Gender, performance, and prize money: a study of pay discrimination against female teams in eSports

Why this study matters to gamers and sports fans

Competitive video games have become a global spectacle, with professional players filling arenas and earning six‑figure prize pools. Yet as in traditional sports, women in esports often say they are paid less and seen less, even when they play just as well. This study looks closely at Counter‑Strike: Global Offensive tournaments to ask a simple but important question: when men and women perform at similar levels, do they receive the same attention from viewers and the same reward in prize money?

The rise of esports and a new test of fairness

Unlike soccer or basketball, success in esports depends on sharp thinking, fast reactions, and precise mouse control rather than physical strength. That makes it a powerful setting for examining gender fairness: if the body matters less, then gaps in pay or exposure are harder to justify as “natural.” The author focuses on the ESL Impact League, a major women‑only Counter‑Strike circuit, and compares its players with those in a similar top‑tier men’s league. Esports has grown explosively thanks to streaming platforms such as Twitch, drawing huge investments from sponsors and teams. But this growth has also sharpened debates over whether women are welcomed, supported, and rewarded on equal terms within this digital arena.

What earlier work tells us about women in sport and gaming

Previous research in traditional sports paints a familiar picture: women’s leagues often receive only a small fraction of media coverage, prize money, and leadership roles. Female athletes are more likely to be framed in terms of appearance than skill, and sexist language and microaggressions remain common. Similar trends show up on livestreaming platforms. Female streamers typically receive fewer cash tips and sponsorship offers than men, and their on‑screen image is more often sexualized. Women who try to build careers in gaming describe having to juggle authenticity with audience expectations in ways that men rarely face. Against this backdrop, women‑only esports leagues such as ESL Impact are seen as both a refuge from everyday harassment and a stepping stone toward fuller inclusion in the broader scene.

How the study measured performance, views, and pay

To move beyond anecdotes, the researcher assembled data from 40 Counter‑Strike tournaments held between 2022 and 2024, including 34 women‑only events. For each player, the study recorded a basic performance measure—the “kill‑to‑death” ratio, or how many opponents they eliminated for each time they were eliminated themselves—along with the number of views their matches drew on Twitch and how much prize money they earned. Because men and women currently compete in separate tournaments, the analysis does not claim to compare them in identical conditions. Instead, it asks a different question: within each gender’s own competitive environment, how do skill and audience size translate into financial rewards, and does that translation work differently for men and women?

What the numbers reveal about gender gaps

Raw comparisons show stark differences. On average, male players in these tournaments won nearly five times more prize money than female players and attracted vastly more views. Their typical performance score was only slightly higher, suggesting that small differences in in‑game results coexist with very large gaps in money and attention. To dig deeper, the study used statistical models that hold constant performance, team identity, and season while examining how gender shapes outcomes. The results show that better performance brings more views for everyone, but this payoff is weaker for women: a woman who plays very well simply does not gain as much extra audience as a man with similar numbers. When it comes to prize money, higher performance and more views both help, yet the direct link between skill and prize money is weaker for women. In other words, women’s in‑game excellence does not convert into cash as effectively.

When visibility helps—and where it falls short

One intriguing finding is that, for women, a given amount of viewership is tied to somewhat higher prize money than it is for men, once skill is taken into account. This may reflect attempts by organizers or sponsors to boost women’s events through targeted bonuses or diversity‑minded promotions. Still, the overall picture remains uneven: because women start with fewer viewers and generally smaller prize pools, these adjustments only partly narrow the gap. The study also cautions that its data come from a single slice of time and cannot prove exactly why these differences arise. Hidden factors—such as how much sponsors invest in men’s versus women’s events, or how media outlets choose which matches to feature—could be driving some of the patterns.

What this means for the future of esports

For non‑specialists, the takeaway is clear: in a setting where physical differences play little role, women in elite Counter‑Strike still receive less attention and lower prize money than men, even when they perform similarly. Skill matters for everyone, but it simply pays off less for women, and they must rely more heavily on rare bursts of visibility to close part of the earnings gap. The study suggests that closing this divide is not just a moral issue; it is also a business one. Unequal rewards can discourage talented women from staying in the scene, limit the stories that draw in new fans, and expose organizers to reputational and legal risks. Policies that boost women’s visibility, expand mixed‑gender opportunities, and rebalance prize pools could help ensure that in esports—as in any workplace—great play is rewarded fairly, no matter who is holding the mouse.

Citation: Parshakov, P. Gender, performance, and prize money: a study of pay discrimination against female teams in eSports. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 13, 581 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06765-4

Keywords: esports pay gap, gender inequality, female gamers, Counter-Strike tournaments, prize money disparities