Pride and Positivity at the Apex Legends Global Series

The Apex Legends Global Series is a global competitive esports tournament series for the video game Apex Legends run by EA and Respawn. Now in its third year, the series features a USD $5,000,000 total prize pool, culminating in the ALGS Championship held in Birmingham, UK. 

Apex Legends is one of, if not the most LGBTQ-inclusive competitive games, with a long line of prominent LGBTQIA characters including Loba, Valkyrie, Fuse, Gibraltar, Seer Bloodhound, and the latest trans icon, Catalyst. 

The world of esports has often been a troubled one for LGBTQ pros, fans, and staff, but overall there is a positive trend occurring recently in working to bring more LGBTQ people to the fore with better support and opportunities from teams, games, and organizers. 

I went along to the ALGS Championship and spoke with Alex “Coldjyn” Nicholls, Coach at JLINGZ Esports, and Monica Dinsmore, Senior Director of Esports Brand and Marketing, to find out more. 

Robin: Alex, how did you get into esports?

Alex Nicholls: Really, I got in via the back door, so to speak. I’ve got some health issues, so over COVID I was just stuck inside during lockdowns, and I’m formally trained in media and social media so I ended up doing socials for an esports organization. I did that for two years, got to know all the pros, and I’m not the type of person who can just sit and watch, I was being weird and obsessive and learning everything I could. Then one day, someone’s like, “Hey, why aren’t you coaching a team?” and I said “I don’t know, sign me!”, and now here I am!

When did you come out as LGBTQ?

AN: I could probably find the tweet if I tried hard enough! Probably, a little bit over a year ago at this point. You know, my close friends knew, and then when I was coaching my first notable team, I realized that when I was younger watching esports I never saw someone like me, I couldn’t name a queer pro if I tried. When I realized people were following me because I was a pro, I thought ‘I’ll be that role model.’ 

I’ve since had a lot of people say to me it’s really nice having someone openly queer in this space. It’s been a lot to take in that I get to do that for the next generation and the lower tiers. They can look at the top level and go “hey, that person’s like me”. That’s really cool.

How have you found being LGBTQ in the esports world?

AN: Same as being queer anyone else in the world… great fun, but there are some people that make it less fun. There are some rough patches, more than they realistically should be, and more than there probably would be in other parts of the world, but there is definitely a lot of good. I won’t lie and say there’s no bad, I definitely have some bad stories, but there is a lot of good that comes from it. And for me, the good always outweighs the bad. 

You develop thick skin very quickly, and I think if you know you’re not the type of person that’s equipped for that, then that’s why you don’t risk coming out. I can deal with it. I don’t mind being obnoxious! I think someone’s got to do it, and it may as well be me. But you know, it’s rough. 

What’s really frustrating is if I perform well or if I perform poorly, no matter what I do, people will bring up my identity, as if it’s a thing to hold against me. My identity is inseparable from me, but not in the way people want it to be, you know? People bring it up as if it’s a thing to be held against me. I’m incredibly proud of who I am, and I’m incredibly proud to be queer in this space. I feel very privileged to be able to be as confident and as comfortable as I am.

You mentioned your team. How supported are you by the team?

AN: They’re very supportive. Every time there’s been an incident, they’ve always made sure I knew they were there if I needed support. They were never going to step on my toes because they understood that this is probably a thing that I can handle better than they can, but if I ever needed support, it was there, and that that means a lot. 

To have an org that isn’t going to just kind of hope it gets pushed to the side is great. They’re always there to address things head on, and I know they’ve got my back if I need it. They understand that this isn’t their area of expertise, and they will always defer to how I think handling things is best and I think that’s incredibly important. I think the last thing you’d want is for your organization to assume they know how to handle something like that because it’s a hard thing to navigate and it’s one that I think is very important to handle personally. But it’s also really nice knowing they’ve got my back.

Monica, what are Apex and EA doing to protect LGBTQ players and encourage more people to be their authentic selves?

Monica Dinsmore: We have a zero-tolerance policy on any sort of harassment or anything that makes someone feel uncomfortable in the community, we just don’t tolerate that. So that’s an easy step. 

But one of the things that we just introduced here at the ALGS Championships is the Positive Player Award, and that is our attempt at changing the narrative and moving folks away from the toxicity in-game, and starting to celebrate positivity. We’re using the biggest stage that we possibly have at our Championships which is streaming all around the world, to celebrate the positivity and create a safe place. A place where you feel included, a place where you feel treated fairly, and a place where you can feel like gaming is meaningful. 

The more we start to celebrate positivity and talk more about the people who are being positive versus the people who are making it feel like not a great experience, the better. Hopefully, that will catch on, and we’ll start seeing more and more positive change in the gaming community. So I think this is a really great first step. 

