Aimen Ahmed | Scott Bertrand | Kaji Sweeney
Professor Cynthia Gill
COMM 190
1 December 2014
How Gender Affects Video Game Preferences
One of the general assumptions of gamers is that females tend to be a minor aspect of the
culture; according to the Entertainment Software Association, approximately 48% of the gaming
population are identified as females (Gallagher, 2014). Various trends have been revealed
throughout time, especially the differentiation of males and females. The stereotype of males
overruling the videogaming industry has been defeated, defying the myths allowing females to
have earned equal gaming privileges. Gender does play a significant role in genre selection and it
is true that males and females, distinctly tend to select specific types of games based on their own
separate preferences.
The video game industry has expanded from a singular and simple concept. Now that
videogames are not just available on television screens or singular consoles, mobile devices have
helped broaden the horizon. Various applications are available to the extremely common cellphone user. The App-Market on the iPhone, or the Google Play on the Android, both notable
systems, promote minor games. In some cases, these minor games can blow up and become
extremely successful, or diminish completely going unnoticed and overlooked. In regards to the
gender questioning of videogames, a woman may seek out games in a mobile device rather than a
gaming console due to the convenience and reliability. Even men may have that preference, but
studies conclude that men prefer consoles over mobile devices (Borrison, 2014).
Marketing plays a pivotal role in gaming. It is one of the necessities in the gaming industry,
obtaining a vast amount of the audience. Advertising is what captures the essence of a video game,
drawing individuals interests and curiosity. It has also been observed that males are the target
audience for major video games “Many gaming magazines and television commercials feature
more males than females and have layouts and coloring that appeals to guys” (Sanford and Madill,
2007). Although females partake a significant amount of the gaming population, it is still
predominantly the males who make up the majority. The appeals vary pertaining to a certain
gender or category of choosing a specific and intentional manner to decide on the methods of
delivery. As the video game industry is a $10 billion worth in revenue business, the purchases are
made by the plurality of players: males. Marketing aims at males due to their majority of the
industry, it does sense gender exclusion, but not in an extreme sexist manner.
We have seen them all, the advertisements that repeatedly play in between television
shows. Commercials are the classic examples of marketing under a gaming industry. The
commercials that air on television tend to be completely aggressive and perceived as mildly
hardcore. Intensity and dramatisation are simple necessities for almost every video game trailer.
The trailer creates attraction to the wartimes through heavy sound effects, mesmorising visuals,
and even climatic scenes. For example, Activision’s Call of Duty series are delivered to the public
as extremely fun by virtually partaking in war. War games again, are targeted for the male audience
rather than the female. War is an obvious male phenomenon, proving boldness, strength and
bravery- which adds on to the mentality of a male gamer. What other way to prepare yourself and
re-enact this manly experience, than virtually succeeding at a game?
In addition, the audience for the most popular genres are of gaming are predominantly
male. Considering that the core audience is mainly male, that enables game designers to construct
the video game more precisely for men. When the design of the games are majorly centered on
men that can play a crucial factor in different genders selecting genre preferences. The suspicions
of women going unreported in statistics due to the fact that women are not considering themselves
as gamers may negatively affect data pertaining to gender game preferences.
Violence is more associated with men, than it is with woman (Jardina and Hoyle, 2012).
At a psychological perspective, men are evolutionarily more aggressive. It is in biological nature
for men to be stronger and therefore superior to women. According to Wichita State University’s
Study on gaming behaviors, there has been a consistent shift of videogames and consumers.
Approximately 84% of men play violent games compared to women, at a whopping 46% (Hoyle
and Jardina, 2012). According to Kamala Norris’ a professional researcher, there have been
miltiple studies focusing on the underrated female population in regards to aggressive video
games. There were a variety of factors such as women who play “x” amount of hours compared to
lesser or greater. “Norris (2004) found that ‘women who play computer games at home have higher
aggression scores than women who do not play computer games’ (p. 723), and also found that
‘[h]aving an aggressive personality was related to gaming behavior. Women who played games,
played them longer, or played games for more mature audiences were more aggressive. In
particular, differences were found in levels of anger, physical aggression, and verbal aggression,
but not in hostility’ (p. 725).” Gender inequality still exists through this situation as well. The
studies proved that women who play more computer games online, have experienced less sexual
experience, however they make less friendships. There have been multiple explanations regarding
the contradiction, but it is noted and commonly known that the online culture is completely
separate then real-life interactions (Zorilla, 2011).
Zynga represents how there are gender differences in gaming. While facebook was in its
gaming application trend in 2010, many various games were available. Farmville, a notable
farming stimulant game associated with facebook, helped boost the social network’s daily user
statistics (Rosenwald, 2010). The most notable game was Farmville, however other applications
soared with just as much popularity. For example, Sorority Life was one of the games primarily
intended for females whereas Texas Hol’ Em Poker was intended for males. Alongside these two
games, sixteen other applications were all equally popular as of June 1, 2010 which created a
collection of demographic data.
