Background
Marie-Laure Norindr was born June 17, 1991 in Paris and grows up in Argenteuil, a north-western suburb.
Marie-Laure Norindr was born June 17, 1991 in Paris and grows up in Argenteuil, a north-western suburb.
She specializes in fighting games, in particular in the titles in the Dead or Alive, Soulcalibur and Street Fighter series, and has been playing competitively since 2001. She is currently sponsored by Red Bulletin. She is of Laotian and Vietnamese descent and her nickname Kayane comes from conjunction of the names of Dead or Alive characters Kasumi and Ayane.
Kayane has been a gamer since her early childhood, interested in a variety of genres.
Since then, she has competed in scores of gaming competitions in France and around the world (over 80 in total by 2012), winning many of them. Her Major League Gaming record includes second place in Soulcalibur V in 2012.
In 2014, Kayane became the first electronic athlete from France to be sponsored by Red Bulletin. Kayane has co-organized various gaming events (including charity events and "Kayane Session" events), became a brand ambassador for the French Soulcalibur V launch event and advertisement campaign, and worked as an e-sports writer and journalist.
Since October 2013, she has been co-hosting the television show Game One e-Sports on French television channel Game One.
As of 2012, Norindr has been studying business. She said she sees herself playing professionally for ten more years "before starting a family.".
She has been a member of the Mad Catz pro gaming team and was sponsored by eLive.pro. A character named "Kayane" appeared in 2012"s Soulcalibur V. In 2012, Forbes called Kayane "the most consistently successful female fighting game competitor of the 21st century," and French magazine Le Point called her the "queen of fighters". In 2013, Complex included her beating members of the audience without looking at the screen among the "most incredible performances in video games".