LOS ANGELES – It’s hard to keep up with all the action on the screen, but professional gamer Carlee Gress has been training her whole life. She’s a member of Gen.G Empowered Bumble, the world’s first competitive all-female Fortnite team and she’s insanely good at sniping.

“I think my parents got my sister and I a PS2 when we were like 4 or 5 for our birthday,” Gress said. “I think me and my sister played like the ‘Simpsons Road Rage.’ I remember playing that game all the time on the PS2.”

Like mainstream sports, eSports took a hit when COVID-19 canceled events. Regularly filling out stadiums, Play! Pokémon canceled its World Championship, while Overwatch League is playing out the rest of the season online. 

“I think COVID-19 affected eSports in a good and a bad way, to be honest,” Gress said. “Obviously eSports, they can’t go out and play tournaments on LAN, they have to play from home, but I also think it’s affected eSports in a good way. If anything, it’s made it, you know, more prominent.”

The League of Legends Spring 2020 Grand Final Championship saw over one million peak viewers.

Gress shares a house with her teammates, so they spend a lot of time together. Their goal is to win and ideally make the gaming space more comfortable for female gamers. 

“There’s a lot of negativity from the gaming world and the internets, but it’s best to try to be a role model and change the way people look at women in gaming,” said professional Gen.G Fortnite gamer Maddiesuun.

COVID-19 hasn’t slowed Gress and her team down. Gen.G saw an 11% increase in social media followers.

“I hope to see eSports go far in the future,” Gress said. “I want to see it be as big as traditional sports. I feel like it will, especially you know with more people gaming and understanding that it’s an actual thing and not something nerds do.”

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