Female Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports takes a significant hit as veteran player Julia “juliano” Kiran announces her big move to Valorant.
There are a few female CSGO players who have competed at a higher level of pro play. Juliano has earned her stripes in Valve’s shooter as one of the best female Counter-Strike players, and now she’s geared up to dominate the battlegrounds in Valorant.
The pro player has been streaming tons of Valorant recently but she’s finally officialized the switch. Juliano will no longer compete in CSGO after giving more than 10 years to Valve’s shooter.
CSGO esports isn’t precisely in its best phase but veterans are struggling to keep it afloat. However, recently, the female scene has been in its worst form, and Juliano’s departure does more harm than good. The pro player will now superhead XSET’s female Valorant roster, according to her tweets.
Juliano’s resume in CSGO is decorated with more accolades than any other female competitor, making her a valuable talent to Valve’s shooter.
Juliano is one of the oldest CSGO players who’s paved the way for newer talent and set an incredible precedent for women in gaming. The 27-year old was competing in minor CSGO leagues since a young age, eventually becoming a part of XSET’s star-studded female roster in 2020. She has played for many teams, including Bad Monkey Gaming, Team Secret, Dynasty Gaming, Beşiktaş Esports, Team Originem, and XSET.
Under Juliano’s leadership, teams won the Intel Challenge Katowice in 2015, 2016, and 2017. However, her performance at Besiktas has left a mark in the female CSGO scene where the team defeated CLG Red at the DreamHack Valencia Showdown, taking $50,000 and earning a spot at the DreamHack Open Rotterdom tournament.
Why does Valorant have more female players than CSGO?
Valorant’s player base is diverse, including pro players from all shooting-related video games like Fortnite, Overwatch, CSGO, and more. Like the male players, women from different titles have also migrated to Valorant, resulting in a diverse player base. Moreover, Riot backed Valorant circuits like VCT Game Changers ensure that these female players feel safe, encouraged, and welcomed into the scene.
Male players primarily dominate the esports scene, but more female players enter the budding Valorant scene. Conversely, Valorant’s competitor CSGO has failed to retain a female player base, and the situation continues to deteriorate in 2021. While Riot has gone the extra mile to promote marginalized genders, Valve barely has any programs that support female players.
Pro scene aside, Valorant’s voice ban system works actively tackles online bullies and harassers. Meanwhile, CSGO is still struggling to keep hackers at bay, let alone banning people for being toxic towards women in-game. All these factors can be attributed to a dying female CSGO scene in 2021.
Fariha Bhatti
About Fariha Bhatti
Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.
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