The archive · Games & Play · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Free Fire's Anitta Squad puts a woman stronger than any male character in the game
Free Fire makes Brazilian pop star Anitta a playable character with stronger abilities than male characters, aimed at inspiring a new era of female pro-players.
Free Fire
What it had to solve
SQUAD was a collaboration between Free Fire, the #1 mobile game in Brazil, and Anitta, the country's #1 singer and a vocal supporter of women's representation. It took on gender inequality in esports, where only 5% of professional players are women, and aimed to inspire a new era of female pro-players.
How it works
Esports has a gender problem: only 5% of professional players are women. SQUAD, a collaboration between Free Fire — the #1 mobile game in Brazil — and Anitta, the country's #1 singer, set out to inspire a new era of female pro-players.
The campaign's move was to change the game itself. Anitta, already a vocal supporter of women's representation, was introduced as a playable character with stronger abilities than male characters — a deliberate inversion of the usual power balance.
By putting a woman at the top of the game's ability system, SQUAD challenged traditional gender stereotypes where players meet them: in the game. The aim was for young girls to see competitive esports as a scene they could join and win in.
The work is held in the D&AD awards archive's Gaming & Virtual Worlds collection.
Why it lands
- It put the message inside the product: a female character who outranks the male ones challenges stereotypes at the moment of play, not in an ad.
- Anitta was a credible messenger — Brazil's #1 singer and already a vocal supporter of women's representation, so the character felt like advocacy, not just another skin.
- Stronger abilities turned 'women can compete' from a claim into game mechanics players could feel.
- Free Fire's scale made the point unavoidable: the #1 mobile game in Brazil put female strength at its center.
What it did
SQUAD put a vocal supporter of women's representation at the top of the game's power structure — an inversion of gaming's usual gender message aimed at convincing young girls they belong in competitive esports. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive.
What you can take
To change who an audience believes can win, change the rules inside the arena itself: a female avatar that outpowers the male ones teaches the lesson no campaign line can.
Since then
Anitta Squad became Free Fire's statement on gender in esports, held in the D&AD awards archive as an example of using game mechanics for social change. The page records the intended outcome rather than metrics: a new era of female pro-players, inspired by seeing a woman outplay the game's male characters.
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