'I'll keep going:' Chile granny finds solace, celebrity in online gaming

81-year-old Maria Elena Arevalo is a professional gamer from rural Chile, competing in Free Fire & inspiring others with her success.

Few players of the online video game Free Fire would know that one of their most ferocious opponents — a lithe, gun-wielding warrior in a short kimono and fang mask — is in reality an 81-year-old grandmother from rural Chile.

From her professional gaming chair at home in a small village, Maria Elena Arevalo becomes a merciless hunter, mowing down rivals in a game in which tens of millions of players shoot it out to survive on an imaginary remote island.

It was her grandson, Hector Carrasco, who introduced Arevalo to the digital world of gaming that has given her a new lease on life after falling into deep loneliness following the death of her husband in 2020. “I didn’t even know what a mouse was,” she said.

Today, Ms. Arevalo plays at the “Heroic” level — just one short of the topmost “Grandmaster” level that only 300 players compete in. She has four million followers on TikTok and 6,50,000 on YouTube.

Last year, she visited Mexico City on an all-expenses-paid trip as a Free Fire ambassador for the game’s anniversary celebrations.

Earlier this month, Ms. Arevalo was named as one of the Chile’s 100 most important elderly people by the El Mercurio newspaper and the Catholic University for helping break down age stereotypes.

Three years after starting her Free Fire journey, Arevalo says she no longer feels lonely.