A new level has been unlocked. Across the gaming sphere - from the players to developers and gaming companies - more women are present, visible and killing it. Noisy shooter games? They're right there, wielding the gun. High-speed chases? They're at the wheel. Quick, addictive, match-three puzzles? They're crushing the leaderboard there as well.
The State of India Gaming Report 2022, released this month by Lumikai, a gaming-focused venture capitalist fund, and Amazon Web Services, studied 2,240 smartphone users across India. It found that women spend more time per week playing games: 11.2 hours against the 10.2 hours clocked by men.
The industry is changing too. "It's evolving as women developers, streamers, and gamers gain prominence and respect," says Swayambika Sachar, aka Sway. Sachar captains Top-G, the team that recently won the all-women National Esports Championship organised by the Esports Federation of India.
Mansi Sottany, aka MatkA QueeN, captain of Team Purr-ple and Top-G's competitor says the change is recent. "It has become more inclusive as gaming communities create safe spaces for female gamers and combat online harassment and toxicity. It's an ongoing effort." See who's creating level playing fields and how it affects everything from prize money to the little puzzle in your phone that you can't quite quit.
Top cat: Saloni Pawar, aka Meow16K
Mumbai's Saloni Shirish Pawar, or Meow16k, is 23. She started playing online games 10 years ago. Then one day in 2016, her Wi-Fi service conked off and she tried playing the offline first-person-shooter game, Counter-Strike 1.6. She was hooked.
Coached by her brother and encouraged by friends to create gaming-related content, Pawar is now one of India's foremost Esports athletes and game streamers. She has more than 60k subscribers on her YouTube channel @meow16k.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 15, 2023 من Brunch.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 15, 2023 من Brunch.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Let's tri all the angles
BFFs falling for the same girl, kidnap twists, murders, bromances. These 10 three-way love stories play with geometry and our feelings
Should you Q up for this?
Audi's luxury SUV, the Q8, has had a refresh. But a sleeker grille and headlight tech don't make up for what's still missing
How to plan a great escape
It's getting colder. It's already hard to breathe. Why not plan a winter vacation that's a world away but not too far away?
Kababs, yes, but khandvi too
Mughlai cuisine has as many vegetarian dishes as meaty ones. A new translation of a 16th century manuscript shows how we ate, and why modern labels are pointless
I can be your hero
Gurfateh Pirzada, only afewroles old, is the green flag we didn't know we needed. He's learning from women. He wants to be more thana lover and a fighter. He's hoping we all do better. No wonder everyone's crushing on him
Meet the export experts
Khadi crop-tops in Spain, faux-leather hoodies in London, fairytale wedding gowns in the UAE. See how some desi labels are killing it on foreign shores
Why we're all feeling Blue
Coco Mellors's new novel is about grief, sisterhood, and of course, addiction and unlikeable women. How does she make it work?
This week, we're...
Changing the momo game, listening to kids, starting a new business, and supporting pro waxxers
Rohit Chawla
Photographer, artist, @RohitChawlaPhotography_
Congratulations, it's a goal
Lakeside vows, pastel palettes, bayous, backyards and boats. These celeb weddings are what modern fairytales are made of
