The latest news from eSports and entertainment firm Unikrn is the announcement of the creation of Team Unikrn, an all female CS:GO professional eSports team.
The team is made up of players from across Europe; these include Melania “Gina” Mylioti (Greece), Julia “Julie” Strunkowski (Germany), Perrine “Lalità” Allesiardo (France), Sophia “Kim” Benfakir (France) and Camilla “Parmaviolet” (UK).
Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood has said of the news: “I’ve always been a big advocate for women in technology, and since we started Unikrn we’ve been actively looking to promote women in professional eSports.” Alongside Unikrn, Luxbet (a division of Tabcorp) will have a major hand in the team going forward and will fund team activities, coaching and events.
Andrew Vouris, General Manager of Wagering at Luxbet, said of the partnership: “The team at Luxbet is excited to be partnering with Team Unikrn in this endeavor to be one of the best CS:GO teams in the world.”
“This is a great way for us to help bring a team of amazing professionals together and perhaps pave the way for other companies to step up and support women in eSports,” he continued.
The team is the world’s first full time, professional all female eSports team, and is another step in the right direction for eSports as a whole. Team manager, Neda Samimi said: “Although there are no impossible barriers for women to get into professional gaming, the communities tend to be male dominated, online bullying is everywhere and sexism does exist.”
“I’m excited that Unikrn is using our platform to help create opportunities for female gamers,” she continued.