In collaboration with global esports organization Gen.G, Bumble is sponsoring an all-female Fortnite team with the aim of elevating professional female players. Although almost half of all gamers are women, they continue to be underserved, giving brands an opportunity to provide support.
Team Bumble, aka Gen.G Empowered by Bumble, is looking to empower female gamers and elevate some of the world’s best players, including Kristen 'KittyPlays' Valnicek, to more visible role models. Additionally, Bumble BFF will add features to help female gamers find each other on the platform and build supportive communities. Bumble has made female empowerment a key part of its branding by giving female users more control over their online dating experience and by partnering with the likes of Serena Williams, so providing a platform for female gamers is a natural evolution. “One thing we started seeing on Bumble BFF was that our users were hacking the platform to find other gamers,” says Chelsea Maclin, vice president of marketing for Bumble.
In July 2019, 100 players competed in the first ever Fortnite World Cup, but not one of them was a woman, even though around a third of the game’s 250 million players are female. This led to renewed calls for greater support for female gamers and role models. Although 46% of gamers are women and one in five esports fans are female, professional female players are massively underrepresented in esports, partly due to unsupportive gaming culture and harassment. Providing support for female players of all abilities could prove a lucrative move for Bumble and Gen.G.
Katy Young is a Canvas8 behavioural analyst. She has a degree in American Studies and Film and an MA in Journalism. Her interests include wild swimming, thinking of podcast ideas and singing in an all-female choir.
