Kalei Renay wants to stay in FaZe Clan.
As the esports organization’s only active female member, Kalei streams first-person shooter games like Apex Legends and Call of Duty to her audience of nearly 600,000 Twitch followers. In an interview with Declutter‘s GGKalei shared her thoughts on livestreaming, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IIIand the future of FaZe Clan.
“I just hope I don’t get kicked,” Kalei said Declutter when asked about her thoughts on the recent GameSquare takeover of FaZe Clan.
The prominent esports brand that was valued $400 million last year prior to the $725 million SPAC merger that went public, the deal was valued at just $16 million following FaZe’s ill-fated turn as a publicly traded company. Co-founder Richard “Banks” Bengston will become CEO, while co-founder Thomas “Temperrr” Oliveira will serve as president of FaZe Clan in the new regime.
Microsoft now owns ‘Call of Duty’ maker Activision Blizzard – what happens next?
“No, but actually I think it’s great,” Kalei said of the deal. “Definitely Banks and Temperrr and people like that were big fans of mine at FaZe and a huge support system. They definitely understand the company and the creators.”
“I feel like this is mostly what the community wants,” she added. “It’s going to be great overall, not just for the organization’s members, [but] the owners and the community as a whole.”
FaZe Banks with Kalei and Temperr. Image: FaZe Kalei
However, being a female creator comes with unique challenges. Cases of widespread sexism And intimidation have been well documented in the wider gaming and esports industry, where women are much more likely to be seen as fake, unworthy or less capable than their male peers.
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, because you’re a girl, there’s going to be tons of eboys coming up to carry you in games,’ when that’s actually a big misconception,” Kalei said. Declutter. “I feel like as a woman in gaming, a lot of people don’t want to play with women.”
“People don’t take women seriously, especially in competitive games like Apex,” she added.
Despite this added pressure, Kalei finds games like Call of Duty’s multiplayer arcade mode to be some of the most relaxing games to stream, sharing that she often listens to music while playing the game. However, her secret to staying sharp in the game isn’t an aim trainer: it’s plenty of rest.
the only thing that confuses me about the cod beta is how are you going to release OG maps but not the OG spawns??? lamo. the game would actually feel good if the spawns made sense
— FaZe Kalei (@KaleiRenay) October 15, 2023
“I’m sleeping,” Kalei said. “Lots of sleep. And yes, that’s it, seriously.”
As regards Modern Warfare IIIthe FaZe streamer, which was reportedly where the recent beta played 15 hours straight– shared that Activision’s latest installment is a positive turn in what it calls “the CoD cycle,” in which players alternate between loving and hating the game.
“But I really think it was a lot of fun, sniping was a lot of fun,” Kalei said. “And I hope the developers listen to the community, because I feel like it could be a great year for everyone.”
Dr. Disrespect’s ‘Deadrop’ Shooter Unveils Cars and Racing Battles at Vegas Event
When it comes to crypto and NFTs, Kalei is exploring the space like the new CEO of FaZe, who recently made money on the social crypto platform Friend.tech?
“As a community, everyone hates NFTs,” Kalei said, referring to the broader gaming space. ‘I know when Dr. disrespect dropped his game reveal and he brought up the fact that NFTs would be in it, the pushback from the community was like, ‘Please no.’ And I’m sure of that. It’s your money, do whatever, but I don’t care about NFTs. I don’t do crypto, I don’t do that either. I stay so far away from it.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward