ABSTRACT
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is an online card collection game with a global, competitive esports scene. Since its release in 2014, the competitive aspect of the game has been dominated by men. Several women personalities are prominent in the scene as casters, players, or streamers, but only four women have participated in the highest tiers of Hearthstone esports, representing just 2% of player participation. The scene has also seen several controversies, ranging from banning women from competing to accusing a woman of being a man in disguise. In this chapter, we outline the gender controversies that have occurred in Hearthstone between 2014 and 2021. We also provide an overview of the four women who have competed in the game at a world-class level, each of whom is surrounded by unique circumstances, including one woman becoming world champion in 2019. In 2021, the game developers were sued for gender discrimination in the workplace, something that also seems to have served as a catalyst for increasing the proportion of women competing at invitational Hearthstone esports events.
