PC Gamer Annual - UK (2022)

well into the demands on female esports athletes. “I’m

sure there will be a few, but the path is much harder

for women,” she says.

TOXICITY THEN...

In Fitzgerald’s experience, things were more

straightforward back then, especially because Quake

didn’t have a chat feature, much less voice chat, and she

often had to find players on IRC. “You had to get an IP

address, someone had to host it, you couldn’t just fire up

the old console and hit roulette or whatever... I did not

like playing with random people, because you know,

men.” There also weren’t as many people online, which

somewhat encouraged self-moderation if you still

wanted people to play with you.

“If you became a dick, they were like ‘buh-bye’ and

they would kick you out,” says Fitzgerald. She recalls that

online shit-talking only became gendered when they

found out she was a woman. She tells me about her

original online handle, a variation of ‘Tank Girl’ (which

was coincidentally also my first IRC handle) – the comics

and the 1995 film were a huge influence on many girls in

One of Quake’s

many

battlegrounds.

Making History

FE ATURE