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Image Credit: Ghost Town Games<\/p>\n
Ahead of International Women\u2019s Day, Twitch <\/strong>announced the Women\u2019s Guild Rivals tournament, which would feature the game Overcooked 2. This casual, cooperative cooking simulator seemed like an odd way to celebrate women, who often are met with \u201cget back in the kitchen\u201d taunts when they attempt to enter competitive gaming spaces. <\/p>\n As the controversy grew on social media, it became clear that Overcooked was the Women\u2019s Guild\u2019s choice, although Twitch was the final entity to approve the seemingly tone-deaf event. Men flooded the comments, claiming that women should be allowed to enjoy cozy cooking games. However, that was not the problem. <\/p>\n Esports.net <\/strong>reached out to former Women\u2019s Guild member \u201cNoodleStreamer<\/strong>\u201d after she was removed for passionately opposing the idea of an Overcooked tournament for International Women\u2019s Day on Twitch. <\/p>\n Image Credit: NoodleStreamer via X<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that the Women\u2019s Guild voted for Overcooked, it was not as black and white as women obsessively voting for a cooking game. According to Noodle, the options for the Twitch Rivals event included Clair Obscure, Hollow Knight, Ultimate Chicken Horse, and Overcooked 2. <\/p>\n \u201cIn my honest opinion Overcooked only won out of all these choices because it was the only viable option. Even the mentors and leaders admitted it won in a landslide<\/em>,\u201d Noodle noted. <\/p>\n So yes, the Women\u2019s Guild did<\/em> vote for Overcooked, but not because women prefer a cooking simulator over Marvel Rivals, Overwatch, VALORANT, ARC Raiders, and other popular competitive multiplayer titles. They voted for Overcooked because it was up against two single-player games and a throwaway title. And why was Overcooked an option to begin with? <\/p>\n The Women\u2019s Guild, which appears to be run by \u201cmentors\u201d who answer to a higher, unknown group within Twitch\u2019s organization, admitted they knew it was a controversial choice but reassured guild members that it would be handled appropriately even when multiple members reportedly raised concerns. <\/p>\n Said Noodle: \u201cThe \u2018mentors\u2019 kept arguing that the guildies deserve to be able to play the game they want to play. I argued that the choice was a setup. Overcooked was the only good game.\u201d<\/p>\n When the announcement went live, the concerns were unfortunately validated. The sexist rhetoric flooded the post, with men making it clear that they felt a cozy cooking sim was the most appropriate game for women (I mean, how can women with periods possibly play something more competitive, if you ask people like Gabri\u00ebl \u201cBwipo<\/strong>\u201d Rau). Meanwhile, women were reacting with horror at Twitch seemingly cementing this type of rhetoric against women. <\/p>\n Twitch eventually responded to the ongoing filth on social media, but it only made it worse. Said Noodle: \u201cAnyone could have told them that they would be dredging up the depths of Twitch to have a laugh at the women. Everyone knows that Twitch\u2019s community has been notorious for leaving its marginalized people to the wayside. It was predicted and it happened. Thousands of people liking the nastiest comments under the first Rivals tweet. They didn\u2019t even turn off the comments. <\/p>\n \u201cThe same happened under their explanation tweet but honestly it was worse because at that point they had placed the blame on the guildies for picking the game. The comments shifted to \u2018Of course the sandwich makers would choose the kitchen! That\u2019s what you get when you let a woman vote\u2019 and such.\u201d <\/p>\n Noodle herself started getting hateful messages after the Overcooked post went live. She showed the nasty comments to the Women\u2019s Guild mentors but felt her experience was downplayed. The tension in the Women\u2019s Guild grew, with Noodle being consistently told to \u201ccalm down\u201d and \u201ctake a breather.\u201d She was eventually put in \u201ctime out\u201d for continuing to voice her frustration with the situation. This led to Noodle being removed later on. <\/p>\n Wow. @TwitchSupport<\/a> @Twitch<\/a><\/p>\n Removed from the Women\u2019s Guild for my tone. I wonder if the woman who called me \u201cemotional\u201d got removed? People are allowed to be misogynistic in the actual GUILD but me responding with emotion to actual harassment gets me removed without warning? pic.twitter.com\/Ns2RAoZjwS<\/a><\/p>\nThe Problem Begins: Overcooked Becomes Only Viable Choice For Women\u2019s Guild Twitch Rivals<\/h2>\n