Play to win

Posted on 25 Sep 2008 at 10:59

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But despite the Frag Dolls' success, professional female gamers are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts. One of the industry's top women gamers is Birmingham Salvo's 19-year-old Dead or Alive 4 competitor Sarah 'SarahLou' Harrison, who recently helped her team clinch the Championship Gaming Series world title. Having never competed in a professional tournament, she travelled to the team's open drafting contest and came away the surprise victor.

"Being a female pro gamer can be a lot of fun despite what people may think," reveals Harrison. "I come from a house of all women who can't even open a jar of jam, so for me it's a nice change to be around so many men. I'm now used to being one of the few females in a male-dominated area. The only downside is communication. If I have a problem I don't feel as though I can turn to anyone without feeling uncomfortable. I'm usually proven wrong but there is always a hesitation before I ask. But other than that it's all a lot of fun."

Pro gaming has enjoyed many recent successes, most notably its exposure on mainstream networks such as Sky and Spike TV, but it still faces many challenges. Perhaps the biggest shock in its brief history came in March 2008 when the renowned CPL, seen by many as the flagship organisation of the professional gaming circuit, ceased operations. Founded in 1997, CPL pioneered professional gaming tournaments and played a major role in turning video gaming contests from competitive gatherings into a multi-million pound professional sport. By the time the organisation closed it had hosted 60 major international tournaments and signed up 600,000 members.

CPL blamed its closure on the fragmentation of the professional circuit. A quick glance at the extensive list of active professional gaming organisations reveals a sport that lacks a centre, with each organisation competing against the other rather than working as a unified body to promote professional gaming. Besides the CGS, other major organisations include Major League Gaming (www.mlgpro.com), Cyber Evolution (www.cevo.com), Total Gaming League (www.totalgamingleague.com), the World Cyber Games (www.worldcybergames.com) and the Electronic Sports League (www.esl.eu).

A sporting chance

While sports such as football and Formula 1 have centralised governing bodies that oversee their competitions, professional gaming appears to lack the grounding and leadership it needs to elevate itself from a niche market to an internationally recognised and watched spectator sport. Further hindering its progress is the extensive variety of games that each organisation uses. These include Counter-Strike, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 3, Halo 3, FIFA 08, Dead or Alive 4 and Forza Motorsport 2 to name a few. The result is a disparate fan base that supports specific game genres and franchises rather than gaming as a whole.

"Pro gaming's biggest challenge is two-fold," believes Mike Vallee, Owner of ProGamingTV.com, a website that lists every televised pro gaming event around the world. "First, different gamers enjoy different games. To compare this to sports would be the equivalent of each game being a different sport. Some people like football, some hate it but love hockey. The lifespan of a video game is usually much shorter than a sport. While Counter-Strike is a great example of a game that has endured the test of time, I doubt very much that anybody will still be playing it in 80 years the way people have been playing football in the NFL since 1920. This lack of longevity and stability prevents a steady fan base from forming around a game."