ESA Study Finds Women Make Up Nearly Half of Gamer Population

[Charli]

"Ah, but they don't play REAL games like we do." - Thread comments

Classy, guys. Extremely classy.

Yeah I knew this was all this was going to consist of. All those girls loosing their shit over Kingdom Hearts on Tumblr don't count either.

Yep. Guess the discussion is over. Off I go.

Nope, no one missed the point, the responses literally summed it all up for us, and the furor of gender threads on the Escapist both manage to bore me and turn me away. It's not worth it, if you guys get to pick and choose what 'gaming' is. Then I get to pick and choose 'imaginary straw-men'. (Like that phrase hasn't been hit around the internet like the community baseball...)

 

[CriticalMiss]

Great maybe now we can get some more decent female protagonists and not push the ladies on to the back of the box, eh? And if you'll excuse me I'm going to fire up a hidden object game... I mean Dark Souls! Shit.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Do Facebook games and 99¢ iOS games count?

Because if they do I can believe these stats.

If not then I call bullshit. I doubt a lot of 30 year old women play Halo and Call of Duty.

 

[Charli]

Do Facebook games and 99¢ iOS games count?

Because if they do I can believe these stats.

If not then I call bullshit. I doubt a lot of 30 year old women play Halo and Call of Duty.

Of course they count. I don't play those silly little games either, but I can guarantee my mother wastes 70% of her whole day on little games like those. I proudly proclaim her 'legitimately a gamer'. Please do be dealing with it.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Do Facebook games and 99¢ iOS games count?

Because if they do I can believe these stats.

If not then I call bullshit. I doubt a lot of 30 year old women play Halo and Call of Duty.

Of course they count. I don't play those silly little games either, but I can guarantee my mother wastes 70% of her whole day on little games like those. I proudly proclaim her 'legitimately a gamer'. Please do be dealing with it.

Will do. But why are you being so defensive? I'm sorry if I offended you.

 

[Phasmal]

`But GURLZ no play teh CORE games`.


Ugh. No, of course not.

Well how about we be nice and welcoming? Encourage casual gamers to pick a little meatier challenge? Declare open borders for all the filthy casuals? Maybe stop pretending that core female gamers are unicorns?

No?
Guys?

 

[DjinnFor]

Sigh.

Really? This is turning into a "well, girls aren't hardcore gamers so they don't count" argument? Seriously? If it's not the women part, it's the credibility of gamerd based on what they play. Why s elitist? It just makes you sound like a jerk. Even if someone plays Bejewled or Peggle or Farmville, they're gamers, because they're spending money in the industry. Is their money less important than COD or Halo or RPG players?

I think it's because people are tired of seeing this ESA study brought up whenever there is a gender-based debate on escapist. Specifically, they're tired of seeing this study brought up constantly whenever someone claims that games targeted more to a female audience than a male audience can't afford to have a triple-A budget and why making and marketing triple-A games for a male audience is not a sexist conspiracy or a product of stupid decision-making on the part of developers and publishers.

So yes, I feel sorry for all of you who aren't active members of the escapist and interpret such comments as immature vilification by sexist pigs. The reality is they are an attempt to stave off a debate that has been popping up repeatedly on these forums lately by undermining the opposing arguments outright. The debate has been hashed out repeatedly and one side has emerged victorious, no need to repeat the process when the result of the last thirty such debates can just be summarized in a few comments.

And yes, over-generalized aggregate statistics designed to paint the industry in the best possible light are completely pointless and useless.

And yes, there is an argument to be made that casual pay-to-win money-sinks, e.g. those of the Farmville ilk, are not good for the long term success of the industry. Or that the popularity of simpler games like Solitaire or Bejewelled, valued by their target market specifically because they are a mindless time waster, is not going to lead to any meaningful improvements, innovation, or progress in the industry. So yes, the money they spend, if they even spend any at all in many cases, doesn't mean much and is worth discounting in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Genocidicles]

Of course they count. I don't play those silly little games either, but I can guarantee my mother wastes 70% of her whole day on little games like those. I proudly proclaim her 'legitimately a gamer'. Please do be dealing with it.

Yes but she, and probably the majority of female gamers do not play core games.

So when there's a lack of female protagonists in Triple A games, this 'almost half of gamers are female' fact shouldn't be relevant, as most do not play Triple A games.

