Guide

Women can play games too!

Gaming is a pastime enjoyed by many…whether it’s playing an action packed, first-person shooter like COD, a sandbox game such as Minecraft, social simulations like Animal Crossing, or perhaps even gambling on web-based casinos or online bingo. The gaming industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, that caters to a huge and very diverse audience, yet the stereotype that all gamers are young men still exists.

While advertising for gaming products and services most often features men, in reality women account for around 46% of all gamers worldwide. This does vary by country, with the figure being around 66% in the US in comparison to 43% of players being female in Belgium.

People of all genders and ages have always enjoyed the escapism and excitement that gaming provides, however the media most often focuses on gaming trends enjoyed by men in younger age groups and gaming retailers fail to represent those that fall outside of this category in their marketing strategies.

Stereotyping is not just an issue within the gaming industry, it exists in all areas of life. In employment, it is assumed that more care-based careers such as nursing, midwifery and childcare are suited to women and that jobs in construction or the armed forces are for men. Even sports have been assigned genders, netball is often assumed to be a female sport and football and rugby associated more with men.

However, in recent years there has been an increased effort to break down barriers and make more things gender neutral. In industries where women were given less opportunities, more female influencers have started sharing the limelight with their male counterparts. For example, the BBC’s #ChangetheGame campaign led to more female sports and athletes being featured on mainstream TV.

The BBC led a campaign to include more female sports and athletes on mainstream TV including Women’s Football.

The gaming industry is changing with advancements in technology helping re-create some of the traditional board games into a digital version. The help of technology has also enabled people to share their gaming experiences online and there are now a number of high-profile YouTubers and Twitch stars documenting their experience with online gaming. Self-proclaimed ‘Queen of FIFA’ Fangs is a gaming YouTuber with almost 1.5 million subscribers. Also, female YouTuber IHasCupcakes has amassed over 4.7 million subscribers and over 1.8 billion video views.

On the live streaming platform Twitch, 35% of streamers are women. Twitch influencer KittyPlays has a following of over 800,000 people and is one of the platforms top 100 streamers. She is famous for her streams of games like Fortnite and PUBG. There is also KatGunn, a streamer well known for streaming first person shooters and fighter games, both of which are usually associated with men. In 2016, she held the Guinness World Record for being the highest earning female gamer.

It is high-profile individuals such as these that are helping to quash the image of gaming being exclusively a boy’s club.

What games do women play?

Women play games across all genres and device types, but research has shown that there are some differences between which game types are most popular between men and women. On both console and PC, shooter games were favoured amongst men and action and adventure amongst women. On mobile, men’s favourites were strategy, sports and shooter games, whereas women favoured puzzles, strategy and arcade games.

This research also showed that women prefer playing games on handheld devices like mobile phones and tablets and are less likely to own video consoles such as PlayStation than what men do. Women are more likely to favour Match 3 type games such as Candy Crush or family and farming simulators Farm Story and Hay Day. All of which are games developed specifically for small devices.

Research has found that women prefer and feel more comfortable playing games via handheld devices rather than on computers or consoles.

Games on handheld devices are often more convenient as they load up much faster and are played for shorter sessions. They are also less costly as not only are game prices considerably lower than console games, they also do not require the purchase of new equipment. After all, almost everyone owns a mobile phone but not everyone has a PlayStation or computer.

Online bingo is one game genre that is especially favoured by women with many now playing a variety of bingo games online. One of the oldest and most popular types of gambling, bingo is played online by around 3.5 million players each year in the UK. It is estimated that 80% of these players are women.

Part of bingo’s appeal for many people is that it is more sociable and offers a less competitive and serious atmosphere than other types of online casino games. Unlike other forms of gambling, bingo is a game considered to be a more feminine pastime. Many game operators have designed their brand and websites to suit this, for example 888ladies uses a popular feminine colour, pink for their branding. Most online bingo sites also tend to include female actors in their advertising.

In contrast, first person shooter games are strongly marketed at men and feature aspects of hypermasculinity, such as aggression and extreme competition. In these video games men are portrayed as being strong, courageous and bloodthirsty. Whereas, women are either portrayed as being the damsel in distress, unimportant background characters or enemies. They are also often highly sexualised through their appearance and the roles they play.

It is this hypermasculine culture and the objectification of female characters that can make women feel marginalised and unrepresented in this genre of gaming.

One reason for this may be the lack of representation of women within game development. Only 23% of video game professionals identify themselves as being female. Without diverse representation in the workforce that creates games, it is perhaps unsurprising that the characters within them lack diversity.

This also highlights the importance of selecting a diverse range of people for game testing and research. By doing this, game developers can be made aware of the poor portrayal or representation of female characters before their product even hits the market.

Despite the stereotype of all gamers being male, and the lack of representation of female characters in some game genres, gaming is something that is an enjoyable pastime for people of all genders. As game choices become more diverse and female influencers grow their following, we can expect more women to explore the world of gaming and enjoy all that it has to offer.