VikkiKitty

Victoria Perez (born April 6, 1996),[1] also known as VikkiKitty, is a professional esports match commentator that has worked in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Overwatch, Arms, and Pokkén Tournament. She was the first woman to commentate a major Super Smash Bros. event.

VikkiKitty
Victoria Perez
Personal information
Born (1996-04-06) April 6, 1996
NationalityAmerican
Career information
StatusActive
GamesSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Overwatch
Arms
Pokkén Tournament
RoleMatch commentator
Career history
2019World Best Gaming
2019-2020Thunder Gaming
Career highlights and awards
As match commentator

Career

VikkiKitty played Super Smash Bros. throughout her childhood, but discovered competitive Smash by accident when, in mid-2015, she visited a LAN gaming center that was hosting a tournament.[2][3]4:00 She began traveling to local Fort Lauderdale, Florida tournaments, where she competed in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. In October of that year, the local tournament organizer recruited VikkiKitty to be a match commentator (caster) at his events. Weeks later, she was asked to commentate a larger, regional event, Frame Perfect.[2]

Vikkikitty was the first prominent woman caster in Super Smash Bros.[3]9:00[4][5][6] In January 2017, VikkiKitty casted Smash for Wii U at Genesis 4.[2] In June she was hired by Nintendo to commentate Arms and Pokkén Tournament tournaments at E3. Prior to that event, she had only commentated Super events. In preparation for E3, she prepared over 40 pages of notes.[2] She also traveled to GamesCon in Germany to commentate for the subsequently cancelled game Breakaway.[5] Later that year commentated Smash for Wii U at EVO 2017 for a broadcast on Disney XD.[2] At the end of the year, she traveled to in Taipei to cast the Overwatch Heroes Rumble, one of the last Overwatch tournaments held before the launch of the Overwatch League.[7] In 2018, Nintendo brought her back to E3, this time to cast the first ever Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament, which was held at that event.[6] She also returned to Evo 2018,[8] and to Genesis 5.

She casted several major Smash Ultimate tournaments in 2019, including Genesis 6, Smash Ultimate Summit,[4] and Evo 2019.[9] In April she joined esports organization World Best Gaming as a commentator and brand ambassador.[4] The organization folded in August.[10] That same month, she joined Thunder Gaming.[11] She departed Thunder in January of the following year.[12] In January 2020, VikkiKitty traveled to Japan to commentate Evo Japan 2020.[3] A month later, she was announced as a caster for Overwatch Contenders,[13] the second-tier tournament series for Overwatch.

Personal Life

VikkiKitty grew up in the greater Miami area in a Cuban American family.[2] She spent much of her childhood as an only child; her younger sister was born when VikkiKitty was 8.[3]3:30 Growing up, she participated in theater and was a member of a thespian honor society.[2] She grew up playing Smash Bros. titles and described herself as a "Nintendo kid". She spent several years playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Her handle, "VikkiKitty", came from a bet she made in that game; another player named "MisterFuzzyKitty" challenged her to an in-game duel, and because she lost, she joined his gaming clan. She has continued to use the handle for over a decade.[3]13:00

She graduated from Florida International University in 2019 with a degree in Mass Communications and Media Broadcast.[2]

References

  1. Perez, Victoria (6 April 2020). "Officially level 24 out here, this is where the nerfs start kicking in" (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  2. Seidel, Ben (17 August 2017). "FIU's Victoria 'Vikkikitty' Perez Is the Electric New Voice of eSports". Study Breaks. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. Plott, Nicolas (16 March 2020). "Tasteless Podcast #30 - Victoria "VikkiKitty" Perez" (Video). YouTube. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  4. Tate, Dylan (26 April 2019). "VikkiKitty joins World Best Gaming as commentator and brand ambassador". Daily Esports. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. Marchante, Michelle (30 November 2017). "'Event Match!': Student becomes first female commentator for Super Smash Bros". PantherNOW. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  6. D'Anastasio, Cecilia (31 January 2019). "Top Smash Bros. Commentator Is No Longer Accepting Feedback On Her Speaking Voice". Kotaku. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  7. D'Orazio, Nick (14 December 2017). "Why you should be watching the Overwatch Heroes Rumble this week". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  8. Valdez, Gabriel (1 August 2018). "The Schedule for Evo 2018 Has Been Revealed -". mxdwn Games. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  9. Gordon, Justin (29 July 2019). "EVO 2019 schedule and commentators revealed". EventHubs. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  10. World Best Gaming (4 August 2019). "The end" (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  11. Tate, Dylan (9 August 2019). "MVD and VikkiKitty join Thunder Gaming's new esports team". Daily Esports. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  12. Perez, Victoria (11 January 2020). "As 2020 marks a new year for my endeavors within esports, I have chosen not to renew my contract with @thundergaming so I can search for other opportunities" (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  13. "Introducing the Teams and Talent of 2020 Overwatch Contenders". Overwatch League. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
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