In the game Super Smash Bros Ultimate, a 15-year-old girl defeated one of the top 10 players in the world. However, in hindsight, she regretted her victory as she was attacked for it and was apparently close to giving it all up.
What match is it about? It is about a roughly 15-minute tournament match between the player “Bocchi,” a 15-year-old, and the professional player Ally (28):
- Bocchi played with Isabelle from Animal Crossing
- Ally was using Snake – he is known for handling this character
It is an unusual match-up for Ally, because Isabelle is rarely played and many do not even consider her. The match was narrowly won by the 15-year-old – very much to the delight of the audience on-site.
This is why it is special: Ally is a well-known pro and considered one of the top 10 Smash players in the world. Bocchi is a complete unknown. The two faced each other at a local tournament.
How was it reported? A video about the match made waves in the Smash Ultimate community.
The video “15-Year-Old Girl DESTROYS Pro Smash Ultimate Player” received 485,426 views on YouTube. The video made the girl instantly known in the Smash Bros community.
Bocchi’s Twitter account grew rapidly. She now has nearly 20,000 followers. The numbers also increased on Twitch.
I would rather not have won
This is the aftermath: The girl later said she would rather not have won if she had known how much hate would come her way. She announced she would delete her Twitter account and withdraw from the Smash community.
She says she is an emotional girl and is not used to being in the spotlight. Most of the hate likely comes because she is a girl. It is already tough being a teenager. Being a teenager in an extremely male-dominated community is extremely weird.
and spotlight on me. I’m also a very emotional girl, being a teenager is actually the worst especially in an extremely male dominated community it’s very weird.
long story short, thank you everyone for being so kind and reaching out. I feel better already. i will not be-— bocchi (@bocchibelle) July 3, 2019
However, this only lasted a few hours. Later, she said that after announcing her departure from the community, so many positive messages reached her that she was convinced more people love her than hate her.
Because she is a girl
This is what it’s all about: There is a controversial discussion about why Bocchi receives so much hate. Other players who achieved such victories over favorites apparently were not attacked:
Some say this shows the Smash community at its worst, trying to keep girls out.
Some on reddit distanced themselves from the people causing the trouble. They say this is not the Smash community, these are “trolls” who probably have never been to a tournament.
Others, however, find there is too much fuss being made about the girl, that other young players have accomplished more but benefited less because they are not girls but boys.
This is what it’s all about: The role of women in eSports and how much recognition they deserve is often discussed in such cases:
- Women receive, from some perspectives, too little recognition, as described by Hearthstone player Hafu, who feels chronically underestimated. She thinks people downplay her achievements because she is a girl.
- Others, however, say that women receive disproportionately too much attention compared to their achievements: For example, in Geguri, the only woman in the Overwatch League. They say everything Geguri does is amplified because she is a woman.
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