When Eve started playing Call of Duty six years ago and spoke into her headset for the first time, she was almost immediately bombarded with intimidation. Little did she realize that she had made a fatal mistake by revealing herself as a she.

"At first I was really shocked. I was like, 'Are they joking?'" said Eve, who didn't want to give her last name because she prefers to keep her personal and gaming lives separate. "I thought they were joking. But then I saw them do it over and over again and I realized, 'Oh no, this is a real mentality. People think like this.'"

Many young women have been in Eve’s shoes. Through in-game chat or headsets, anonymous male players often harass or belittle women who are often in the minority. The underlying message is usually the same: girls don’t belong in gaming.

But Eve, now 24, didn’t give up. The harassment hasn’t stopped, but resilient, competitive female players like her are finding solutions to keep their passion alive. On September 5, Eve will compete under the name “Cute Noob” in a qualifier for a women-only Valorant tournament, which will take place on September 12. Registration for the qualifier is still open to interested gamers.