The Million Peso Gender Gap in Esports

At the Honor of Kings (HOK) Women’s Series 3, Hyve All Stars made history as the first Filipino HOK International Champions, beating seven other teams from Indonesia and Malaysia. They took home $625 and 100,000 in-game tokens.

Meanwhile, at the HOK Invitational Season 4 2026, the highest finish their male counterparts took was at 3rd and 4th place. Blacklist International and Boom Esports took home $14,000 each.

Let’s rewind to 2025 at the Esports World Cup, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Women’s Invitational. Indonesia’s Team Vitality won 1st place with a prize of $150,000. Then, at the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2025, male counterparts, Team Liquid Philippines were awarded the champion’s prize of $1,000,000. Fourth place, ONIC Indonesia, won $150,000. 

What the stigma

Hyve All Star’s Charize Joyed “Joyed7” Doble breaks down the continued gap, with females still seen as “less than” male players, and the harassment that has not stopped.

“We’ve been in esports for so many years, but the first thing people still think of us as female pros is that we’re being piloted,” Doble told INQUIRER.net. “I’ve been on the top of the leaderboards consistently, and people still don’t believe it’s me.” 

“And whenever we stream, we still get harassed. Whatever field we may be in, we’re still harassed.”

Sophia Paula “Wunna” Ortiz and Wella Mae “Posty” Petate remembered their experience in entering a public mixed-gender tournament. Despite finishing fourth among many participants, they were met with naysayers. The male-dominated crowd cheered whenever they experienced a loss.

“The first game we had, the boys team we fought thought it would be an easy game. The crowd would cheer every time we died in-game,” Ortiz said.

In 2025, Team Liquid Aqua became the first champions of MLBB’s Athena League. They went on to become the representatives in the Southeast Asian Games. However, despite the level of success they have achieved, they were met instead with comments on their looks and weight. 

Clarisse “CLA” Owari became a prime target despite her numerous MVP performances. Despite the hate, Team Liquid Aqua’s roster ended their SEA Games run with a silver medal. But even with their victories, they vanished from the headlines. 

Hyve All Star did not make it to the currently running Philippines Kings League (PKL) Spring 2026, while Team Liquid Aqua still needed to compete in the qualifiers to join the MLBB Development League (MDL).

It’s not just in the world of mobile gaming, but PC as well where tournaments that created different leagues for female gamers saw a wide gap in support.

The VALORANT Game Changers Championship (GCC) was created to expose women and marginalized genders. The 2025 champions, Team Liquid Brazil, won $180,000. Meanwhile, at the upcoming VALORANT Masters Santiago, the champion will take home $350,000 from a $1,000,000 prize pool.

Though these games were created to encourage more female gamers into the space, the glass ceiling continues to be something unreachable to hit S tier competitions.

Hyve All Star’s Jennilyn Cathriz “Rogue” Ching has seen numerous competitive women trying to get into the space and looking for opportunities in gaming.

“There are a lot of competitive girls in the Philippines, not just in HOK, but in other games as well,” Ching explained. “I’ve seen a lot of girls who want to compete, but don’t know how to start.”

Teammate, Giana Joanne “Jeeya” Llanes, opened the struggles of female teams finding sponsorships to stay sustainable while understanding the business decisions behind it.

“Usually for girls’ teams, it’s harder to find sponsors compared to our male counterparts because of the small female scene within professional play,” Llanes said. “I can’t blame the sponsors, they have to weigh the pros and cons, and it’s still business.”

Ching weighs in on the differences in benefits and opportunities. “The benefits are not the same. We don’t get close to the benefits of the leagues the guys are in.”

Ching and her teammates had to use their own resources to compete in Indonesia for the HOK Women’s Series 3.

“There is a stereotype that women are not marketable,” Ching added. “The men are being aggressively marketed, while women are not getting the same exposure.”

A women’s tournament for HOK will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but there is uncertainty whether the teams will still have to spend their own resources again to fly out of the country.

Finding the same, safe platform

Despite the hurdles teams like Hyve All Star face, they are positive of their future within the space because of the increased grassroots tournaments. They are hopeful and have welcomed using their platform to be more vocal about the changes they wish to see.

Coach and Rough World Era by Hyve International player, Homer “Fleur” Matol, chimes in on the need for equal opportunity. 

“We need to be more open,” Matol said. “Especially in esports, skill is not based on gender. Regardless of anyone’s gender, if they have the skill, they can make it. It has to be like that, same platform, same benefits.”

Meanwhile, Llanes understands that there is a bigger picture in the scene. “Since we’re fighting sexism, stigma, and stereotyping, It’s not just about being fair. It’s about changing the system,” she said. “This is where the problem starts, that our system is wrong. Our culture is rooted upon sexism and patriarchy.”

She hopes that one day, they can compete in mixed-gender, higher tier level tournaments.

“We can do it. We just need the support,” Doble echoed. “I hope this isn’t just wishful thinking.”