Titles and Toxicity with Pro Player EmiliaRose

As part of our Women in Esports initiative, we recently spoke to EmiliaRose, a professional Call of Duty player, about her journey into esports and what she has achieved so far. 

Emilia is currently the most achieved, and highest ranked, female player across the majority of the Call of Duty games in the world. She has also made history by being the only female player to qualify for both the Call of Duty WWII National Circuit and the AM Finals in Modern Warfare.

Starting out:

Her gaming journey started out whilst she was still young, and has flourished over the years into a very successful career within the Call of Duty scene.

Emilia said: “I got into Call of Duty through my Dad and my brother, like way way back in COD 3 when I was very little.

I used to pubstomp with them, which then led to me being in like a female pubstomping clan. And weirdly enough, one of them got me into one of these Twitter tournaments, and through that I met people who asked me to go to a LAN with them.”

“I went to my first LAN with an all-girls team that I met online and I never, ever really met them before. The LAN went alright – I wouldn’t say it went well but it didn’t go bad either,” she added.

From here, Emi was able to develop her skills and climb the competitive ladder – even getting to the point where she was able to qualify for Champs.

Facing Toxicity:

However, the road hasn’t been entirely smooth, and Emilia has experienced bouts of toxicity towards her throughout her career. These instances still occur regularly towards her, and other females in the realm.

“I’m pretty much used to it at this point, like it just makes me laugh. Most people have accepted that I played at this point, but I guess there’s still a few people that are just in denial about it, which is kind of funny.

I’m so used to hearing it on a daily basis, that it’s one of those things where if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,” Emilia says.

She adds: ”There’s been instances where it’s been really bad towards myself, like quite a few times. Funnily enough though, not really in CoD – I think it’s cause most people know each other in CoD, and you kind of have a relationship with people.

Even though CoD does have a reputation for being quite toxic, I think when you get to the top level, everyone understands the line you don’t cross.”

“You don’t get personal or sexist or racist or homophobic, and everyone knows you just don’t cross that line.”

Toxicity is prevalent throughout the entire industry, but as Emilia explains, it can be worse in different game communities.

“When I’m playing Valorant or something, toxicity 100% happens all the time. Lines get crossed pretty much every game that I speak in, which is kind of a sad, but it’s just one of these things where again, it’s sadly it’s become like a really regular thing that I’m just used to it at this point,” Emilia says.

“There’s been times where I’ve been harassed when I’ve not even spoken; just because of my name. I just use my name [EmiliaRose] so like they obviously know that I’m a girl.”

Emilia has found ways to ignore the toxic behaviours of others, but it is evident that it will never just disappear on its own. Thus, the industry needs to make changes to ensure that everyone is welcome in a safe environment. 

Female representation:

Over the years, women like Emilia have worked to make the esports industry more diverse and inclusive of all. By highlighting female talent, and showcasing the amazing works of individuals in esports, it can encourage more women to get involved in the sector. 

Emilia says: “There’s definitely more women in the organisation and the team side of things and like player-base wise – especially in the competitive scene.”

“I feel like CoD is one where it’s gone backwards if anything. There used to be a lot of girls that were competing, and we even used to have our own Pro League (Female Pro League).”

“And now in the EU, it’s only me and one other girl – Kels.”
Even in America, like there’s only two girls right now that play competitively,” she adds.

Although the amount of female talent is on the rise, they are not getting as much of an opportunity to showcase their talents and encourage other women to get involved. 

Changes within the industry:

Over the years, women like Emilia have worked to make the esports industry more diverse and inclusive of all. By highlighting female talent, and showcasing the amazing works of individuals in esports, it can encourage more women to get involved in the sector. 

Emilia says: “There’s definitely more women in the organisation and the team side of things and like player-base wise – especially in the competitive scene.”

“I feel like CoD is one where it’s gone backwards if anything. There used to be a lot of girls that were competing, and we even used to have our own Pro League (Female Pro League).”

“And now in the EU, it’s only me and one other girl – Kels.”
Even in America, like there’s only two girls right now that play competitively,” she adds.

Although the amount of female talent is on the rise, they are not getting as much of an opportunity to showcase their talents and encourage other women to get involved. 

Future plans:

Although Emilia is thinking about wide-scale plans for the industry, she also has some exciting plans for herself in the near future. 

She said: “At the moment I’m under UYU, a pretty big org, and they support me completely on whatever I want to do. I just make plans on a year-by-year basis, so I’m going to at least be competing next year.

Even if I quit the year after that, I still want to be a streamer and content creator. I think I’ll always be like that to be honest, especially now that I’ve started,” Emilia adds.

“Even if I retire from esports, I’ll still be doing stuff on that side. It’s been such a big part of my life, that I feel it’d be weird if I just left!”

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If you would like to keep updated on what Emilia is doing, you can follow her on her social media, as well as keeping your eyes peeled for her in the competitive scene.

You can also follow the Women in Esports Twitter for more information on the initiative, and events we are running!