Lady Geek

“Forget ‘Pink Games’,” declared Sharon Knight, then of EA, in her keynote address at Women in Games, 2007.  “Women want the same fun experience – not the dumbed down version.”  As the Women in Games 2010 conference approaches, how successful has the gaming industry been in attracting the hitherto elusive “girl gamer”?

In 2007, it was already established that women were forming an increasing share of gamers.  Particularly attracted to games involving intuition, skill and an active community, the newest generation of consoles, such as the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360, offered the perfect opportunity for the industry to broaden the appeal of the games and attract the largely untapped – and spendy – female market.  Since then, the release of the iPhone and the hugely anticipated iPad have opened up a whole new dynamic platform and gaming experience, not to mention even greater direct access to the female market.

According to Sheri Graner Ray, a Senior Game Designer and Schell Games, not much has changed.  “The first is that the media has come out with the little fact that 45% of the game audience is female. The game industry took one look at that, and patted itself on the back saying, “Mission Accomplished!” They then went back to their offices smug in the knowledge that they didn’t have to worry about the female players of their games any more.”

However, Ray points out, the game audience figures are drawn from both casual games, of which women comprise a 70% market share, as well as more traditional platform games.  Even when presented with statistics on female market share of casual gamers, casual game developers fail to capitalise on this by ignoring the wants of their core base.  Says Ray, “I will ask them if they are aware their audience is 70% female. I am usually met with a blank stare and the comment that, “Well, yes, but this isn’t for them.” Likewise, I’ve talked with publishers who will say, “This will be just like (most popular casual title of the day), but we are going to make it deeper! With long, deep quests! And extensive Crafting! And arenas for combat! And leader boards!” to which I will ask, “And how do these things appeal to your female audience?” I am usually met with a stare and a rapid change of subject. So what we have is publishers and developers who have stumbled into a very successful new genre but still cling tenaciously to what the traditional market likes and continues to try to shoehorn it into the new model.”

As Rumbi Pfende, the UK country manager for Real Games, pointed out to Marketing Week

, companies are prone to stereotyping female consumers. “The misconceptions about gaming are vast,” she says. “Assumptions that women only play bingo if they are on benefits or women who enjoy gaming won’t do anything else, such as watch TV or use social networks, are just not true.”

While women continue to gravitate towards gaming, it is imperative that gaming companies recognise these weaknesses and broaden the appeal of their games. Otherwise, women will burnout and they will not come back for more.