Sjokz has been a staple of the esports industry for the last 10 years. As one of the very first women to be involved in broadcasting in both League of Legends and CS:GO, she’s something of a legend around here. From MSI to IEM, it’s been a busy year so far and now that Sjokz is back from her much needed break, fans will be keen to see what’s next on the agenda. We got the chance to speak to Sjokz during the ENCE vs Vitality game at IEM Cologne and talked about all things gaming, women in esports and mental health.
Credit: Adela Sznajder via ESL
You’ve been to a lot of Cologne events over the years. How does 2023 measure up?
Cologne has been incredible, it’s an event I look forward to every year. If I can’t work it, I come as a fan because it’s just that much fun. I lost my heart to Cologne because it’s the first place I moved for esports so many years ago and there’s really nothing like the Lanxess. The hours have been pretty intense for the group stage and for the play in stage but it is what it is.
You have, of course, been working for many years in League of Legends as well as CS:GO. Do you have a preference in terms of crowds or events?
Well, obviously I don’t have a preference between League and CS but I do have event preference, I would say. For instance, going to Paris is always amazing. I wasn’t there for the BLAST.tv Major. But I’ve been able to do a lot of shows there with League of Legends and it’s always amazing. Lanxess is, of course, high up on that list as well. Because I think that it transcends esports borders in that everyone knows how fun it is here.
I always meet people here who don’t even follow Counter-strike that much, maybe they do other esports or maybe not at all but they always have an amazing time. And then there’s Brazil of course, I think it’s great to go to Brazil and have Counter-strike events there particularly. I mean, to watch CS live, there’s nothing like it.
You’ve been involved in the esports industry for 10 years now. How have you seen attitudes towards women evolve during that time?
Well, I’ve seen it evolve luckily in a good direction but I think it’s going maybe a little bit too slowly. In comparison to when I started 10 years ago, I was the only woman on broadcast I think for League, at least at that point. Of course, there was also Rachel and Zoe at times but only when it became the LCS so to say.
And now it’s much better and that’s awesome. Generally, I think there’s more understanding. People do get called out more if they do put down women for the classic “do you even play games?” and “why are you even here?” and stuff like that. I feel like that has happened a lot less but I don’t know if that’s to me because I’ve been there for so long so people kind of know what I’ve done. So I hope that that is something we will leave in the past fast enough. We’re going in a good direction, we just need to go a little faster.
You have been quite outspoken about experiencing mental health problems in the past and recently. How have you found the community response as well as esports organizers such as ESL?
Very, very supportive. This is also something that I think is luckily going in a better direction overall. Because I think that in the last few years, a lot of people have been a lot more outspoken about it where in the past, or definitely 10 years ago, that wasn’t necessarily the case. I feel really empowered to talk to the companies that I work for.
Also, my management company and my followers or my fans so to say, about that too and they have been very understanding. It’s really nice because I see it not just in me. A lot of my colleagues as well who are going through tough times. It’s just been an insane couple of years for everybody. I feel really empowered in that regard.
With ESL, we have a wonderful talent manager Kinga. She’s been amazing and the crew as well. They just say hey, if it doesn’t work, let us know and we’ll figure it out. That’s been so great.
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