Gaming Brand XSET recently announced that they’d be expanding with their new acquisition of Queens Gaming Collective.
Created to diversify tech, Queens Gaming Collective is a woman-led lifestyle org whose main mission is to help women into the gaming field as creators, competitive players and streamers. With the new announcement, Queens Gaming Collective joined XSET’s current partnerships with gamers, musicians, athletes and other known public figures in different fields.
“Being a woman in a male-dominated industry like gaming isn’t easy– there are many challenges that come with it,” said Erin Ashley Simon, the XSET Chief Culture Officer, per a statement in the press release. “That’s why I’m looking forward to working with this amazing group of women who want to challenge the status quo, think outside of the box, and have fun along the way.”
Also a co-owner of XSET, Simon has already been named as one of the most impactful women in the esports career field. Through the course of two and a half years, Simon has helped spearhead partnerships that have made XSET “the fastest growing gaming organization” in esports history. Alongside creating teams competing in fighting games, iRacing and Apex Legends, XSET has made headlines for their partnership with sports leagues, such as the NFL, and festivals, such as Rolling Loud.
In an interview with BET, Simon expressed what it means to her to find success in the esports world as a Black woman.
“Growing up, I wish I had people who looked like me in this space or people who could help me navigate as well,” Simon said per BET. “I wanted to use my platform to inspire other young Black women because I wanted to be someone who helped knock down doors to create more opportunities for those after me, to help through education/information, and to show that we are just as much a part of the gaming community as anyone else.”
Although representation has increased in the tech world in some aspects, Black women are still being underrepresented in the fields of tech positions. According to the latest data by global nonprofit AnitaB.org, of the 26.7% of women that make up the tech workforce, Black women occupy just 1.7% of these roles.
The representation in the game development field is comparatively less, as just 2% of all game developers are Black, according to a report by the Game Developers Association.
