At the ChinaJoy event women are now among the players rather than simply acting as show models. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The female players in KA are no less professional than their male counterparts. The team trains at least nine hours every day from 1 pm to 10 pm, and though they are constantly encouraged to maintain a work-life balance, Zhou laments that most of the players spend their leisure time in front of their computers playing games.

"As an all-women team, we have more chances for commercial activities. But if we are only hired because of our appearances, people will label us as nothing more than 'pretty faces', which is the last thing we want. Being competitive in games is of the utmost importance," she said.

Founded in 2015, KA has already won two championships in different games in Shanghai. But the team has set for itself loftier goals－it wants to be the best female e-sports club in the world.

"Luckily, the career span for female players is a little longer, from 16 to 24. With that, we hope we have enough time to achieve our goal of becoming a charming and competent world-leading team," she said.