Streamer Freya Fox Gets Real On the Gaming Industry—Don’t ‘Pander’ For Inclusivity
Streamer Freya Fox One thing is clear. Despite what you might have heard from mainstream news outlets that female and queer inclusivity in gaming is way better in a culture historically driven by “bros”; it’s not. It’s just as toxic as it’s always been, going back to when joined the streaming community in 2014. “I would say it’s slightly better than when I was growing up playing Call of Duty,” she tells StyleCaster, “those lobbies were brutal, but I think if you if you really ask a wide variety of female streamers, especially the people that actually do this for a living, they will tell you that’s probably not the case.”
She doesn’t go into too much detail about this—frankly, we didn’t ask because it can unearth past trauma—but she has been in online multiplayer lobbies For the first-person shooter, this is a staging area that players can use until the game begins. Counterstrike: Global Offensive (CSGO) where the group will “hear me talk on the mic and they’re like, ‘Oh, my god, is that a girl? Kick her out’.”
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She doesn’t stream so much anymore, in fact, music producing and DJing have overtaken gaming on her list of creative priorities, though she still streams once a week because of her obligations with TikTok, though she’s found an ingenious way to combine the two. “I’m signed with TikTok as a gamer, so I have to stream gaming content and I use it to promote my music, so it’s cross-promotion, she says. “A lot of the music I make is gaming inspired. It’s great for gaming, and I want gamers to use my music.”
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Freya Fox, realname Janelle Kao now has a successful career in streamer work. EDM artist, recording singles and playing festivals wherever she can—she recently made an appearance at the inaugural LA3C alongside headliners like K-pop group Seventeen and Snoop Dog.
What do you love about performing?
Everything about it is my favorite thing. It’s hard to put into words but I would say there’s no other feeling. There’s no drug in this entire world that could ever replace performing live. I mean, at least for me—some people may think differently—but for me, there’s no other happiness in this world. That’s what’s really important; being happy and really loving what you do every day. I don’t know too many other mediums of art where you can get that kind of feedback. Live performance means you create it live. A lot of DJs don’t, but I’m playing my instruments live and I’m singing live. So, feeding off that energy, it’s unlike anything else.
Are you a stage persona?
Freya Fox is a persona that is very similar to Janelle. It’s like 80 percent me and then 20 percent is exaggerated. I wouldn’t say that I become too different on stage. But in general, if we’re just thinking about my online persona, and who Freya Fox is as a brand, it’s definitely an amplified version of myself. I’m a true ambivert. I wouldn’t say I’m the most extroverted person, but I’m not the most introverted, either. When I’m performing, though I really connect with my audience. This is who I am.
Which place do you find the best writing?
My best creative time is most likely in the middle or late of the night. It’s not live, as I practice everything. I want it to be perfect and I want it to sync with the visual and that’s the most important thing—that it makes sense visually. I am playing things live and it is somewhat improvised, but it’s not to the level of jazz, obviously. Writing is best done in the middle of the evening, when I am playing games. You can also browse TikTok to see new trends. It’s weird to say, but I honestly do try to write songs for TikTok and to write music that I think people can use in other mediums.
What would you suggest to the gaming industry in order to make it more welcoming?
Many gaming companies are inclusive in their creations, I believe. Riot Games is a great example. [developers behind League of Legends] Blizzard also did a great job. [developers of World of Warcraft]. But is this really helping the cause of the disease? I believe not. And think that, to a certain degree, it’s actually hurting us in a way, because of the backlash some people have to it; they feel like we’re shoving an agenda down their throat. You know that not every character must tick the diversity box.
It’s like pandering.
Yeah. Are you really just trying to pander to us? I want to make that really clear that it shouldn’t be just done out of nowhere. If you’re going to introduce a new character or a new concept, sure, add [diversity] to the story, but we don’t need every single new character to be that way.
This interview was edited for clarity.
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