A professional player from the small municipality of Korsnäs, south of Vaasa Jennica Sjögren got hooked on Counter-Strike action game when he was 12 years old. He soon discovered that he was good at it.
Despite that, Sjögren soon found out that Pelimaailma is a world of boys and men. For boys and men who think that Gaming is their thing, which they don’t want girls into.
– It doesn’t matter how well you perform, they will always find a way to cheat you. There is so much anger directed at you that you can’t bear to have that conversation every day because it usually only makes the situation worse.
The basic problem is that you can be anonymous while playing.
– There have been threats that they want to kill me, that they are going to find out my address and rape me, 25-year-old Sjögren says with a sigh.
For more than ten years, articles have been written, television programs and studies have been made about how men treat women in the gaming world. Nothing has changed.
Before now. At least that’s what women hope for.
Two years ago, the global professional league ESL Impact League was set up, which consists of only female players. This has caused more and more e-sports organizations to establish their own women’s teams.
Sjögren’s team is the women’s team of the Swedish e-sports organization Ninjas in Pajamas, NIP Impact, founded in the fall of 2022.
– I think it is mentally easier to play with my own team, which has only women. It feels safe and there is no need to worry about anything.
Over the years, he has been so fed up with the toxicity of the gaming world many times that he has decided to quit.
– On the other hand, I don’t want to let the bullies win. That’s why I keep playing.
Grew up with two brothers
Athletics, gymnastics and football. Here, Jennica Sjøgren’s hobbies as a child.
When he had two older brothers who spent their free time with console games, the temptation was great to try their games. And when he got to test Counter-Strike 1.6 at the end of elementary school, it was a go.
In the early years, Sjøgren only played with boys.
– When I was in high school, I always played after school with my school friends. They probably thought it was cool that the girl was playing CS.
At home, he was often told that maybe sometimes he should go outside and do something “sensible†, instead of sitting inside and playing all the time.
– It was of course a good suggestion in itself, but I didn’t understand it as a child, he says with a laugh.
Bullying and harassment every day
Playing with the friends you meet at school every day was one thing. Joining a game where you don’t know anyone was something else entirely.
– I don’t remember exactly the first time, but it happened quite early on, when I went to play alone. Death threats and other things immediately came from there.
The problem is that you can be anonymous while playing.
– It’s easier to throw shit on the internet anonymously.
Sjøgren says that in the beginning he often cried after matches, but over the years the skin has thickened.
The matter is discussed with female game friends then and there, but otherwise he has not discussed it further.
– I try to tell myself that the guys who write like that are probably not doing well themselves.
Despite that, he feels that he has been wrongly treated.
– I would just like to play, but then we start grinding about what gender each one is.
When Sjøgren has lined up for a game, either alone or with girlfriends, it’s not unusual for the men to just leave the game when they notice there are women involved.
– Or they spoil the game on purpose. It’s also common.
And it doesn’t help, no matter how well you play, Sjögren continues. Some always find a reason to riot.
– I’ve been barked at when I’ve been at the top of the points table as well as when I’ve played worse. It doesn’t seem to matter.
From small Korsnäs to big Stockholm
After elementary school, Sjøgren started studying to become a hairdresser, but immediately noticed that it wasn’t for him. He moved to the surface treatment line, completed his degree and worked in the field for a couple of years. That was enough.
He started his studies in data processing and after only one year of study he received a job offer from Sweden that he couldn’t refuse.
He felt that Korsnäs had already been seen. He wanted to see more of the world, and not stay in a small village.
So Jennica Sjøgren moved to Stockholm four years ago, where she works as an IT support at Embark Studios game studio, which released its first game (The Finals) in December.
– I’m quite shy and I’ve always been nervous in social situations. Adapting here was challenging at first, but I have wonderful colleagues and I have learned a lot here. It’s definitely my dream job.
During the first years at the game studio, Sjøgren worked full time and played CS only in his spare time.
Then something revolutionary happened in the women’s game scene.
Female players are raising their profile
In the spring of 2022, the ESL Impact League was launched, which is a global professional league for teams where all players are women.
This led to the fact that Sjøgren, together with four female player friends, asked several game organizations if they were interested in starting a women’s team.
In the fall of 2022, the dream came true when the Swedish Ninjas in Pajamas introduced their women’s team NIP Impact, where “jenkon†is one of the historic first players.
In addition to NIP, the Finnish Ence, the Danish Astralis and the German G2 have founded women’s teams after the league started its operations.
So far, the league has been dominated by Nigma Galaxy Female. The headquarters of the organization is located in the United Arab Emirates and most of the players are Russian.
The league’s task is to pave the way for women who want to invest in e-sports.
– I already see a positive change in that several female players dare to come forward. I hope that over time there will be more of them.
For Sjögren, the new league has reset the calendar. Nowadays, he works mornings at Embark’s office in the center of Stockholm and evenings and evenings at home in Solna, where he plays Counter-Strike in NIP Impact for work.
– Of course, I would like to play full-time and be accepted where the men are. But we’re not there yet.
The goal is to advance to the season finals
Since Sjögren has been playing since he was 12 years old, he feels that he has a good command of the game itself, but would like to perform even better in matches.
– I suffer from some degree of performance anxiety and I sometimes have trouble making quick decisions in the game. That’s where I want to develop. When the match is going into a worse period, I would also hope to find new energy and Flow in the game faster.
The women’s game scene in e-sports is very small and in Sjögren’s case this means, among other things, that she is rarely in the same place with her teammates.
Of NIP’s four contracted players, Jennica Sjøgren lives in Sweden, Mia Cooper in Great Britain and twins Naomi and Kiara Janssen in Holland.
– In general, we go through a few things in the two countries. After that, we play three or four practice matches. At the end of the day, we discuss how the matches went and examine, for example, what mistakes we might have made.
The qualifying matches of the fifth season of the ESL Impact League will be held in the middle of February. In March and April, 28 teams will play for eight places in the season finale in Dallas at the turn of May-June.
In autumn, the sixth season will be played with the same format, but then the final tournament will be held in Stockholm. NIP Impact’s goal is to reach both finals, where they will play for a combined prize pool of $300,000.
Hopes for a continuation of a top career
At the age of 25, Sjøgren feels that his years at the top of the sport are beginning to be numbered.
– Of course I will continue as long as I can. But I’ve read that reaction speed starts to decline after 25 years of age. I don’t know if that is true.
– It’s probably mostly about how long I can do two jobs, from eight to eight every weekday. Sooner or later there will surely be a stop.
By then, he hopes the gaming world has changed.
– When enough years have passed, I hope that e-sports can no longer be so anonymous, and that women are seen as such a normal part of the scene that no one wants to waste their time on toxicity anymore .
Sweden’s SVT has made a documentary about crimes in the gaming world. In the documentary, some of the most famous female streamers in the western neighbor talk about the crimes and harassment they face every day online – but also in the real world.
Since Sjögren doesn’t stream on Twitch, she’s not as well known as many other female gamers in Sweden, and she’s also never been attacked in real life ¤.
– Of course, it could be that I think too well of people, when I doubt that someone would really look for my address and do something bad.