The gaming community is a complicated mishmash of people all with their own view of what it should be. When research is done though and we move away from the dramatics around us, interesting things are revealed. An example of the share of gamers who are in fact female.
It’s been reported that 52% of gamers are women, but does this make sense? Surely we should stick to the stereotype of what a gamer is? That is normally a teenage male who should get out more. These are outdated views, and can actually be offensive to the people who play games.
Adult women are now the largest demographic in gaming
So what has caused the rise in female gamers? It shouldn’t be too hard to understand that women enjoy playing games too. They may choose games that fit their interests more than male players, they may not, but they enjoy to play too.
It is interesting to read that female players typically like more mobile focused games that let them use their intellect more, but if you think that women don’t like shooting at things, go and take a look at Twitch. There are plenty of players on there at any given time that are female and are taking part in Call of Duty games or CS:GO.
Just like many of the “male” community, they have different tastes in games. It may be quite shocking to realise this but the simple fact is we are all human beings with the similar tastes. Some may just have different tastes than others.
Female gamers: ‘The concept of gamers as a community was new to me – to all of us’
With this changing view of the people who play games, the industry itself is also changing. We are seeing more fleshed out female characters that are designed to represent more women. It is also the case that the sometimes sexist nature of some games are being adapted to be more understanding of the modern gamer.
This changing world is accepted by some, but also can be unpopular. To see the heated debates around gaming you just have to go on social media and you’ll see them. What is sad to see in these arguments is that many evils come out of it, as well as some good. Hopefully these problems can be solved in a way to keep everybody happy, and not used to damage the world of gaming online.
Having a half-and-half split in the sexes when it comes to game players is a good sign for the future, though it may be a controversial one. While there are so many “issues” around gaming right now, hopefully they can be remedied for everybody.