Not just another girl gamer – Meet Julia “BiSH” Robson

As South Africa’s gaming community has grown and more people have taken to Youtube and Twitch for entertainment, it was really only a matter of time before uniquely South African gaming personalities appeared.

The industry is still primarily dominated by male gamers and where members of the fairer sex are involved, it can be difficult to differentiate between a “Girl Gamer” and a “Gamer who also happens to be a girl”.

One person flying in the face of these conventions is Julia “BiSH” Robson, who recently had time to sit down and share her thoughts on the industry with us.

Would you mind briefly introducing yourself?

My name is Julia Robson, my in-game name is “BiSH” and I currently play CS:GO competitively.

I started out in the gaming scene as a competitive Call of Duty 4 player back in 2010, where I competed in DGL and nearly LAN competitions that hosted the game (mainly Organised Chaos).

I joined Team Immersion back then and remained in the clan until the latest Premier division team disbanded. I then joined Aperture Gaming and mostly worked with MSI as a representative.

Thereafter I built on my own brand with hopes of streaming and became more of a public figure for gaming.

How did you get into gaming?

Gaming started very young for me.

My brother mostly challenged me at home and after joining my first LAN party, I became hooked and hopped into the competitive online world.

How do you manage to find work/life balance with your gaming schedule?

I study Bachelors of Oral Health, which is a division of Dentistry.

Honestly, it is one of the hardest things to balance my varsity and gaming, it came to a point where I unfortunately need to give up on the pro gamer dream (for now) and maybe focus on a less demanding side of gaming which is attending events and building on the streaming dream.

I used to be a professional grade horse rider, but due to unfortunate events, my horse has passed and I turned to gaming through that time. It mostly contributed to my skill increase over the last year. I plan to relocate and gain experience abroad, firstly though, I need to pass.

What makes you different from other gaming personalities? By extension how do you hope to develop yourself as a businesswomen and a brand?

I recently had the opportunity to attend Dreamhack Winter 2015 and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of gaming.

After pursuing the pro-gamer dream for a solid few months, I got recognised after playing with some professional top tier international players despite a high ping and landed a very good sponsor.

The company offered me to create an international girl gaming team to compete with. Unfortunately, the offer wasn’t realistic for either parties.
The experience taught me that I could become whatever I put my mind to and I definitely have the opportunity to become a name in the international gaming scene if I pursue that dream.

Currently, I would like to start streaming regularly and learn more about other games as well as CSGO.

Again, unfortunately, I cannot afford the Internet connectivity as a student, but I hope to work something out with a South African based company soon.

How do you feel about the “girl gamer” label? Is there a way to separate being a popular gamer and a girl?

Essentially, I can’t take away being a girl that happens to be playing video games.

I think the most important thing is to know that when you are facing another team or playing with your team, being a girl doesn’t affect the game. The girl gamer label is just another stereotype that has been created.

Unfortunately, not all girls do us proud. It could be an advantage or disadvantage, but mostly it doesn’t really affect my personal gaming lifestyle.

Thanks Julia, where can people watch/find you?

Facebook: https://facebook.com/juliabishrobson/
Instagram: @jules_bish
Twitter: @jules_bish
Steelseries Show Your Colors: https://youtu.be/ec-Pb9xqvq4