The silence from the periphery: The voice and identity of female Hearthstone players

This study explores how female players, positioned as peripheral members of gaming communities, negotiate and construct their identities while navigating both skill-based and geographical scales in the online game Hearthstone . The findings indicate that female players often remain silent and struggle to reconcile their identities as both women and gamers. This silence manifests in three distinct forms: internalized silence, enforced silence and selective silence. In the local dimension, female players internalize the discourse norms and acquiesce to the male identity ascribed by others. In the international dimension, female esports professionals are forced to be silent due to the lack of voicing channel; only a few renowned champions near the core can choose whether to use their voice or remain silent. The findings reveal the systemic barriers female gamers face and expose the complex interplay of internal and external factors behind their silence.