Teenage Male Gamers No Longer Biggest Demographic

giles

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Feb 1, 2009
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What the f*ck is that "study"? That looks more like a powerpoint presentation. 24% of gamers use their console to listen to music?! Have you ever heard of someone doing that?

I don't trust any of these numbers. They present percentages, never defining their terms. Well, whatever.
I know my parents nowadays play as much each day as me, but they do so on their respective devices for old people (ipads) and it's just cartoony little games that I doubt they spent money on. How does that even compare to people like me who regularly purchase games for different platforms?
Now don't get me wrong I'd like for gaming to reach out to this potential audience, with proper budget titles aimed specifically at pleasing a demographic that until now only had shitty mobile cash grab games to work with. I just wouldn't get too optimistic based on this... survey.
 

prpshrt

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Jun 18, 2012
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Err... Why would there be any crying into their soup? First off, I'd figure guys would be happy there are more women that appreciate their hobby. Secondly, I think there have always been less teenage male gamers than women cause I'd figure the biggest demographic is actually adult males.
 

xaszatm

That Voice in Your Head
Sep 4, 2010
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giles said:
What the f*ck is that "study"? That looks more like a powerpoint presentation. 24% of gamers use their console to listen to music?! Have you ever heard of someone doing that?

I don't trust any of these numbers. They present percentages, never defining their terms. Well, whatever.
I know my parents nowadays play as much each day as me, but they do so on their respective devices for old people (ipads) and it's just cartoony little games that I doubt they spent money on. How does that even compare to people like me who regularly purchase games for different platforms?
Now don't get me wrong I'd like for gaming to reach out to this potential audience, with proper budget titles aimed specifically at pleasing a demographic that until now only had shitty mobile cash grab games to work with. I just wouldn't get too optimistic based on this... survey.
Edit: misreads first paragraph

Of course you don't. It said only 24% listen to music on consoles. And for the record, I do listen to music on my console. I can use my console as a second computer and, ironically enough, putting music there helps me stopped being distracted from my computer and phone.
 

Mikeybb

Nunc est Durandum
Aug 19, 2014
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prpshrt said:
Err... Why would there be any crying into their soup? First off, I'd figure guys would be happy there are more women that appreciate their hobby. Secondly, I think there have always been less teenage male gamers than women cause I'd figure the biggest demographic is actually adult males.
Your first point there is a good one.

It just occurred to me it's far easier to explain that 'one last turn' of Civ to someone who has felt the grasp angry birds can have on their minds.

The more gamers out there, the more likely they'll understand how important it is when I tell them that I just HAVE to invade Ghandi right now.
I just HAVE to.
 

visiblenoise

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Jul 2, 2014
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Why is this even a thing to be happy or unhappy about? It all seems incredibly childish.

"Yay, more girls than yucky boys!"
 

Candidus

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Thebazilly said:
But it clearly doesn't count, because they're filthy casuals playing mobile games, and are not true for-realsies hardcore gamers.

As a side note, what does "casual" even mean any more? I saw a thread a while back calling Assassin's Creed "casual." I guess people just want to feel even more elitist about liking Dark Souls?
It's not that they don't count, but claiming that "all gamers are just gamers" and making no distinctions between them based on genres and the systems they play on is fucking stupid.

Oh, the majority of the gaming public is now adult female? BETTER CHANGE THE CONTENT OF OUR RTS AND CORE SHOOTERS TO BETTER APPEAL TO THEM THEN, never mind the fact that the majority of them are playing social shit on their smartphones.

Of course it matters what they're playing and what they're playing it on. Social games are casual games. Someone who plays those games primarily can fairly be called a casual gamer.

All I'm saying is, don't get too excited when deliberately misleading bollocks like this gets printed. The majority of the core market is still white, young and male.
 

Keoul

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Apr 4, 2010
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But...
While men still account for the majority of the U.S. gaming population, the number of women playing games on both consoles and mobile devices is up to 48 percent, from 40 percent in 2010.
So it just kinda breaks even, kinda misleading title there.
Also it's
Women significantly outnumber teenage boys in gamer demographics
So they're saying women play more games when compared to a portion of male gamers which is kind of a weird way to compare things and a pretty damn obvious result when they're close to even.
So uh how about next time read into it a bit more and not jumping the gun and going on about schadenfreude and male tears?

