Gender is the hot topic in the world of gaming. There’s plenty of discussion and debate. There’s plenty of discussion about changing demographics in gaming, and the tension that comes with the mainstreaming of. The old guard prefers designers and developers to remain concentrated on their work. Butthe newcomers are demanding more diverse avatars and narratives as well as games.
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The debate is hard to justify because it’s difficult to find any actual data from the gaming industry. It is possible to find unproductive statistics, such as the “50percent of gamers are women” statistic. Some believe that games should include 50 percent of gamers that are female.
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Quantic Foundry colleagues, and myself, have collected survey data on more than 300,000. While our primary focus is on the motivations behind gaming, we also managed to explore gender differences with the data. Although a quick glance at data might support a gender-normative story about the motivations for gaming, deeper analysis uncovers more fascinating (and often surprising) connections between gender and gaming.
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The motivations behind gaming are shared by men as well as women, and they correspond with stereotypes about gender. Women are driven more by fantasy and fulfillment more than competition or destruction. It’s only one part of the tale. Competition is one example of motivations different between male and female gamers. Studies show that gender has twice as much potential to cause statistical variance as age. The difference in the appeal of competition between older and younger males is higher than that of women and men.
The assumption that male gamers have different gaming motivations in comparison to female gamers is the reason for a lot of frustration among the old guard. This could “ruingaming” if it were to be given it. However, the evidence isn’t in support of that. If an elephant is present, it’s age. It’s like making an entire mountain from a molehill.
Similar patterns can be seen when we consider how many female gamers are involved in each genre. It is simple to identify the difference in the gender ratios of different genres of games by the frequently quoted statistic that “50%” of gamers were female. Our research shows that various genres of games have a vast spectrum of gender ratios. It is 70percent for March 3 and Family/Farm Simulator, and 2-4% for Sports and Tactical Shooters. This represents a 35% growth in female gamers.
It’s tempting to attribute these differences to gender differences when it comes to the reasons behind games (e.g. There are many aspects that influence whether women enjoy playing X or Y in games. Games with lower numbers of female gamers are more likely to feature female characters. These games often involve strangers online and may result in motion sickness which is a problem for women. A low participation rate of women in certain genres may be due to the way in which motivations and displays were mixed and advertised.
It is normal for female gamers to steer clear of violent games. They are fond of gory weapons such as swords and hammers, however. Guns are not something that female gamers hate. Guns are what theyare able to shoot at people. A reader on our blog claimed that guns are “the most boring of all the assaults at range.”
Motivational differences between males and females are commonly viewed as a result of gender bias. These might be ancient artifacts. This is more than just an academic undertaking. It could also be very lucrative. For example, about 7% of First Person Shooters are played by female gamers. Overwatch by Blizzard has more heroes than other games and also has more weapons to choose from. Female players account for around 16%.
There have been numerous instances when it has been proved that female gamers are not “real gamers”. In 2016 the case of an Overwatch expert was charged with cheating. Two male professional eSports players were so certain of the facts that they threatened to leave if it wasn’t true. The developer of video games Blizzard deleted their names andthe two eSports players resigned. This episode shows that it’s not only about having the game’s attention creators with newcomers. They fear being attacked by casual female gamers.
