TwitchCon 2025 hosted the largest women’s eSports championship in history over the weekend, with 49 pairs (and one solo) fighting it out in competitive Fortnite for the chance to win their share of a $300,000 prize pool.
In the end, it was Nina and Vader who came out on top after winning two of six Victory Royales on the San Diego Convention Center mainstage on Saturday. Plus, Nina was named MVP while fellow competitor MiniMikae1a won the Sportsmanship Award, as voted by her peers.
“It felt crazy to lift the trophy. We showed up and kind of proved people wrong, in a sense. This really shows that anybody can participate in eSports,” Vader said after winning. “Don’t let people stop you. Don’t let comments deter you, believe in yourself.”
“Sportsmanship is really important, no matter what. I’m best friends with literally the whole XSET squad. Like, it’s just a competition, we know how it is. But afterwards, we’re still friends. It’s a really good feeling,” Nina noted. “I never realized I had so many people that were cheering for me, it was really a great moment. I think any anyone who wants to get into eSports — whether they’re younger or older — literally, just keep grinding and going through it.”
“I’m very passionate about having good sports in eSports. It’s a great opportunity to show that we are competitive, we are here to grind, but at the end of the day, we’re also friends. We’re able to appreciate each other for each other’s talent and each other’s company,” Mini shared. “I just love that it’s opening up a lot more opportunity for women in gaming. With a big platform like TwitchCon, I think it also inspires women at home who want to grind as well.”
Prior to their win, Nina and Vader similarly told TheWrap how important it is for The Milk Cup to exist in the overall online community.
“When you look at traditional eSports, even though there’s articles that show around 49 to 50 percent of gamers are female, that really isn’t shown in competitive as heavily,” Vader said. “So, people start to develop a bias, thinking that women can’t be as competitive, which isn’t true; the competitive level and high skill are there.”
“When I got a little older and started playing Fortnite, I kind of tried to find some groups where I could try to be more competitive, but a lot of the times it would be kind of toxic or people would have preconceived notions and opinions,” she continued. “So it’s been great here, just having that kind of space where I know there’s people like like-minded without that toxicity.”
“Even if I was a bad player, I think I still would love competing here no matter what,” Nina added. “It’s just such a great experience, just to do stuff like this and put it on a stage against other people.”
As for Milk Cup co-founder Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo, she explained why she’s proud to see the next generation of girls supporting each other after she rose through the ranks without a mentor to offer guidance.
“What’s really nice is the tournament itself provides mentorship. I never had that growing up as a player, there were no other women that I could talk to to ask for help,” the gaming Hall of Famer said before the championship. “We provide this safe space where you can connect with these other players. But we have so many new fans of The Milk Cup, too, who didn’t know that women have their own circuit, that they belong … the girls are just making memories for themselves and all the other women that are home watching and wanting to be in this position.”
