch game streamer, is now selling personalized mugs, hoodies, and phone cases which proves to be a hit among her fans. Another Twitch star, Sonja “OMGitsfirefoxx” Reid, also sells her own merchandise.
Additional 10 Tips for Gamer Girls
Flaunt your angles
Make good use of your camera and start post selfies as a great way to gain brand awareness and recognition. We all need to start at some point, and if you have the looks— why not flaunt it?
It’s also encouraged to find your best angles and post more of it. You’re not necessarily joining a beauty pageant, but it’s never a crime to look good online! You might get noticed first for your looks if you do so, but you can always grab the chance and show your audience what you’ve got.
Beauty and skills? It’s a great equation for success in the streaming and gaming industry.
Improve your in-game skills
There’s nothing more annoying than getting called as a “feeder,” especially as a gamer girl. Some toxic players always resort to putting the blame on a girl teammate if they are queued with them, even if the girl player in question isn’t exactly doing bad in the match. One way to deal with this is to work on your in-game skills and improve. That way, your teammates won’t have anything to say against you.
Sooner or later, you might even find yourself carrying the entire team. Getting praised for your gaming skills is such a rewarding feeling.
Take a break if you need it
Streamer burn-out syndrome is real. It’s not a myth and no one is exempted from it. Even big stars like Pokimane experience it, where she went off the grid for a while to take some sort of mental reset.
“It’s been hard for me to find the same joys and motivation for making content….This has led to me feeling burnt out for quite some time, and because of that, I’ve been planning to take a month off.”
“I want to be happy and excited to make content for you all. And I’m looking forward to getting back into that headspace.”
In order to avoid this from happening, allow yourself to take some short breaks in between. You don’t need to feel guilty about prioritizing yourself first. Though it’s usually discouraged to take a pause since it’s believed to put your channel growth on pause, there’s nothing wrong in taking some time for yourself. You’re only human too.
During your break, remind yourself of the reason why you started streaming in the first place. Figure out if you need to lessen your stream schedule for a while upon your return, since long hours of streaming can take a toll on one’s mental health.
Stay healthy
Take good care of yourself— not only mentally but also physically. Eat healthy food choices, drink enough water in a day, and get some long hours of sleep.
As a streamer, you may end up spending hours just sitting still and talking in front of your camera. Hence, you might not move around too much. Being physically active increases the happy hormones in the body, so try to move around if you can and don’t forget to do some stretches!
Keeping yourself in great shape can also do wonders for your overall mood. For instance, you’ll most likely have a positive mindset everytime you go live. People love a cheerful streamer more than a dull one!
Learn from the pros and share your knowledge
You don’t need to end up in the pro eSports scene just so you can share some valuable in-game strategy. You can always do your research, study the current meta, and share it with your audience during your live broadcasts. New fans are likely to be impressed to watch a gamer girl know what she’s doing.
Just always make sure to cite who you got the info from! Always give credit where it’s due, as your fans will appreciate the honesty.
This way, your audience can learn a thing or two from your gameplays. They might even start regularly tuning in just to learn new effective stat plays.
Find out what’s trending, and join the hype
Ahegao? Cosplay? Memes? Always ask yourself what’s trending in the world of gaming at the moment. Find a way to jump in the hype if you can, such as posting an Ahegao selfie of your own or showing off your latest cosplay set.
It’s most likely to gain the attention of new audiences, which may then turn into loyal fans and followers. Your post might even be shared countless times, giving you some well-coveted recognition. Don’t be shy! The world is your oyster, gamer girl.
Figure out the best platform for your needs
If you’re barely starting out, making a name out for yourself on “saturated” platforms like Twitch might be a challenge.
Small streamers might find more success on FB Gaming or YouTube live, where it’s relatively easier to attract viewers. Also, mobile gaming content creators might find Trovo Live a better choice since the platform puts a focus on mobile titles than traditional PC or console games.
It’s important to take into consideration the pros and cons of your chosen platform for the long-run. If you’re not reaping good results for a while, it might be time to take your content and experiment elsewhere.
Be open to variety
Variety streamers are those who post content other than pure gameplays. Just chatting, IRL Vlogs, Q&A videos, you get the idea. As a gamer girl, you can also consider doing informative podcasts or Q&A vlogs where you can talk about the game you’re currently playing.
This will provide fresh content for your channel aside from the typical gameplays, which can get bland and boring to do at some point. It’s always great to spice things up!
Connect with other gamer girls
In an era where girls are gaining more recognition in a typically male-dominated industry such as Gaming, it’s important to form connections with other gamer girls who are a part of your community.
Instead of viewing them as your competition, consider them as inspiration for you to do well in your career. You might even learn a valuable lesson or pro tips from them! Form friendships with them and have them to count on you if needed. Us girls should have each other’s backs.
The Gaming scene is still mostly dominated by male gamers, so girl gamers are still considerably rare in the bigger picture. Hopefully, more female players will join the community in the upcoming years.
Ensure high-quality streams
Nobody wants to watch a poor quality stream. You’d want to stray away from low resolution or frame rate, as well as lagging and stuttering images especially if you’re playing action-packed titles. These might only discourage new viewers who tuned in to check your content for the very first time.
If you’re thinking of becoming a full-time streamer, it’s better to invest in high quality equipment which will do you good in the long run.