According to Steam, a popular community for video game reports, The Sims is mostly
played by females and the general consensus is that it is recognised as a feminine game
(Khudaberdiev, 2014). It makes sense, it is the stigma of “playing house” (Steam, n.d) and kind of
similar to dressing up. Some males withhold the opinion that it is not full of action, and does not
appeal to their biological aggressive nature. In contrast to the “dollhouse” videogame, FIFA ‘14,
has the exact opposing gender audience. Biologically speaking, men are anatomically bigger than
females creating a passion to illustrate strength through sports. One of the greatest sports of this
generation has been soccer, which could be played through a variety video games and consoles.
This is towards soccer fans and specifically targeted at males. Again the reassurance of women
can play this game too, it just happens that the fact remains as males prevailing.
To describe the specific preferences of the overall females of gamers, would be too
complex. The average is shown to be non-aggressive, under-sexualised, brain games, however the
full understanding is out in the complete utter oblivion. Every individual has their own preference.
Each gamer has a personal guideline to what they want to play. It is almost comparable to asking
“Do men and women have distinctive ice cream flavour preferences?” Assumptions are presumed
and data can point to suggestions, but all in all, the truth of every group can be misleading. It will
contain certain faults and be incorrect in depicting a whole group of people. Logical reasoning and
statistics may conduct an accurate answer of what the majority is, but one group itself cannot
represent a whole.
In addition to games that were created solely for the attention of a specific gender, many
of these games earn extensive amounts of revenue. Any games with the high association of
marketing, focuses more on the economics rather than the consumer services. According to PBS,
“‘Kim Kardashian: Hollywood’ and ‘Candy Crush Saga’ make headlines for the massive amounts
of revenue that they manage to rake in, but the kinds of games that women are playing were found
to vary widely, including endless runner games such as ‘Temple Run,’ brain teasers such as
‘QuizUp’ and traditional card games” (Pulliam-Moore, 2014). Same can be said that about “Clash
of Clans” and “Plants Vs. Zombies” both titles rack in thousands of dollars and are gender oriented.
Although most male gamers indulge in various genres.
Though the gaming community is said to be majority male and that up to 99% of boys play
video games. But 70% of those gamers are female playing as male characters. Wanting to be
treated equal and in hope bypassing the stereotypes and sexual harassment. Gaming being more
appealing to females can be credited to social media and casual games on cellphones. The amount
of females playing consoles and mobile apps has grow tenfold since 2011 to 13 million this year (
Washington Post, 2014).
Even in the gaming industry females find it hard to hard it to stay in the the field or even
encouraging their daughters to pursue a career in gaming because of the sexism that takes place.
On top of that 9 out of 10 game developers are male. Despite These things female game developers
have made changes to the gaming universe. In the new Tomb Raider, Lara Croft isn't the same
bombshell in short shorts she now is a fearsome survivor in better suited outerwear.
In all I personally do not think that gender has anything to do with gaming it is all about
preference, if you like to play the game or not. It is almost like sports there are certain sports
females like and some that they dislike and the same can be said for males. Even though gaming
is majority male, females are making their way into and becoming major contributors to the gaming
industry just like in sports, science, and politics, Gender should not play a role in todays society in
gaming or in any other aspect because of how far the female population has come earning the
rights and privileges that they cherish today.
Gender inequality in gaming comes from and begins when we are small children. The
origin of inequality has no derivation. It is debatable because many factors could have contributed
to persistent gender inequality. Socialisation, religion, and just physically and biologically, men
and women are different. Different people, people of colour, gender have always been looked at
differently. Most males can attest to being sexist or discriminating towards a female in playing any
game. That is until the female in question shows up the male in whatever game they were playing.
Females are just as good as males doing any activity but it always comes down to the person and
gender should not be a major factor in any activity that you are partaking in.
So there is a division between genders in video games still exist, despite the adequate ratio
of male to female gamers. Statistics can and will prove that the male to female ratio is about even,
but the way the gaming industry approaches certain things affect the delivery of games. “The
ESA’s statistics may be correct if you take every type of game and every available platform and
mix them together into an amorphous blob, but take one step into the detailed demographics of the
core audience and the idea of gender equality among gamers spectacularly collapses” (Rosenwald,
2010). In specifics of each video games, companies gravitate towards male audiences rather than
females, marketing and advertisements are for one specific gender: men.
There are many arguments that support the gender equality within video games. For
instance, the availability of various female and male characters that can be selected depending on
the player. The customizations and skills all remain the same and no specialties are given in most
games based on gender. There might be character differences such as the video game, Super Smash
Bros where different characters possess distinct strengths and weaknesses. (Pulliam-Moore, 2014).
Each character maintains a sufficient amount of qualities, with absolutely no discrimination, but
throughout the gaming industry itself, the games still remain slightly oppressed.