 

[josemlopes]

Well, the response here is extremely embarrassing to read to say the least. Today I've learnt that we have an entrance exam for people to gain the oh-so exclusive title of 'Gamer' with strict guidelines and rules, such as having played at least one well-known AAA title and having broken at least one controller - hours or money spent are irrelevant. I've also learnt that as a female that has not played 'casual games', I'm a statistical anomaly, and therefore don't count at all when it comes to marketing decisions. Because that 45% also includes hard-core female gamers, not just casual ones, but that's irrelevant. I mean, it's not like constant sexualization and targeting towards teenage boys (in an offensive way, I believe) might alienate these people from going into these games, right?

By the by, if a male owns an Xbox but has only one copy of COD for it and only plays it once every few weeks, is he a gamer? I mean, he's playing COD, a real game for real gamers, so he must be! But a woman playing Bejeweled every day and putting money into the game does not count, because it isn't an actual game.

Women gamers are definitely out there. Me, for one, including many people in this thread alone. Then there's the whole fake-gamer-girl test, but that's a whole other issue.

Compare gamer to other mediums, a guy that only plays COD isnt exactly a gamer in the same way that a guy that likes The Avengers and only watches that movie over and over isnt a movie buff (or even a movie anything). My dad only plays FIFA, I can say that he plays games but I would really call him a gamer, he doesnt really seek much more then that thing that he liked and isnt all that intereste to play the other games out there, and thats fine.

I think that to be a gamer(in the sense of needing to establish a relation to something, like if you meet a new person and ask "are you into games?") you probably need to have at least some interest in the game stuff other then just stumbling upon a game by the recommendation of someone and not show anymore interest on what the medium as to show.

Its like I didnt watched anything movie related and then went to see a movie because my friend told me to see it, I wasnt following it (watching trailers, etc) and after watching it I wouldnt follow any other movies that would come out later. Basicly that one movie was all that I let the medium it self show me, I didnt looked for more because I am not interested for more. I can yet say that I watched that movie (that I could have even enjoyed), I cant say that I am a movie goer.

All in all this is an identification that only the person it self can apply (and it varies due to what diferent people believe a "gamer" is), the thing is that if you say you are a gamer then people expect that you have some interest on the subject.

 

[Signa]

Sigh.

Really? This is turning into a "well, girls aren't hardcore gamers so they don't count" argument? Seriously? If it's not the women part, it's the credibility of gamerd based on what they play. Why s elitist? It just makes you sound like a jerk. Even if someone plays Bejewled or Peggle or Farmville, they're gamers, because they're spending money in the industry. Is their money less important than COD or Halo or RPG players?

I'm sure big (and small) companies don't care if it's a 50-something housewife plopping down $10 for a new puzzle game every few months, or a 20-year old guy buying the latest AAA title - they're still spending the same amount of money, so they deserve the same kind of attention.

... This coming from a 30-year-old "hardcore" female gamer, who has been the "core" demographic since the NES was released. Because apparently that matters to some people who aren't part of the industry it matters to.

Also... really? There are people on the Escapist who don't pay enough attention to realise that there are a lot of female gamers out there? We exist, people. In droves. We're not special.

I don't think anyone is saying that girls aren't gamers, but that this "study" grossly misrepresents those that we'd consider our peers. Girl or not, you are our peer, your bejeweled playing mom is not.

 

[Pink Apocalypse]

I keep hearing that, but where the hell are they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but most communities are composed primarily of guys. Same thing with the industry itself. I keep getting told every user has just under 50% chance of being a chick but it doesn't really seem to apply when you look at the users, does it

I've read a statistic that about two thirds of women who play games online pose as men to avoid harassment. That should give you an idea of how messed up the video game community is at the moment.

It would be difficult for me to convey to you the kind of horrifying stuff that I've been exposed to when trying to play in public matches on Live. The screaming, profanity-laden 10-year-olds and 'you fag, you retard, you ni-' bro players are one thing. But the tidal wave of sexist-oriented stuff becomes targeted and relentless. Losing gets you 'back to the kitchen, delicious pussy'. Winning gets you 'I'm gonna cut your head off, ****.'

It's weird how some guys don't seem to be aware of how bad it is. I'm no delicate flower - I can deliver crude jokes and vent 'bad words' too. But it's so specific and unending that it just beats you down, until you start feeling dirty at the idea of even logging on. I tried playing without a mic, but that didn't help, because I would have had to change my handle as well as toss out my mic, not to mention the frustration of not being able to verbally coordinate tactics. Eventually I just gave up.

I don't play on Xbox Live anymore.

http://fatuglyorslutty.com/

 

[DibsOnPyro]

I keep hearing that, but where the hell are they?

I think part of the reason a lot of women gamers haven't broken into any communities, speaking from my own point of view, is that men still either 1.) don't believe we know how to hold the controller/mouse properly, let alone how to play a 'real' game, and 2.) treat us mainly like sex objects.

