Deep strike: playing gender in the world of Overwatch and the case of Geguri

Abstract

What happens when a body surveilled causes pause to the norms of surveillance? Where does it get pulled or pushed? Where does it fall? These are the broad questions this paper seeks to address via a case study examining sexism in professional computer gaming, or esport. The case presented concerns a cheating accusation made against a Korean woman, professional computer gamer that ignited controversy regarding women in esport. We present findings from a textual analysis of the online discussion that occurred in conjunction with the cheating accusation. We situate our analysis within perspectives of queer and feminist scholarship to address how surveillance mechanisms designed into professional gaming troubled misogynistic narratives regarding the role of women in esport, but only to a point. We conclude with a discussion on how the sporting anti/misogyny is discursively constructed and persisted and normalized in surveillance tactics embedded in gaming culture.