Why Sjokz is so important.
As the LEC wrapped up its 3rd week, you’d be forgiven for thinking Rogue’s dominant 7–0 split is the forefront of conversation in the European LoL community. Surprisingly, if you took a peek onto twitter, or into the depths of stream chat during broadcast, you’d find that one of the most common questions is asked in the downtime between games- “Where the f*ck is Sjokz??”
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere, is the beloved, region-defining, on air talent for Europe’s LEC- known across esports as a remarkable host and a pioneering force as a woman in the industry. She is considered a model host across games, and is generally a shoo-in for leading english broadcasts of international tournaments. It genuinely cannot be overstated how important she is to the LEC’s product, and how much her presence in the pro league scene does for women in esports and gaming content.
For the last 3 weeks, the LEC broadcast hasn’t been fielding one of their most recognizable talents, at first because of a personal tragedy in Sjokz’s life, and then because of contract disagreement. For 3 weeks, the broadcast has visibly suffered because of it- after 8 years of helping to found a well oiled machine, you can’t too easily remove a core piece. Quickshot has been pulled into the default host position, which means he’s not able to be nearly as unleashed or comedic as he’s known for on the casting desk. Simply put, it’s noticeable.
Hosts are the closest part of the broadcast to the audience- their job being to act as a mouthpiece for the audience through to the players and analysts. It’s their job to create hype, comedy, and intrigue, acting as a stand-in for the viewers on the show. Hosts define a region, and for a community with so much vitriol for prominent women in its periphery (“I am esports,” anyone?) Sjokz performing so well in such an outward-facing position is remarkable, and inherently groundbreaking.
I’ve written previously about why there is such a significant lack of female professional players in gaming- and it has come down to general hostility from teams and managers towards women and their capability in the scene. When combined with societal norms and gaming culture that are built around deterring women from gaming, it’s obvious that broadcast talent faces many of the same sexist barriers on their way to tier 1.
In the last couple years, we’ve started to see the effects of the trailblazing nature of Sjokz’s illustrious career. Yinsu Collins is nearly 8 years younger than Sjokz, and becoming a massive name in the professional VALORANT scene, having hosted the very first Champions tournament already. LeTigress has been working with the LCS as a Host, Interviewer, and most recently, a Caster. Every year, more and more women are brought into broadcast teams across gaming, and it’s important to note how the industry made space for that.
Of course, it’s absurd to imply that Sjokz was the first woman in gaming broadcasts, or the only one to pioneer women in esports. Pansy, for example, was a prominent CS commentator in 2012, and remains at the top of her field in VALORANT today. Sjokz is just one clear example of a high profile, long standing woman in esports who has become inseparable from not just her league, but from League itself.
I hope Riot comes to their senses and hands Sjokz a blank check going into week four of the LEC, because as Caedrel said on stream- “I mean the LEC without Sjokz, it just isn’t the LEC […] it’s just not the same.”
This is not to say that the broadcasts are lacking completely in female on air talent- but their positions are certainly something to note. Women as interviewers are incredibly prominent in the scene- Ovilee May, Ashley Kang, Lauree “Bulii” Valée- but that’s its own can of gender role worms, as I genuinely find it hard to think of broadcast interviews conducted by men (which isn’t to suggest that these women are inherently less talented, just that their field seems to be more equitably split than much of gaming). Trouble, Froskurinn, and Emily Rand have popped up as notable analysts in the last few years, with Frosk being the only tier 1 dedicated female League caster I could find.
Sjokz, however, is unique. She’s been working with Riot since 2013, and has become inseparable from the most popular western esports broadcast. There are very few people whose pedigree on broadcast means their absence is actively noticeable- for example, CaptainFlowers and Quickshot were sorely missed during this Worlds- and Sjokz is one of these people.
