Skittles, Esports Observer
IN CAREER SPOTLIGHT, WE PROFILE WOMEN, FEMME-IDENTIFYING PROFESSIONALS, AND NON-BINARY PROFESSIONALS COMFORTABLE IN SPACES THAT CENTER WOMEN WHO WORK IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY. IT IS OUR GOAL TO SHOW THE VASTNESS AND VARIETY OF JOBS WITHIN THE WORLD OF GAMING AND TO SHARE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVE WITH OUR READERS.
This week we interview Skittles, an esports observer who is also a high school senior. In this conversation, Skittles describes her early memories of gaming, what her job entails as an observer, advice for younger talent getting into esports, and more!
Skittles, photo courtesy of the subject
What are your early memories of gaming? When did gaming first become an important part of your life?
It’s funny because I only really started playing games when I was 15. My parents were not fans of gaming at all—my brother had to persuade them to let us get Minecraft in 2019 and it was the first game I seriously played (serious is a bit of an overstatement – I was never any good at it, I just found it fun). Before that, I’d only touched basic .io browser games, and only a few times.
Valorant was my first shooter and when I started treating gaming more seriously. I found it in beta when everyone was talking about getting keys from Twitch drops and I was feeling particularly wild and decided to try for a key without even really planning on playing it. I did eventually play it because my friends roped me into trying it and it was a disaster – me on 30fps and no concept of how to even shoot a gun in the game but it was fun and it was something I could do online with my friends, and I slowly branched out into more and more games from there.
Can you tell us a bit about what you do as an observer?
When I’m asked what observing entails, I like to explain it in a sports context kind of way. If you’re watching sports on TV, there are, of course, the cameramen following the action of the game or the program. I am the cameraman (camerawoman, I guess) of the games I observe – I make the decisions that you see on your screen as you’re watching the match to bring you the action and storyline of the game. It’s important to me to present a cohesive storyline, both for the casters and the viewers. On a technical level, I’m quite literally just pressing buttons (number keys) to swap between players.
What made you decide to working in esports in a more professional context?
It was the thrill of storytelling through a new perspective that kind of brought me here in the first place. I love stories (Valorant lore originally really kept me interested in the game itself). The way I treated games has always been through the lens of storytelling, searching for threads of narration through anything I could. Observing came naturally with this because I realized exactly how much I loved spinning my own narrative of a game for viewers. Also, the support I had to wade into the professional side of production played a huge part in my confidence in myself out there.
Do you have any advice for younger talent getting started in esports, especially women?
It will be intimidating at first (I was intimidated, very much so), working with older, experienced people, but take advantage of that and ask questions. There are so many people out there who are just so kind and willing to give you their accumulated knowledge. Experience reigns in esports, and you’ll only get it if you put yourself out there and are willing to learn from others. It is scary, yes, but the community is generally such a wonderful thing. There are plenty of communities dedicated to women in esports and they are so helpful and kind in general. I think in the end the most important thing is just to remember that you are never alone.
What are you excited for when it comes to the future of esports and gaming?
The fact that esports is always constantly evolving is incredible to me. The support for women in esports has grown exponentially over the past few years and being part of that push has been so awesome. I’m super excited to see more young talent come into the field and for more people to realize how truly viable this is outside of just a side hobby.
What do you think we can do to support gamers of marginalized genders in the gaming industry?
I mean – quite frankly the little things are the most important, like standing up for your teammates in game if others are harassing them. In the bigger picture, continuously supporting women’s tourneys – not just as a fad or trendy thing to get behind for as long as it seems “cool” – is what I believe will, in the long run, have the most impact. Creating and upholding communities and safe spaces that give gamers of marginalized genders the very opportunity to play free from harassment is also super important because without these spaces, a lot of potential is lost to the discouraging aspect of being harassed for being who you are.
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