Canadian caster Jen (LemonKiwi) Pichette helps out with the Overwatch League soundtrack

TORONTO — Jen (LemonKiwi) Pichette stands in front of a series of screens, arms in constant motion as she documents the carnage in front of her.

“Toronto runs over London like a truck,” she says in a louder voice.

Down at the other end of the Mattamy Athletic Center, the London Spitfire and the Toronto Defiant take to the stage, hunched over their keyboards as they attempt to wreak havoc on each other in front of a rapt audience in Overwatch League esports.

While each member of the five-person teams is hidden behind their monitor on stage, the players’ faces are shown larger than life on screens that adorn the front of the podium they are seated behind. And the game action is displayed on a large screen above them.

Players go by Gamertags with Heesu, Although, Hotba, Chorong and Twilight leading the Defiant against London’s Backbone, Sparkr, Hadi. Admiral and Landon.

Montreal-born Pichette and British analyst Harry (Legday) Pollitt provided the game’s soundtrack — one of three groups of casters, as esports commentators are known — and worked on the Toronto Defiant Summer Showdown, which opened Sunday with an expected total attendance of about 4,000 ended over the four days.

The other woman among the tournament’s six casters was American Rosemary (Nekkra) Kelley.

The Dallas Fuel defeated the San Francisco Shock to win the $225,000 event. Toronto finished third.

Pichette, 29, brings a cumulative resume with a bachelor’s degree in biological and biomedical sciences and a master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology, both from Laurentian University. Now living just outside of Las Vegas, she’s studying biology at the College of Southern Nevada when she’s not wearing her esports hat.

“Casting travels a lot and is very spontaneous,” she explained. “I don’t have a schedule in advance. So I thought teaching would be a good way to capitalize on my degree but also have a flexible schedule, sign up for semesters and maybe take a day off here and there to travel.”

The move from the Sudbury, Ontario school to the United States was prompted in part by the availability of more sporting opportunities south of the border.

Pichette signed with the high-profile Overwatch League a year ago, but also works on other games like Rocket League and Teamfight Tactics, often at the collegiate level.

“I’ve tried to diversify a bit because the industry can be uncertain,” she said.

Her first major casting assignment was for Call of Duty, which also has a pro league. She then set her sights on the Overwatch League and “dragged around” until she got the job.

“I think it took me about four years to make the Overwatch League, I just floated around in the ecosystem,” she said.

Pichette grew up playing games and initially dreamed of playing professionally. But the investment in time was daunting, and when a fledgling all-women’s Call of Duty League circuit began looking for female casters, she changed gears a decade ago.

“I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll try.’ Because why I liked games so much was that I really liked the strategy.”

She started out as an analytical caster and transitioned to Play by Play after joining Overwatch. While she’s still mixing in analysis and teasing her partner for such a comment, it gives her an opportunity to match the action with her enthusiastic reputation.

“My vocal cords have been tested a few times,” she said, laughing.

Due to the pandemic, the Toronto tournament was their first live event since BlizzCon 2019, the annual gaming convention hosted by Blizzard Entertainment to promote Overwatch and its other major franchises.

Pichette has been working from home surrounded by camera gear, lights and green screens. She made the most of it — “Pajamas on, shop upstairs, and (I) go get a snack if I want to.”

Back in a live setting, she says, she had to be careful not to get “too heated up” by the crowd. But casting is more than just pointing out that someone just got annihilated.

“I spend many hours researching the teams. I love being able to quote them on things,” she said.

Past results, strengths, weaknesses, and best heroes all feed into their commentary, with a stats team feeding their relevant numbers.

American Victoria (VikkiKitty) Perez was the Overwatch League’s first female caster, and Pichette was the second. Pichette started calling league games this year after working on Overwatch Contenders events and the 2019 Overwatch World Cup.

“I feel like the women were better at reaching out to the players and tapping into the emotional side of the players, how they feel after a loss or a win. And what is important to them … Not to say, because we (women) care more about these things. But I think we think other things are important,” said Pichette. “We have different perspectives.”

She is particularly sensitive to the challenges of players trying to make it in the sport.

“I’ve always been that misfit myself in my career, trying to prove myself and climbing the ladder in (my) career and life. I was trying to prove to people that I was worth something,” she said.

Pichette believes the Overwatch community is more open than some other games because it has a healthy roster of female heroes.

Language can be a barrier for many South Korean players in the Overwatch League. But trainers and interpreters ensure a constant flow of information.

The reason for choosing LemonKiwi as a gamertag is simple. She wanted StrawberryKiwi at the time, but “it turned out to be a very popular fruit combination and wasn’t available.”

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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 14, 2022

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press