Streaming Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto Online sessions on Twitch, as well as competitive esports, have propelled the video game industry beyond its niche status. According to statistics, gaming/esports content accounts for 54 percent of all live streaming material. Erin Ashley Simon is one person who understands this now more than ever. When she wasn’t playing competitive soccer as a kid, the New Jersey native spent her free time gaming.
“Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog was the first video game I’ve ever touched,” Simon explained. “I would be training and then a lot of the traveling I did when I was young was for soccer tournaments. And so during those off times, I would play video games and I would play them with my older brother.”
Simon began to connect with communities around the world during the rise of Xbox Live while getting her own sports blog, Box of Mess, by the time she was a high school athlete with college prospects.
An injury ended her hopes to play professional soccer after a year of collegiate soccer at Rutgers University before transferring to the University of Kentucky. Simon went on to work for Revolt TV for a brief time before settling into the filed of esports broadcasting. This included working as a co-host on Cheddar Esports and covering NBA 2k for Twith and Red Bull. Simon claims that one thing she learned from sports was that there was always space for improvement.
“I didn’t go to school for broadcasting,” Simon explained. “It’s something that I had to train in as I also trained with professionals and I also learned on my own. My career trajectory is solid and it’s moving because of the discipline and that competitiveness that I have from sports. I am competitive in a sense like, “Oh, you all think I ain’t good enough? Okay. Let me prove you wrong.”
Simon went even farther, forming an esports company called XSET with the help of respected video game and entertainment industry executives such as DJ Clinton Sparks, Marco Mereu, Wil Eddins, and Greg Selkoe. The company has signed a diverse group of professional esports players and streamers in popular games ranging from Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone to Madden NFL and Rocket League, calling themselves “the world’s most diverse, innovative, socially conscious pop-gaming and esports ‘SET’ ever assembled.”
“We felt this was a step towards trying to solve a problem and address an issue that we see,” Simon explained. “And where it currently stands it’s like we’re over one year old, we’ve had some really good talent, content creators, pro players. The great thing is we’re showing that you could be about inclusionary initiatives and also compete.”
This also entails becoming more culturally inclusive. Simon talked about how video games and hip hop emerged as subcultures and how they intersected.
“Hip hop was and still is influential amongst all different kinds of communities,” Simon remarked. “So not only were you elevating the stories of those in the Black community, but you also were elevating that there are different points of interest.”
It is nothing short of groundbreaking to have a Black woman as co-founder and face of an esports organization immersed in Black culture and video game culture. Simon spoke to a time when music streaming and playlists became a popular way to discover new artists. Since its inception, XSET has collaborated with hip hop-focused music festivals such as Rolling Loud and performers such as Ozuna.
“Some of the most impactful video games brought music into the house of those who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten it,” Simon remarked. “Look at ‘Madden,’ ‘FIFA,’ and ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.’ Even ‘Grand Theft Auto 3,’ that was the first time I came across Royce da 5’9 and other artists. Very much like gaming, I grew up with these subcultures and now they are pop cultures, and essentially they’re like lifestyles.”
Simon also noted that XSET is about ownership, in addition to recognizing diverse men and women of color in the streaming and esports portions of the video game business. People of color, notably Black and Latino, make up more than half of XSET’s ownership group. Keep in mind that Black professionals make up only 2% of the video gaming industry’s workforce.
“We also made sure that there was an importance on that aspect because ownership is one of the most important things to help underserved communities,” Simon continued. “It is not simply about handing out checks, in my opinion. While the money helps to alleviate some issues, it does not fix all of them. I’m always strong on generational wealth, especially for myself.”
This is because “financial support, amplification, and resources and knowledge” are three of XSET’s most crucial pillars as an esports company. Giving opportunities and resources to neglected groups, according to Simon, does not entail taking away from others, but rather helps to create greater opportunities for everyone.
“When it’s done correctly, it diversifies competition, revenue streams because esports is not as profitable as people think,” Simon noted. “It also allows for us to find more of the best of the best. Whenever I try to discuss diversity and inclusion, I always try to say it’s not about hate. It’s not about taking something away. It’s about supporting those who are underserved, who can add more value and add more opportunities because we’re helping with opportunities. And then it just creates more opportunities for various different people.”
Simon will be seen on more broadcast networks as she continues to invest in new enterprises and platforms, which she will disclose soon. She also continues her objective of more inclusion in esports with her University of Kentucky Esports Internship Fund, which helps to generate more chances and debates about ownership and diversity efforts within the video game and esports sectors.
As PWIs and HBCUs ranging from UC Berkeley to Southern University increase their investments in various esports programs, Simon noted her efforts in ensuring that minority students seeking to break into the industry have the opportunity to do so. This includes assisting in the fundraising of $11,000 for a new HBCU League spearheaded by Twitch, Atlanta-based Cxmmunity Gaming Co, and the United Negro College Fund. The funds will be used to provide equipment grants and scholarship prizes to HBCUs who join the existing HBCU esports league. Simon aspires to set an example for Black women wanting to break into the video game industry through her commentary work and executive position at XSET.
“When I was younger, I wished there were individuals in this area who looked like me or who could help me navigate,” Simon explained. “I wanted to use my platform to inspire other young Black women because I wanted to be someone who helped break down barriers to create more opportunities for those who came after me, to help through education and information, and to show that we are just as much a part of the gaming community as anyone else,” she says.
Simon still finds time to play games when she isn’t working around the clock to assist develop new diversity and inclusion standards for men and women gamers of color. Playing blockbuster games like Halo Infinite, the recently released PC port of God of War (2018), and indie titles like Binding of Isaac fall into this category. It’s a way for her to stay motivated as she generates more history-making moments for Black women in gaming.
“I understand that in order to improve at your job, you must occasionally take pauses and relax.”