Famous Streamers
The golden era of gamer girls is unfolding now. There’s a continuous rise among their numbers, backed by data and statistics, so if you’re a girl who’s into gaming— buckle up and game on!
Here are some of the crowd favorite female gamers right now. Here’s to hoping you may see a new inspirational icon from this list:
Established Gamer Girls
Pokimane
Anys has streamed on Twitch for several years. In 2017, she gained 450,000 followers on her channel which earned her a place within the 100 most followed on the platform.
She is famous for playing titular games such as Valorant, League of Legends, and Fortnite. Her laidback and enthusiastic personality made her well-loved among over 6 million Twitch followers.
As one of the top streamers on the platform, Twitch has directly partnered with Anys and made her one of the 15 ambassadors for their annual TwitchCon event in 2018. Pokimane also streams miscellaneous real-life moments (together with her friends from OfflineTV) and a podcast aside her usual gaming content.
Corinna Kopf
Corinna Kopf is quite the social media powerhouse. Although she started as an Instagram model, she soon branched out to YouTube vlogging as she joined the famous Vlog Squad spearheaded by her close friend and YouTube icon David Dobrik.
She later partook in game streaming where she jumped ship from Twitch to sign an exclusive deal with Facebook Gaming in 2019. Kopf is known to play titular games such as Valorant, Fortnite, and Among Us which she frequently shares with her 750k followers.
Alodia Gosengfiao
Alodia is a Filipina gaming star and cosplay starlet who is sought to revolutionize the esports landscape in Southeast Asia. In 2014, she began streaming various games such as Defense of the Ancients (DoTA) 2 and League of Legends on Twitch and quickly became a Twitch partner. Through her streaming endeavors, she was able to secure brand deals with various gaming sponsors such as Acer Predator, Sony PlayStation Asia among many others.
She later announced her exclusive partnership with Facebook Gaming and transitioned her streams and content to her official Facebook page where she has over 7 Million followers.
Outside her gaming streams, she also serves as a Chief Creative Officer for Tier One Entertainment, a SEA-based company which seeks to connect brands with the unique gaming audience.
Valkyrae
Valkyrae began her streaming career on Twitch, amassing almost a million followers there before moving to YouTube Gaming. To show her dedication to grind, she tries to stream almost everyday on the platform.
Most notably, Valkyrae is the first female gamer and content creator for 100Thieves, a popular American esports team. She is also known to be an advocate for women in online gaming, sometimes playing games on all-female teams.
According to YouTube Gaming’s Ryan Wyatt, Valkyrae has been noted as ‘The Fastest Growing Live Streamer In The World’ & ‘The Biggest Female Gaming Streamer In The World.’
She currently streams and posts IRL vlogs on YouTube, mostly of her playing a variety of different games and genres such as Genshin Impact, Valorant, and Among Us to her 1.87 Million followers.
Gamer Girls on the Rise
Meowko
Meowko is a Japanese gamer girl on the rise. She currently has over 131k followers on her Twitch channel for streaming her gameplays on titular favorites such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Among Us. However, she’s more famous for streaming daily real-life experiences and moments on the “Just Chatting” category.
She previously made headlines for taking inspiration from the iconic yet infamous girl gamer bath water entrepreneur Belle Delphine, by expressing interest in selling her own bath water merchandise.
However, it seems like a mere prank on her followers as the streamer hasn’t confirmed the official sale of the product yet.
Neeko
Neeko went viral for her “Okay, Boomer” TikTok clips, and she soon gained traction on her Twitch channel with almost 300k followers. As she is bilingual, the full-time streamer often broadcasts in both English and Spanish.
Prior to her viral TikTok videos, she initially streamed Call of Duty early in her career but eventually switched over to streaming Fortnite since it was considered as the mainstream back then.
Thanks to her growing popularity, she was signed by esports org 100 Thieves— joining the ranks of established female content creators such as Valkyrae. This move is forecasted to solidify Neeko’s name in the gaming industry further. She is currently known to play League of Legends and Dead by Daylight.
Honorable mention
Belle Delphine
Despite not directly streaming games on any platforms, this list of famous gamer girls won’t be complete without the iconic, internet personality Belle Delphine. In 2019, she broke the internet for selling her Gamer Girl bathwater priced at $30 a jar.
As to how Belle made it to the top? She jumped on the “gamer girl” hype and evidently made a business out of the fetishized trend. Originally famous for posting cosplay photos on her Facebook, Snapchat, and (now-defunct) Instagram account, she garnered over 3.9 million followers on the latter.
She previously partnered with streamer Asmongold and made it as one of his guild party members on World of Warcraft. However, after taking a long hiatus, she’s currently back online where she’s actively posting on OnlyFans and Twitter.
Bottomline
Still think video games are just for men or kids? Think again.
The rise of the girl gamer has shifted the gaming narrative into a more female-inclusive environment. Girls are now more comfortable picking up a controller and playing a game with other male players. Ladies who have been long-time gamers can also feel included in the world of gaming.
The path to becoming a successful girl gamer still boils down to your personal definition of success. Whether it is hitting 50 viewers in a stream or making sales off your personal merchandise, you define your own success.
If you’ve ever thought of becoming a gamer girl, now couldn’t be any more of a perfect time to jumpstart your journey.
Featured Image Background: Neekolul
