Female Gamers Are On The Rise. Can The Gaming Industry Catch Up?

While male gamers have dominated the gaming market for decades, the number of female players is on the rise. According to Google and Niko, the number of female players increased by 41% in the United States last year. Female players also increased by 45% in Asia, with the continent accounting for about 48% of the global gaming revenue.

For the last three years, female gamers have been on the rise, with numerous studies conducted to see whether the female players have specific gameplay behaviors and motivations. However, some country-based reports show that the gaming motivations differ cross-culturally between the genders.

Besides the escapism that gaming offers, especially with games in Jackpotcity online casino for betting enthusiasts, female gamers like competitions to challenge themselves. However, French male gamers have revealed that they enjoy games to cope with stress and achieve success through competition.

 In Taiwan, females engage themselves in online gaming for social reasons, while males are to pass the time. Back in America, the female population engages themselves in online gaming for achievement and social reasons. According to the research, there is no specific genre that female gamers engage themselves in. They play all types of games, mostly the popular ones using different gaming consoles.

The recent studies highlight the increase in the female population in gaming. The biggest question is whether the gaming industry stakeholders can keep up with the increasing number of gamers.  Organizations like “Women in Games” are advocating for the reimagination of the male-dominated field to accommodate women. This cuts across from gender discrimination, culture workforce, product, and the player community perspectives.

According to a study carried out, of the fourteen global gaming companies, about 84% of the executive positions are held by males. Outside of the executive ranks, the number of women totals to 24% of the total population. There is a serious problem in the gaming industry due to the underrepresentation of women in the gaming industry. For the females already in the gaming industry, due to their gender, they may be underestimated.

According to a 2015 report released by the guardian, about 45% of women felt that their gender was the limiting factor in their career in gaming. In the same research, about 33% of the respondents noted that they were harassed or bullied due to their gender.

From the product perspective, the representation of the female is lacking, with only 5% of the video games showing female protagonists. According to various studies, there are gender stereotypes when it comes to video games. The female gamer is often objectified and hyper-sexualized, and in some cases, female characters are often portrayed as a love interest, innocent, or needing to be rescued by a male character.

The good news is that the feminist frequency had significantly increased in 2020. 18% of the games which were released last year have featured more female characters. Whether 2020 was an anomaly or the beginning of a new trend to showcase female protagonists, free of gender stereotyping remains to be seen.