G2 Esports, one of the world’s leading entertainment and esports brands, has announced the launch of its first ever all-female team for VALORANT. G2 Esports is among the most well-known and competitive organisations in the VALORANT scene and esports overall.

The G2 female VALORANT team, known as G2 Gozen, comprises some of the most successful and prominent female esports talent within the industry. The team roster includes Juia “Juliano” Kiran, Michaela “Mimi” Lintrup, Zainab “zAAz” Turkie, Petra “Petra” Stoker and Anja “aNNja” Vasalic. G2 has also completed one of the first ever female player buy-outs in esports for aNNja to help build the team and strengthen the roster.

Team Captain Julia “juliano” Kiran said: “I grew up with gaming since I could walk and talk. I started playing Counter Strike when I was 11 and went to my first tournament at 16. Now that I play professionally, I take my career in esports very seriously. There is no end goal for the team; instead, we strive for greater success and continuous improvement. We all train for eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve hours a day in order to continuously improve and win more tournaments.”

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Team member Michaela “Mimi” Lintrup said: “It’s surreal. I have never experienced anything like this before, we are all very excited and ready to compete.”

The formation of the team is part of G2’s end goal to empower men and women to compete alongside each other in mixed leagues. In addition to adding further strength and skill to the organisation, G2 strives to hire the best and highest performing gamers in the industry to compete at the highest level possible, irrespective of gender identity. This VALORANT team in particular is made up of all females and overall features some of the world’s top players.

Highlighting experiences with diversity within the esports industry, Team Captain Julia “juliano” Kiran comments exclusively on challenges she has faced playing in a male dominated industry:

“Many people argue that there is no difference between being a woman and a man in terms of skill and they question why there are no women on the top level, however, they are unaware that women make up such a small percentage of the industry. Competing as a woman within this industry means you have to deal with a lot of bullying and a lot of things that men don’t have to deal with, and it can be unnerving.”

Team member Petra “Petra” Stoker said: “Developments have already been made in the industry, many teams are being represented and brought up. Riot’s Game Changers have already made a big difference in both the competitive and viewer scenes.”

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Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of G2 Esports, said: “To me, they aren’t a female team, they are our VALORANT team. At G2, we build teams and bring in players based on skill and brand fit. These are amongst the best female players in the world and we’re proud to have them. We’ll support them all the way, as we support all our teams, and look forward to seeing them grow and kick some ass as part of the G2 army.”