Don't get me wrong this isn't a bad thing but there's no need to get so hostile about it. You're saying guys were jerks before so you're gunna be a jerk about it now?
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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Thebazilly said:
But it clearly doesn't count, because they're filthy casuals playing mobile games, and are not true for-realsies hardcore gamers.
I know you're joking, but the comment just made me sigh because I know that it's echoing around the interwebs right now.

xaszatm said:
People say that females are only large because of social games but it actually is fairly evenly split. Sure, there is more groups that favor males over females but it isn't as big as people might think.
I think what people will take from that is that FPS are 4/5 male players. And I'm pretty sure that's what "real" gaming is, anyway. At least, it's what most of the self-proclaimed "real" gamers play (given self-identified info).

I sort of expect that same graph to be used against women and gaming in the near future, I guess is what I'm saying.

Of course, I've always found that silly anyway. "Casual" games are the fastest expanding market and have a significantly better ROI. If companies really wanted to pander, those filthy casuals are the way to go in the first place. And then, the "hardcore" just sound like a minority demanding representation, so...Irony? Hypocrisy?
 

AJ_Lethal

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Jun 29, 2014
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xaszatm said:


I feel like I should paste this here so people get a better idea how the male/female demographic is split up.

Some Notes:

Football is soccer
Voitures is Racing
Cartes is Cards
Autres is Others

People say that females are only large because of social games but it actually is fairly evenly split. Sure, there is more groups that favor males over females but it isn't as big as people might think.
Thanks for posting the numbers that actually fucking matter.

Most women that play videogames play on their smartdevices or FB, because the genres they like are abundant in there. So we won't see changes until they start playing more genres most men play in platforms most men play on.
 

BoogieManFL

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Apr 14, 2008
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Casuals don't count the same as hardcore players.

Pointless statistic. That's like counting backyard wrestlers in the with pros, or bicycles as cars.
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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StormwaveUK said:
I see loads of females playing Candy Crush Saga on their phones when I'm out. Most of my Facebook crappy game invites are from females.
Well damn, if your personal anecdotes contradict the study (or the anecdotes of others), they must be right!

giles said:
What the f*ck is that "study"? That looks more like a powerpoint presentation. 24% of gamers use their console to listen to music?! Have you ever heard of someone doing that?
I've done it.

Not often, as I've got a hard drive on my PC dedicated just to music and video, and my music collection is larger than my Ps3 HDD (and 360 HDDs are a joke), but I've done it. Sure, that's just me, but if you're asking if I've heard of anyone, the answer is "yo."

visiblenoise said:
Why is this even a thing to be happy or unhappy about? It all seems incredibly childish.

"Yay, more girls than yucky boys!"
Considering the reaction has been "stay out of the treehouse...."

Yeah, I'll go with "yay."
 

MysticSlayer

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Apr 14, 2013
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snowfi6916 said:
Least now we don't need to hear about how girls aren't a major force in the game industry. The majority I would say has a pretty big voice.

The whole "we are the biggest demographic so there shouldn't be more female representation in games" etc. argument was getting old.
This isn't going to change discussion that much. The study says that this demographic shift is due largely to the mobile industry, which is pretty much its own sub-industry within the game-industry. It is hardly the focus that is being had on sites like this or when discussions about female representation in games is brought up. And I'm not saying this to dismiss the study or to say that casual games aren't games, but we do sort of need to have a basic understanding of how mobile games are often treated separate from other games in discussion.

And besides, it isn't like we need this demographic info to discredit the idea that games should be made for males because they dominate the audience. You simply cannot create a problem [http://www.destructoid.com/the-last-of-us-focus-test-had-to-be-made-to-include-women-251127.phtml] and then use that problem's existence as an excuse to not fix the problem. It would be like breaking a window, and when rain comes in, saying that the rain should be allowed to come in because the window is broken. The argument is barely worth addressing, let alone scouring for demographic info that disproves it. The argument fails regardless of who the majority is. And I'm not trying to say that the study isn't relevant or that a study that finds the same trend in more "mainstream" games wouldn't be relevant, but I don't think the numbers are entirely necessary to discredit such a ridiculous argument.
 

