The Fortnite World Cup weekend was filled with surprises, but there was no better surprise than FaZe Banks announcing that Ewok joined FaZe Clan.
Ewok Becomes First Female Esports Player To Join FaZe Clan
Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler is proof that hard work pays off. The deaf professional Fortnite player first started streaming Fortnite on her Twitch channel. From a distance, one would think that she is just like every other streamer trying to break the scene and show her skills. However, Ewok is different; she has impaired hearing, something that is essential for not only gaming but competitive gaming.
Ewok has been streaming Fortnite Battle Royale for a while and had her major break when a popular streamer named TimTheTatman featured Ewok on his channel in front of millions of viewers. This moment helped Ewok gain mass awareness, to the point that she has even made headlines at ESPN. At the time of being featured on Tim’s channel, Ewok had several thousands of followers, which by any means is quite impressive. Today she has close to 200,000 followers on Twitch, and this has caught the eyes of one famous esports organization.
During the Fortnite World Cup weekend, fans who were tuning into the major event had a nice surprise when FaZe Banks, co-owner of one of the biggest esports organizations in the world announced that Ewok has joined FaZe Clan.
Usually we surprise our new members, but tonight we got surprised with the best news.
Join us in welcoming the first girl EVER to join FaZe Clan: @EwokIts #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/Q1Rr1UZ5c8
— FaZe Clan 🤟 (@FaZeClan) July 28, 2019
Not only is this great for esports, but it’s specifically important for women who are interested to join an industry that is male-dominated, and that are having second thoughts. The news brought much controversy already due to the lack of women in the industry. One Twitter user quickly pointed this out:
I roll my eyes at this, it took a big Esports team this long to get a female gamer onto their team.
I feel like both men and women gamers should be allowed to be apart of an Esports team, but I congratulate Ewok on joining FaZe.
Just shitty that any woman didn’t join sooner. https://t.co/9amFgMmsrd
— TheVaccine (@TheVaccineRaID2) July 28, 2019
Thankfully, there are networks that are bringing awareness not only to those in the industry but people everywhere. @WomenOfEsports, @wigj and @girlgamerfest constantly bring updates about women in the esports and gaming industry. Hopefully this news will keep the door wide open for more women to be recruited by esports organizations. It’s about time…
“We empower women in esports through our global community & mentorship program, bringing awareness to the challenges women face & building a platform for change.” – @WomenOfEsports
Congrats to FaZe Ewok on a bright future ahead!
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