I hope you realize just how bad that is. Women can be sexist too, which is what that quoted part actually is. You are judging the whole because of the actions of a few.

Yeah, annoying isn't it?

 

[Charli]

Do Facebook games and 99¢ iOS games count?

Because if they do I can believe these stats.

If not then I call bullshit. I doubt a lot of 30 year old women play Halo and Call of Duty.

Of course they count. I don't play those silly little games either, but I can guarantee my mother wastes 70% of her whole day on little games like those. I proudly proclaim her 'legitimately a gamer'. Please do be dealing with it.

Will do. But why are you being so defensive? I'm sorry if I offended you.

Hmmm? I'm not being defensive, you're the one who cried bullshit! Over something that was quite obvious.
And as for my after statement, It's leveled at the thread in general, who is decounting said games. Like..

Of course they count. I don't play those silly little games either, but I can guarantee my mother wastes 70% of her whole day on little games like those. I proudly proclaim her 'legitimately a gamer'. Please do be dealing with it.

Yes but she, and probably the majority of female gamers do not play core games.

So when there's a lack of female protagonists in Triple A games, this 'almost half of gamers are female' fact shouldn't be relevant, as most do not play Triple A games.

I never mentioned 'lack of female protagonists in Triple A games'. Even though Triple A does not necessarily mean 'action shooter of the month'. It could mean the Legend of Zelda, whom... my mother tends to pick up quite frequently. As do quite a few older women in my street. But this isn't what the argument is about. And I never steered it down that route. Casual gaming is quite unisex in its approach to games because at least 80% of them have no characters or indistinguishable anthropomorphic characters. And the argument for placing more female protagonists in those types of games isn't that WELL GIRLS DONT PLAY THOSE GAMES ANYWAY SO WHY SHOULD WE BOTHER?!'. It's: 'maybe they'll be more attracted to those kinds of games if they see some characters and situations they can empathize and relate to.'

This is not the thread to discuss such opinions. It wasn't even congruent with my beliefs, My own half baked opus has a female protagonist and I'm quite proud of how I'm writing and developing certain aspects of it, so my own contribution will hopefully one day, add merit to what I believe. I don't need to have an internet argument about it. I'm no Anita bub, I'm doing, rather than blabbing. So I will say no more on the matter.

But it IS a relevant statistic. It means the future for female video gamers is going to be larger than ever before, and my generation was just the start of that. I see more little girls playing video games than I've ever known. Casual games are a worth while statistic because that is the entry level. The doorway to more engaging experiences. And don't you dare tell me otherwise or I will shove tetris and pong in your face and ask you to see what such simple experiences have wrought. Yes girls most definitely are behind boys at the time of writing, but the future... this is a noteworthy study of a growing trend. And it would be very unwise to discount the entire thing as 'pft well it's not about CORE games, so this whole thing is just bullshit'.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Doesn't surprise me. I recently use a free wow MoP trial thingy to kill some downtime, joined a new guild, and at least 40% of the people in it are women. Even accounting for the one's who're actually dudes that still leaves you with a pretty decent number.
Plus some of my most hardcore gamer friends are girls.

 

[anthony87]

By the by, if a male owns an Xbox but has only one copy of COD for it and only plays it once every few weeks, is he a gamer? I mean, he's playing COD, a real game for real gamers, so he must be! But a woman playing Bejeweled every day and putting money into the game does not count, because it isn't an actual game.

Both of those examples are of Gamers. But neither are 'Core Gamers' which is what the AAA market cares about.

The standing definition of a Core Gamer by the NPD is

anyone who has played an action/sports/shooter/racing game on an Xbox/PlayStation/PC/Mac for more than five hours a week.

According to Core Gaming 2013, the latest report from global information company, The NPD Group, within the US population ages 9 and older, almost half play video games on what would be considered a core gaming device, but only 14 percent, or 37.5 million people, would be considered a core gamer*.

C'mon man, don't go bringing your logic in here. If you do then there won't be enough room for the soapboxes for people to stand on.

 

[Ympulse]

93 percent say they "pay attention to the content of the games their children play."

This is all you need to see to know that this is a bullshit study.

 

[Olas]

I love people who try to claim that even people who play Farmville for 15 minutes a day are gamers. That's like saying because I cook my own food I'm a chef and I'm a photographer for taking cell phone shots. I'm also a maid because I clean my house.

While I like where you're going with this, I have to point out that all 3 of the things you mentioned are paid professions, whereas being a gamer is hobby. It doesn't quite seem like a fair comparison.

It's more like saying because I watch movies I must be a cinephile, I eat therefore I must be a foodee, I spend time in a hot tub so I'm a swimmer.