Leonardo Huizar

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Jul 1, 2012
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Specifics & facts, please!

Not just this: "majority of gamers are women ...whoplaythosereallycheap&exploitativemobilegame compared to teenage boys ...whobuyMaddenCallofShootyandperpetuallyscaredofcooties"

Thats like comparing Starbucks sales in the US VS KFC sales in Japan
 

Shadowstar38

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Jul 20, 2011
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Let me remove gender from this completely.

Do that many people that play mobile games or have a Wii likely to buy Call of Duty, or Dark Souls, or a Suda 51 game? Because if there's not that much crossover, this data says nothing to the rest of the industry.

I personally know plenty of people that will play the fuck out of Candy Crush but I can't for the life of me get them to be invested in anything with a cutscene.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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Shadowstar38 said:
Let me remove gender from this completely.

Do that many people that play mobile games or have a Wii likely to buy Call of Duty, or Dark Souls, or a Suda 51 game? Because if there's not that much crossover, this data says nothing to the rest of the industry.

I personally know plenty of people that will play the fuck out of Candy Crush but I can't for the life of me get them to be invested in anything with a cutscene.
yepp, while I more than welcome anyone to play games, it's really interesting when you account financial power (as in, who buys what and how much they spend total, annually or whatever time period you wish to use)

slightly off topic....


why for the love of god can I never find all these girls that love/like video games? Seriously it's like mentioning Voldemort around my parts, you say you enjoy playing video games and every girl empties the room like I just said I have cooties or something.
 

MrMixelPixel

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Jul 7, 2010
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I'm glad to see this and I hope it continues.

And can I just say that when my demographic isn't the one every publisher is trying to appeal to the industry will be way better for it?
 

T_ConX

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Mar 8, 2010
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Any time I see these stats, I want to gently remind people where they're coming from.

The ESA is a trade association which represents the video game industry. This means they act like RIAA and MPAA, all the way down to sending out DMCA notices and throwing piles of cash to support legislation like SOPA and PIPA. On a more positive note, they also fight against all those stupid 'ban violent video games' laws and lobby for tax breaks and subsidies for game studios. Doing this requires that they convince lawmakers that gamers make up both a sizable and deserve segment of the population that pay taxes and vote. This motivates them to create a definition of gamer that is, at least in my opinion, a bit on the over-inclusive side.

Let me just say this. I love my mother. She is a fantastic mother, and a terrific human being.

But she is not a gamer. She hardly even tech literate. This month alone, I have received no less than FOUR texts asking how to use 'Copy and Paste'.

She does, however, enjoy playing Solitaire and Jeopardy on her phone. In the eyes of the ESA, this, and this alone, doesn't just make her a gamer, but puts her on the same level as 'built his own gaming PC' me.

So while the ESA can paint a big 48% on the wall to show lawmakers, the actual companies that fund it are hesitant to make games with female leads because (with a few exceptions) those games tend to do fairly poorly and can be a financial liability. As long as men continue to spend four times a as much on games as women, the industry will continue to chase after those dollars.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to Lightning Returns.
 

cypher-raige

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Apr 15, 2014
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Zachary Amaranth said:
Of course, I've always found that silly anyway. "Casual" games are the fastest expanding market and have a significantly better ROI. If companies really wanted to pander, those filthy casuals are the way to go in the first place. And then, the "hardcore" just sound like a minority demanding representation, so...Irony? Hypocrisy?
Console gaming dwarfs mobile gaming. Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are two of the biggest properties across all media.
Bigger than any movie, bigger than the entire music industry.

Mobile gaming doesn't come anywhere close to console gaming in terms of revenue.
Success is short term. Just ask Zynga and Rovio.
 

CpT_x_Killsteal

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Jun 21, 2012
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Oh deary I'm gonna be that guy.

The chances of someone who spends most of their time on the Wii or a phone game actually visiting a gaming forum or looking up gaming news is pretty damn slim compared to every other demographic. From what I've seen, phone and family games aren't a gateway drug. There isn't gonna be a 'louder' voice for any demographic because those who only play on the phone and Wii aren't really gonna give a crap what happening in the rest of the industry.

While I always love variety in games and the way games are developed, I don't think this is the "change all, haha gotcha males" study some people are saying it is.