When it comes to esports, it’s important to make the experience inclusive. Gaming, at its core, is for everyone no matter who they are. Because of this, it’s fantastic to see ESL Faceit Group (EFG) invest time and commitment to their GGForAll initiative, which aims to fulfill one of the organization’s pillars: Universal participation. At Dreamhack Dallas 2023, we got the chance to talk with Claudia Beaton, the Vice President of People and Culture at EFG. Beaton’s role is leading diversity, equity and inclusion and the EFG’s CSR initiative GGForAll. In this interview, we got see how ESL is making tangible strides with programs, panels, initiatives and outreach to ensure everyone can play, watch, and find a future in esports.
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There are three areas where Beaton explains her role as VP of People & Culture in relation to Dreamhack and it programming. The first is by growing the ESL Impact series, an esports competition for all-women teams to compete. The second is around showcasing career paths in esports for collegiate players and fans, as well as elementary school-aged children, primarily girls. And finally, in getting parents involved in gaming in order to remove the mystery around a career in what many people still consider to just be a hobby.
On ESL Impact and the growth of women in CS:GO, Beaton explained, “…The ideation process around is impact truly started years ago. Yeah. With conversations with fans with members of the CSGO community. How can we bring this to life? How can we really build an inclusive platform focused on women and highlighting the talent within CS:GO? That took about I would say, two years [of] serious conversation and then in 2021, we were able to achieve launch of season one. With no real true expectation, right? We knew [ESL Impact] was long-awaited, but we just didn’t know how hungry the CS:GO community was and the women in CSGO were.
“So once we launched, it was overnight [that] we felt the love, we felt the support, we felt the true path. For us, the impact would be long a long road with lots of different opportunities for women to really jump in and be highlighted. So the plan was to build a one, then there, and then five-year strategy but right now we’re even talking what’s 10 years out look like. We ask, how can we grow the cup? How can we grow the prize pool?”
And the prize pool is the perfect example of inclusivity still having a ways to go. Like other women’s sports, the ESL Impact prize pool pales in comparison to the men. But this lack of pay equity isn’t being ignored. Beaton explained, “Right now the cash prizes is $150,000. We know as women, that’s way too low. We know that men and CS:GO their cash prizes are higher. So we’re working on adjusting that. We’re working for that pay equity also from women in ESL Impact, because we find that that’s really the next then the next level that we want to tackle is that pay got in with the prize pool… We’re already talking about season four. What does that look like? Who are highlighting we’re highlighting in season four.”
But investing in diversity and inclusion is a feat that should span levels of involvement. Not just when it comes to players, but fans as well and leading more people into the career. For that, GGForAll is beginning to reach out to universities and make sure they have access to Dreamhack in all of its locations. Claudia Beaton explains this choice, “We are starting [the collegiate outreach] aspect of GGForAll now. We reached out to different universities, one in Long Beach because I’m based out of LA. I reached out to the University of Texas who has an esports program now. Both to see if we can start to work together and collaborate. What we want to see and want to create is that entry point [to esports].”
“It’s great that there’s an esports curriculum now, but it doesn’t need to be from sports because it can be from STEM right anywhere within the STEM placement and roadmap. I’m happy to speak to college professors and educators about why it’s so great to look for a career in esports. But we’re starting to really, truly build that roadmap and that connection point. Part of the first step is the career booths [at Dreamhack Dallas]. The EFG career booth is the first entry point where we get to meet you, as the fan.
“Tell you a little bit about our background on the organization tell you that EFG is the parent company of Dreamhack, Dreamhack Sports Game. Now, VIP EE, we just merged with so many different opportunities that most gamers don’t realize that they have to be able to enter into a career with the product that they’re passionate about.” Showing a career path in games at Dreamhack is a purposeful DE&I move that offers an entry point for communities in the convention circuit’s extremely diverse locations like Dallas, Atlanta, and San Diego.
Finally, while EFG is meeting players and fans where they’re at, Claudia Beaton has also put parents into the focus of her efforts as well. Through panel programming at Dreamhack and partnering with parent organizations to give them a presence at the convention like COPE, it’s a much-needed outreach. Beaton said, “[The parents and video games panel] was on mainstage and had an incredible group of parents…We delved into [questions like], ‘What were the fears originally that plagued you as a parent?’ and ‘Why did it make you hesitant to support your kid gaming?’ Then we had one influencer parent [of a young pro-Fortnite player and] he was telling the story that he tried to persuade his son not to play Fortnite. He was really against it — like, didn’t want him [to do it]… made strict rules around when he could play when he couldn’t play and it turns out now he just signed, I don’t know, some multi-million dollar deal last week.”
Beaton continued, “The father’s like, I can’t believe I was saying no and my son showed me a new way, a new path. It’s the future… It’s really interesting to see how minds change when they see that your child is passionate, but really good at it, and monetize it into a livelihood. They can actually have a career in it and build a brand around it. But again, not every kid is going to be a pro player. We know that. But any kid that has a passion in video games certainly can have a career in esports.”
This is only a small portion of our conversation with Claudia Beaton which showed the clear vision that she and EFG have in expanding GGForAll and pushing forward with making universal play a reality. By clicking the audio below you can hear Beaton talk more about guiding young girls to STEM through gaming, and how esports players can have fruitful and successful careers outside competition. For more information on EFG’s CRS initiative GGForAll please head to their website here.
We spoke with Claudia Beaton on-site at Dremhack Dallas 2023, which took place from June 2 – 4, 2023. Quotes included have been edited for length and clarity.
