After much online criticism the IeSF, an organisation who would not allow women to compete in a Hearthstone tournament, have rescinded their policy on gender division. The new announcement, found here declares that all the games featured at their upcoming World Championship are now ‘Open for All’ meaning no gender divisions. However there are still separate competitions for women in the previous ‘girls allowed’ events (Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Starcraft 2), this is being done to provide ‘female gamers with ample opportunities to compete in e-Sports—currently a male-dominated industry’.
This makes a lot more sense than their previous policy, albeit there are still unnecessary gender divisions. Promoting women in eSports is an admirable cause and it seems obvious that was always the intention of the IeSF and it took the backlash from their original blunder for them to change their mind. Congratulations to them for listening to feedback and seeing the light.
Original story here: