Women in Swiss Esports: Amandine Marguerat AKA SekaiLove

This week, we are delighted to feature Amandine Marguerat aka SekaiLove in our latest profile highlight. Currently based in Lausanne, she has been an active part of the Swiss esports scene for the past 7 years.

In addition to her work as a Decorator and Home Organizer, she also serves as a journalist for the RTS and presents video game releases on the 12:45 news. Whenever she has some free time, she enjoys working on broadcasting files, video games and esports events. She appreciates the fact that video games give her the opportunity to immerse herself in a story and control her character, unlike watching a movie or series.

She also enjoys playing and testing independent video games that have a wide range of aesthetics, narratives, and morals. She tends to shy away from AAA games, which, in her opinion, frequently offer the same storylines with different sceneries. She is constantly on the lookout for future indie game releases.

We hope this summary of her has given you a good idea of who she is and we now invite you to read her full interview!

Seven Getting to Know You Questions:

Q1. What is your favourite dish?

The Vietnamese beef soup : “Phò”

Q2. What is the best game you have ever played?

It's so hard to get just one out... So sorry but I'll cheat and give them by category:

• The most beautiful game : Kena Bridge of Spirit
• The most original and immersive game : Senua's sacrifice
• The most complete game : Horizon Zero Dawn
• And the most competitive and online game : Overwatch

Q3. Who made you love video games ?

It started on my father's NES but I also used to play with my mother on Tetris or speed run competitions on Super Mario Bros.

Q4. If you could hold an esports event anywhere in the world, where would it be?

In Switzerland, because I would like to draw attention to our country and I think that organizing major European or international events could help the democratization of esports in Switzerland.

Q5. Are you on PC, Console or Mobile ?

I play on PC for the most part, on console when I want to be a little more relaxed on the couch and on my phone when I'm bored while waiting for a bus or an appointment.

Q6. If you could join any Esports team, who would that be ? (Swiss/Worldwide)

In Switzerland: Team BDS because it is the only team present in the country that allows reach at the international level.

Internationally: Team Vitality because I love this team and the professionalism it gives off through their social networks.

Q7. If you were a professional player, which game would you like to compete in ?

Overwatch, because it's my favorite competitive game.

About Your Background And Career:

Q1. What made you come to esports and how did you get started?

I started as a player on Splatoon first of its name and I took part to competitions in France and also online with the ESL. And then as soon as Overwatch was released I joined a Swiss team. Then I became a commentator and analyst on Overwatch competitions, then journalist and speaker on esports news, also Overwatch team manager, host and speaker of my own talk show project called WhispHer, then speaker and host of another talk show and interview project called"La Bourguignole", and today video game release reviewer.

WhispHer came as my first project. I used to be a speaker with other well-known women of the swiss esports scene such as Psychohugger & Khirya. Our aim was to invite marginalized people, who were not represented enough on the esports and gaming scenes such as disabled people, racialised people, women, transgenders, drag queens etc.

Then, la Bourguignole was broadcasted by Esports.ch and I was a speaker with Khirya and our aim was to interview people from the Swiss Esports scene regarding the latest trend, all of this around a nice cheese fondue.

Q2. How are you involved in esports at the moment ?

At the moment I don't have any activity in direct relation with the Swiss esports scene but I'm still related to the fiels as I’m involved in video games.

Q3. Where do you see yourself in esports in the next five years?

Currently I dream of organizing a major women's or mixed competition in Switzerland.

Representation & Inclusivity Questions

Q1. Do you feel that women and marginalised genders are represented well enough in esports? How about in Switzerland?

NOT AT ALL! And in Switzerland even less (and I'm talking about members of esports teams)

Q2. What is currently the biggest challenge related to this topic and how would you start to overcome it?

Women's leagues are a good starting point but to get major changes quickly it might be necessary to impose a quota of women or marginalized genders on international teams, to start making real gender diversity a commonplace. This would increase visibility to the world, a much more mixed fan base, and therefore much more likely to identify with a female role model. Attracting more female/marginalized people to be interested and continue in the esports industry. Reduce the stereotyping, mocking and harassment of women and marginalized people. But the quota system has the disadvantage of forcing a team to take someone who is not necessarily at the same level as the teammates. That's why, like the women's leagues, I think that the quota system would be a temporary solution for a few years until the democratization of real gender diversity within international esports teams is possible.

Q3. Do you feel there is any progress being made for representation on the scene?

Progress is happening yes and thankfully but either through women-only competitions or solo game competitions. Women's teams are being created but for women's competitions and we see too few mixed teams highlighted in international competitions. Yet we have had great female champions but on single player games because no need for men's agreement to participate in major international competitions (ex: VKLiooon the first female world champion on Hearthstones, Scarlett on SC2, Kayane on Soul Calibur, etc.).

Q4. If you could bring one thing in the industry to promote more inclusion, what would that be?

That major competitions impose a quota of one woman or marginalized person per esports team in order to participate.

Q5. What do you think women can bring to the esports scene ?

Women in mixed and major competitions would:

• Bring more visibility to the genre;
• Get more women persevering in esports because most of these competitions are getting a bigger media coverage and are more accessible to a wider audience;
• Allow the average female player to identify herself with high level players and to take them as role models. By having the biggest clubs/teams/players more involved in gender diversity, we would also have a better defense against women harassment that they can suffer. Indeed, there would be the clubs fans, as well as the members, who would help (by their numbers, their strength of action and their support) to reduce the harassment and the clichés that surrounds women. It might be a bit utopian.

If you want to know more about Amandine and her work within the Swiss esports and the gaming scene, we invite you to visit her profile here.

Do you wish to learn more about Women in Swiss Esports? Make sure to follow our SESF social accounts to get the latest update.