Very "few women enter the world of professional gaming, and those that do often face harassment and a huge gender pay gap," according to the BBC. Esports is "growing at an incredible pace." In '16, revenues from esports are "predicted by professional services firm Deloitte to rise by 25% to $500M." Its regular global audience will "likely top 150 million people." Unlike in traditional sport, "physical advantages in e-sports are non-existent" yet the most popular games are still "overwhelmingly" played by men. Recent research by the Pew Center shows men and women are "equally likely to say they play video games but men are twice as likely to consider themselves 'gamers.'" It is "when gaming becomes competitive that the number of women playing drops dramatically." Steph Harvey is "one of the most successful gamers in the world." She said that "the number of women in e-sports is as low as 5% and the main reason is the stereotype attached to gamers." Harvey said, "It's still a 'boy's club' so as a woman you're automatically judged for being different." Online abuse has been "prevalent in the gaming community for years." Harvey has even received online rape threats in the past. Harvey: "The way I get harassed is about what they would do to my body, about why I don't deserve to be there because I use my sexuality -- it's all extremely graphic." Julia Kiran is the leader of Team Secret, which in October became "the top female team in the world." She thinks this reflects a common attitude. Kiran: "It's always felt that female teams are not a real scene. Male players see us as a side game that doesn't count." One of the solutions has been the creation of female teams and female-only tournaments. But female tournaments are "not without controversy." Many players, including Kiran, believe they reinforce gender divides. Kiran: "It would be cool to see something that male and females are working together on." Prize money offered in female tournaments highlights a "big disparity in earnings" between male and female players. The Paris esport World convention had a cash prize of $75,000 in the mixed competition while the women-only competition had a cash prize of $15,000. The earning for the top male player in esports amounts to over $2.5M while the top female earnings are less than $200,000 (BBC, 11/21).