Women in Swiss Esports: Noëlle Desjeux aka PsychoHugger

This week, we are presenting you Noëlle Desjeux aka PsychoHugger as our latest female highlight in our series Women in Swiss Esports.

Based in Lausanne, Noëlle works in the field of digital communications and she always has about ten active projects at the same time in different fields and has no time to be bored! Regarding video games, she really likes coop games such as League of Legends, where collaboration is key. She is also a huge fan of management games, such as Civilization VI, where she is currently working on unlocking as many achievements as possible. Passionate about esports and events, she is currently working on the launch of the third viewing party in Lausanne in collaboration with Lausanne Esports. Besides that, she is also a dancer in a troupe and in solo, and performs on stage all over Switzerland, which remind us a bit of her attachment to events in general!

It is now time to get to know her a little bit better and dive in her interview!

Seven Getting to Know You Questions:

Q1. What is your favorite dish?

"Fondue, of course!"

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

"Probably Civilization IV or Borderlands 2"

Q3. Who made you love video games ?

"My friends, who I started playing online with when I was 16"

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

"South Korea because they have a huge culture around gaming and esports, and people would enjoy more than in Europe"

Q5. Are you on PC, Console or Mobile ?

"Mostly PC, but the 3 of them. "

Q6. If you could join any Esports team, who would that be ? (Swiss/Worldwide) "Mad Lions because they seem to have a healthy team environment and personal growth culture."

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

"Just Dance, or more seriously League of Legends. "

About Your Background And Career:

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

"I liked the competitive aspect around videogames, so I organised tournament from scratch, and then joined various esports organisations. "

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

"As a communication & events expert in the organisation Lausanne Esports."

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

"It is evolving so much that it is hard to say, but I hope to still be on the production side or working in communications."

Representation & Inclusivity Questions

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

"I feel like it has evolved a lot in the last years, but gender diversity is still not really represented in global esports. Usually, we tend to see that women and marginalised genders represent almost 50% of all the gamers, yet we don't see them a lot in the competitive scene. Switzerland is probably no exception, even though we are a bit smaller, and women have their place in our scene."

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

"We have many, but **representation **is one of the biggest in my opinion. We need strong women/gender diverse people to be shown as role models for the younger generations."

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

"Yes definitely, and that is encouraging! We can still do better, but we need to acknowledge the progress that was made."

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

"Stricter policies regarding misogyny, harassment, bullying, and focus on making gender diverse people feel welcome and in a safe space."

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

"This is a tough one because I think we shouldn't have to ask this. By that, I mean that women are not in the esports scene to ''bring something to it'', but because they enjoy it just as much as men and can be as good as them. But in general, maybe some different points of view and paving the way for young girls. "

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