Riot Games and Verizon expand training program for women in esports

By Giovanni Colantonio June 14, 2021

Verizon and Riot Games are teaming up to offer training and mentorship for women in esports through an expansion of Verizon’s VCT Game Changers initiative. The objective is to train more female esports casters.

The announcement comes from Verizon’s E3 keynote presentation, which featured several announcements. Chief among those is Verizon’s commitment to increasing female representation in the gaming industry and esports.

The VCT Game Changers program will give female esports casters tools to help grow their profession, as well as mentorship. The program will launch sometime this fall and offer opportunities to female players, including tournaments and broadcasts produced by Riot Games.

As part of its inclusion initiative, Verizon put $1 million into a new Game Forward Scholarship. It will be awarded to 25 female students studying technology this fall at five historically Black colleges and universities. The list of participating schools includes North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Morgan State University, Texas Southern University, and Howard University.

Recipients will be guaranteed an internship at a top gaming or tech company, as well as access to Verizon’s 5G Gaming Center. The $1 million investment will also fund the creation of tech centers at historically Black colleges.

As for the rest of Verizon’s E3 showcase, the company announced a new partnership with EA to better optimize its games on Verizon devices. The mobile company has also partnered with Team Liquid to create a new VR experience that lets people attend live events virtually. Finally, Verizon has teamed up with Dignitas to beta launch an NFT experience. The first 100 fans to interact with Dignitas on its social channels will receive an NFT of Dignitas’ Women’s FPS team that can be viewed in AR.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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