That some video game communities can be quite toxic has not been a secret for a long time. Also, that especially women have to endure a lot of comments and insults is unfortunately nothing new. The streamer “xoQueenScar” has once again had to experience a prime example of toxicity towards women in her CS:GO game.

What happened to the streamer?

xoQueenScar is 19 years old, real name is Scarlett and in her stream she mainly plays the shooters Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and VALORANT. On July 25, she was live on her channel playing ranked matches in CS:GO.

In one of her games, she gave a callout (information about opponents’ positions) over voice chat right at the beginning of the first round. As a result, one of the players asked if he was hearing a girl, and another scolded her to get out of his game. A few seconds later, she was kicked out of the game by votekick. The reason: she is a woman.

The votekick function in CS:GO is actually meant to kick players out of the match who intentionally lose, hinder the game or cheat. However, at the time Scarlett was kicked, the round had just begun. Therefore, there was no rational reason to kick her out of the game. This fact, along with the hateful comments, shows quite clearly that her gender was the only reason she was kicked.

This is not the first time she has had such an experience. On her TikTok account, the video is titled “Why CS:GO isn’t for women Pt. 3”.

Many women have similar experiences

Many more women also have similar experiences in video games every day, especially when it comes to shooters where the use of voice chat is relatively important.

For example, YouTuber “Spawntaneous” started a video series back in 2018 called “OMG a Girl,” in which she edits together footage of being sexually insulted or harassed by her fellow gamers while playing. The video series now has 28 parts, which only underscores that the problem is ongoing and deep.

In addition to Spawntaneous and xoQueenScar, many other female streamers are increasingly showing the messages or teammates they have to deal with.

While most fans or viewers are shocked by the teammates’ behavior, there are still some comments under Scarlett’s video, which she also posted on TikTok, supporting and celebrating the behavior of the teammates shown. Still others are of the opinion that such behavior is normal and even relatively friendly. One simply has to be aware of this when playing online games, they say again and again.

How does toxicity affect female players?

While isolated comments may still be able to be tuned out, it is much harder when you repeatedly encounter people discriminating, insulting, or harassing on the basis of gender in every game.

Muting your fellow players is not a solution in the long run. Especially in tactical shooters like VALORANT and CS:GO, it is essential to communicate and exchange ideas with your teammates in order to play successfully. In addition, Reddit user and VALORANT player “rilesss3” reported in a post that her toxic teammates started sabotaging the game after she muted them due to sexist comments.

As a result, some women now resort to voice changer programs in these games, which alter their voices to sound more masculine. Others simply refrain from using voice chat because they are too insecure or don’t feel like making sexist comments. Reddit user “BunnyLovesApples” shares in her post her displeasure that it is even necessary to resort to such measures.

But is this really helpful in the long run? Do women have to pretend or back down in video games if they want to be spared from catty or inappropriate comments? That should not definitely not be the solution.