This year, Evan “Verhulst” Verhulst was crowned the first-ever Positive Player Award winner. What was the criteria for the Positive Player Award and how was it decided? 

MD: The Positive Player Award was voted on by the community, so it was very specific to ALGS competitors. We started the public campaign at the Split Two Playoffs, and then it got narrowed down. We had criteria within EA that were based on how players act in game, like what is their behavior in game? What is their sportspersonship like in competition and on broadcast? How do they treat their competitors? How do they treat their teammates? And one of the things that I love the most about the criteria is, how do they treat new competitors coming into the ecosystem? How welcoming are they? How do they make them feel? Do they create a welcoming environment for a new player? 

So this award was really special for us, and for Evan to actually get, because it was something that even their fellow nominees recognized; they looked up to him as a role model for positivity in-game. With someone who has such a big reach and has such a huge global legion of fans, that kind of platform allows them to talk about being positive and being a role model. To celebrate that on a very public platform is super special. 

Alex talked about the importance of role models earlier and how there’s not enough positive role models, so I think anything that can be done to get more of that perhaps will help with not needing to swing the ban hammer too hard on the zero tolerance side.

MD: That’s right, and using esports as that kind of a platform is important because they are the best of the best in the gaming community, and often people want to strive to be like them. If they are positive, and they are recognizing that they do have role model status, we can celebrate that and give them that platform to be like “I’m proud to be welcoming, positive, and creating a much more welcoming community.” That’s why I think esports is the perfect place to amplify that message.

Apex has a number of out and proud LGBTQ characters. How important is it to have positive representation in such a big game?

AN: There’s literally no downside to it. People I know got into this game because of the representation. They say “there’s a trans, queer, neurodivergent character, hey that one’s like me!” and they go into the game because of it. These people wouldn’t have maybe taken the chance on this game in this community if it wasn’t for that. I really see no downside to that, and it’s just a net positive for everyone involved. It makes the people who need a safe space feel safe, and that’s never a bad thing.

MD: It’s extremely important because it is a representation of our fan base basically. As Alex said, it helps fans and players find themselves in the game. EA has deliberately made those types of decisions in the game to celebrate the community that has made this game so popular.

Have you seen any kind of pushback or negativity about playing certain characters because of their identity?

AN: I think there are definitely a few players within the scene that have the “I don’t see the point of it” mindset, but I think they answer their own question and wouldn’t see the point of it. It’s one of those things that it’s because you don’t feel the benefit of that representation, it’s not for you. But, ultimately, I can only speak to my team particularly, but we’re here to win. If a particular Legend is going to help us win, then we’re going to play them. I can’t imagine myself ever considering working with someone who felt that negatively about the game.

Alex, what’s been your proudest moment as an LGBTQ person in esports?

AN: Obviously big wins always feel amazing, but actually when I’m out there making statements or comments about an issue in the game or a response to someone being negative, I’ll get a message without fail from someone saying, “Hey, thank you. Thank you for being someone in the scene that people like us can look up to”. I always make sure that no matter if we’ve spoken before or not, I will talk to anybody about anything if they need someone to talk to. I’ve had people be like, “Hey, we’ve never spoken before. I would consider myself a fan but I don’t have someone to speak to about this, will you speak to me about this?” and I always will. 

That’s the beauty of esports, you know. Language barriers and distance barriers aren’t even real factors. This is for everyone and that’s the really beautiful part about it, there are so few barriers to entry. But yeah, hearing someone say, “Hey, I appreciate that I was able to speak to you about this, and I feel a little better about myself and thank you for helping me understand this” that’s the real stuff. Yeah, wins are cool, but being able to help someone because, you know, I’ve been that person and it’s hard to navigate that stuff. So if I can ever help someone do that, that stuff’s irreplaceable. Nothing comes close to that feeling.

Monica, what’s coming up then Apex and ALGS in the future?

MD: Well, we’ve got our fifth year anniversary coming up next year and so we’re super excited about being able to celebrate five years of this awesome community and this amazing game. At the ALGS this entire programme is built on our community so we are constantly looking to give our players and our fans more opportunity to interact with their favorite teams and their favorite players. We want to bring the ALGS to more countries around the world. We’ve had an amazing run here in the UK this year and we’re looking forward to expanding and reaching more fans across the world. 

I’m also excited to continue to do more about positivity in esports. Representation, safety, fairness and inclusion in gaming is such a passion of mine because I built my career in gaming and esports, and I want to be proud of it. I want to look around and see a diverse and positive space, and I want to do what I can to promote that. I feel honored to talk to you and to be representing the Positive Player Award, and to publicly say this is really, really important to me and to EA as a publisher that really cares. 

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