On the other hand, there is still gender inequality in video games. Many female gamers
have realized the gender stigmas. The female characters who are suppose to be portrayed as strong
protagonist often have oversized breast and rear ends. The women viewers have gotten frustrated
and developed animosity towards the construction of the game. They experience growing concerns
about game developers portraying female characters as fragile. These concerns are a result of the
vast amount of men responsible for video game development. A reason for this is the lack of
women in the core audience. The data is strictly based on video game market in the United States
but considering the size of the American Market ,the data is relevant to comprehending the core
audience as a whole.
According to Nielsen data, 69% of the population is male and only 31% is female. If only
31% represent women in the core data then that can become a misleading statistic while examining
genre preferences. According to NPD’s data on the ESA’s 2013 report breakdowns on the best
selling super genres indicates that core gamers vastly prefers physical game sales over digital sales.
In addition, the data sourced the three biggest HD console sales are shooters,action and sports
games. The audiences for these games were predominantly male. The shooter audience is 78%
male ,action game is 78 percent male and the game audience is 85 percent male. This data shows
that gender equality is negative among the core audience. For example, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,
a well-known video game with the overly sexualised female lead, revoles around archelogy.
However large gaming corporations would not risk to remove the character, as it attracts male
audiences. Almost everything in our culture is sexualised. Attraction is a vital key to winning video
games, including visuals. “If the companies don't target their main demographic, they fail”
(Pulliam-Moore, 2014). Even certain aspects of male leads may turn a female gamer away, such
as a dominating personality over a females. It is a matter of belief and morale to decide whether
or not the game maintains an ethical approach of equality, but many people stopped considering it
due to the obsession with sexuality and violence recently.
Another situation that is sparked as controversial is not the violence, nor the gender equality
but the inclusion of female violence depicting aggression in video games. Video games sexualise
certain games as well. For example the sexualisation of women are seen as offensive and a
repellent to feminists or even individuals who have strong opinion on the matter of gender equality.
How would people like them, be expected to play a game that looks down on women? Therefore
with such sexual objectification, the stereotypical portrayals can lead to negative criticism from
the female community of gamers.
In addition, it has been a concern that the Nielsen data may under report women. “The idea
goes that women are socialized to think of video games as an activity for men, and therefore even
if women play video games, including core games, they might not identify themselves as gamers.”
(Scimeca, 2013) . Nielsen believes that there is no reason for their statistics to underreport women.
Their demographics on the core audience would validate the concerns about the dominance of the
male perspective in core gaming. There is a shortage of the study of how women are separating
themselves from core gaming especially due to the lack of female characters or sexist depictions
of women.
With this being said, the core audience is a strong influence of the gender inequality in
video games. The majority of data pertaining to gender schemas and other relatable factors are
gathered from the core audience. With the core audience being based on only the United States it
makes it difficult to attain an accurate prediction of the equality of the core audience (Rosenwald,
2010). However, statistics have shown that men strongly dominate the majority of the core
audience by 69 percent. Statistics for genre preferences can become misleading considering there
is only 31 percent of women in the core audience.
With the growing concern the female gamers have with the majority of games depicting
women as sexual objects, it is certain that this may affect how individuals in different genders
select games. For male gamers this problem may not be as significant. Game developers design
games according to what they assume consumers and core audience will be intrigued by. With the
men dominating the core audience games are mainly directed towards their satisfaction. For this
reason men may not be as selective towards their genre preferences. Men experience no offensive
material towards themselves while playing video games compared to women.
In conclusion, video games prove to be gender-oriented in certain ways such as advertising
and delivery, causing the perception of bias. Females may tend to have a separate more convenient
preference, whereas males may choose consoles and violent video games. It is no doubt that a
fraction of the female population may obtain similar views as males, but studies suggest that there
are patterns to women’s preferences (Rosenwald, 2010). Marketing and its ways of advertising
does indicate gender differences in the video game industry, but it is not an intentional sexist
decision. It is the sole agenda of business to create what or who the best target is for purchasing
future games. Aggression also plays a role in video games, to both male and female audiences of
the gaming era. Gaming on mobile devices create a larger spectrum of an audience- allowing more
people to play games and decide what specific games to choose. Overall, it all comes down to an
individual’s preference.
Works Cited
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Nov. 2014.
Khudaberdiev, Baxadir. Interview by Andrew Shucks. “The Sims is Not For Men.” NPR. BBC.
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"More Women Play Video Games than Boys, and Other Surprising Facts Lost in the Mess of
Gamergate." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Pulliam-Moore, Charles. “Women significantly outnumber teenage boys in gamer demographics.”
PBS. WHYY, 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Rosenwald, Michael S. “FarmVille, other online social games mean big business, and bonding”
Washington Post. The Washington Post. 3 Aug. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Zorilla, Michele. “Video Games and Gender”. Radford University. Radford University.
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