Women in Games Argentina is a community that advocates for more inclusion in gaming and the video game industry. For an experiment titled “Switch Voices,” 3 Twitch streamers played Valorant and pretended to be women using a filter.
What was the experiment about? 3 Twitch streamers and experienced gamers were asked to play some matches in the shooter Valorant. After a few rounds, the players were to change their voices using a voice changer to sound like women and communicate with their teammates in voice chat.
The streamers suddenly faced hostility and insults from their teammates and seemed to have no idea what was happening. However, for women, this is everyday life, according to Women in Games Argentina, the organization behind the experiment.
Streamers face insults and sabotage
How did the experiment go? As soon as the streamers pretended to be women in voice chat, they were subjected to sexist insults and trolling from their teammates. Among other things, the streamers had to hear that they were playing a “men’s game” and should go back to the kitchen.
Additionally, the teammates refused to cooperate with the streamers if they thought they were women. This led to the streamers’ performance being adversely affected, with everyone’s kill-death ratio deteriorating significantly:
- AlfreditoGames, a streamer with over 100,000 followers on Twitch, achieved an impressive 15 kills with 2 deaths. After activating the voice filter, the ratio nearly reversed: Alfredito could only score 3 kills and died 16 times.
- LuciusxHellsing, who mainly plays Valorant for his 38,000 Twitch followers, recorded 20 kills and died only 5 times while playing normally. With the voice changer activated, Lucius scored 6 kills and 17 deaths.
- Tasher, the third streamer, plays various shooters and chats in Just Chatting with his 13,600 followers on Twitch. His K/D ratio deteriorated from 17:3 to 5:14.
How did the streamers evaluate the experiment? AlfreditoGames is visibly frustrated when he is excluded by his teammates and exclaims: “It’s a team game; I just want to contribute my part.” Afterwards, he commented on the experiment:
The experience really diminishes the joy of the game. It’s something you don’t want to do anymore. I can’t imagine having to experience that every day.
AlfreditoGames
One of the other players, Lucius, stated that he felt “outrage and frustration.” Tasher also seemed to feel held back: One just wants to do their best, but one can do nothing, said the streamer.
Videos about the experiment were published on YouTube in early November 2022. Here you can watch it in its original Spanish audio:
Women share their experiences
How was the experiment received? A month after the video was released, the experiment gained attention through Twitch streamer Kristabyte, who published a video on TikTok about Switch Voices.
The video by Kristabyte received over 1.7 million views in the 2 days since its release (as of December 5, 2022, 3:15 PM). The video spread from TikTok over to Twitter, where it was shared by streamer LuluLuvley:
In the comments, women share their own experiences using voice chats in competitive online gaming. This is precisely why they would not dare to speak in chat or even play such games (via Twitter).
However, the experiment only shows what many female gamers have already known for a long time. One Twitter user writes that it is heartbreaking that men have to experience these situations themselves rather than listening to and believing women (via Twitter).
For Kristabyte, the consequences of the treatment of women extend beyond the diminished enjoyment of the game: “This is precisely why women feel that they cannot pursue a career in the gaming or e-sports field,” the streamer says.
The biggest difficulty for women is not the gameplay but the culture of the games.
The German comedian Carolin Kebekus has also drawn attention to the treatment of women in video games and the gaming industry. In an episode of her show, she identified herself as a passionate gamer, but criticized the injustices in her hobby:
German comedian highlights sexism in games like WoW on ARD: “You should have been a better healer”
