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Women Comprise 40 Percent of U.S. Gamers

News | July 20, 2008 (1 month ago) | by Zyuu | via www.theesa.com | Filed in Other

According to a new research, women comprise 40 percent of U.S. Gamers. This new survey which was released recently by the video game industry's trade group, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) also tell us that the average age of gameplayers has risen to 35.

"This new data underscores the fundamental principle that computer and video games are a mainstream entertainment form, which captures the imagination of every segment of our society," said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, the U.S. association representing computer and video game publishers. "No longer is there a stereotypical gamer. With deeper market penetration and the broadening of our audience base, video games have incorporated themselves into America's cultural and social fabric."


Among the survey's main findings:

  • 65 percent of American households play computer and video games;
  • 38 percent of American homes have a video game console;
  • The average game player is 35 years old;
  • One out of four gamers are over age 50;
  • Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent); and,
  • 41 percent of Americans expect to purchase one or more games this year.

The new research also shows how involved parents are in the way their children buy, rent and play games:

  • 94 percent of parents are present when games are purchased or rented;
  • 88 percent of parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play; and,
  • 63 percent of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives.
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4 weeks, 1 day ago

Why is there so much resistance to the idea that there are a lot of women gamers? I keep seeing people saying women only play "dorky" games and that there are few women playing games like WoW. How do you know whether a given Warcraft player is female or not? And why do you care? Is your game suddenly not "cool" if women are playing it?

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1 month ago

The REAL question is, what type of game? I am female myself, and I do play WoW and other MMOs and I do enjoy games of other genres like FPS, RPG, RTS as well, and would never touch Sims or the such(>_>), but how many other girls see these supposedly male-dominated games my way? Low spawn rate is low. There are SOME, but definitely not so many as 40%.

The term 'gamer' is broad indeed.

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4 weeks, 1 day ago

I'm sure solitare is considered gaming.

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1 week, 4 days ago

:P hehe

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1 month ago

Note what I said before was what I thought how other people would react... And so far aside from those words I'm pretty much right.

I know quite a few woman who not only play WoW, but TONS of other "non-dorky" games as well. So its nice to see that there's some gender-equality going on with gaming. Remember that one dating site for gamers? if that wasn't a big enough clue already.

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1 month ago

I'd really love to see how this compares on a global scale. I mean, I'm from the UK and a female, and also play WoW. But then I grew up with Sega's and the like.

heh, I still remember the old Toshiba my mum first got back in the 80's, now that was a oldie but goodie XD.
I mean, it's not like playing WoW or TeamFortress is anything like weight lifting. I can't see why people are so surprised, I mean us women have made the evolutionary jump to be able to use computers just the same as guys :P

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1 month ago

It's true that those numbers are extremely exaggerated, if not for one thing... What is the exact definition of "gaming" and "gamers"?...

All the people flaming the article's numbers are thinking along the lines of WoW, or Fps. Do you remember the Sims and Sims Online? It was beginning to get a huge part of the market, most of which is female (I for one would never touch it). Don't know how it's doing now. Then there's Second life which probably has a large female population... no clue. And do you realize the enormous amount of people that probably play those dorky internet games at work? (Where they aren't supposed to, such as nurses *cough, cough) Like I said... it all comes down to your definition of "gaming"

But as far as Wow, Fps, strategy... etc. goes... 40%?? Make me laugh. Try more like 10% tops. 20% on an extreme day.

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1 month ago

I dont believe there was ever that much doubt the presence of female gamers, While 40% seems slightly high to me, consider that most people assume a female character is really a guy, and even if women werent playing games in the beginning it was really only a matter of time

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1 month ago

Here Here! About time the gaming industry stood up and took notice! I am a 53-year old women gamer and have been since a kid. My favorite is World of Warcraft, I enjoy my 70 druid and 70 Warlock a great deal! I am tired of conversations starting out with "Hey dude!"

Not a dude

Stariela

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1 month ago

I'm not surprised by this article, though I am slightly dubious as to the numbers. I'm not saying that the number of female gamers are not increasing, because they are, it just seems that 40% is a bit generous. Regardless I've noticed & more female gamers, and it makes me all warm & fuzzy inside. It's so nice to not be the only female in a group of males.

I've also been noticing more players over the previous average gaming age of 18-25 playing. I'm no longer surprised when I encounter a player whom are in their 30s or older (the oldest player I've come across, so far, has been about mid-60s). Though I think this more reflects that the child gamers of the 80s (and their parents), such as myself, are getting older. ^_^ My father is 50 and he enjoys RTS games & flight simulators, his wife enjoys FPS games such as Medal of Honor & UT.

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1 month ago

How come we all knew this and they had to conduct a study to find this out? Lmao!!!
All I have to say is, "Cuz this is Ladies night & the feelings right, Oh what a night."
lol =P

Alex

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1 month ago

I find it funny that in an industry that was mainly considered a male dominant society, has now become a multi-gender fun fest. I remember being one of maybe 3 girls in my High School that even knew what a Playstation was and was constantly hanging out with guys who played Everquest and other such games because we had it in common. We'd share tips and secrets and it was cool. Now I'm happy to see more and more women playing the game and even more happy to see housewives, military wives, and even some who are coorperate CEO's playing Games like WoW and PS3. Keep up the good job ladies ;)

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1 month ago

And it took 'them' a study to realize this? I've know for years that women are an up-and-coming part of gaming community, especially since I once met a lady of 63 who, in the course of our conversation, said that she was the main tank of her guild in WoW...

And hey, I'm a woman and I've been playing games ever since the age of 14 (I'm now 29). And those were NOT just games like Tetris and Mahjong, but games such as Carmageddon, Duke Nukem, Quake and Unreal Tournament, almost all C&C games but also a lot of console games on various consoles. So... people claiming this just isn't true need to wake up and smell the perfume: women gamers have been around for quite a while and we're not planning on going anywhere!

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1 month ago

I believe this as I am a woman over 50 who plays WoW. I also know of several guilds on WoW compromised of people 40 and up.

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1 month ago

I too am over 50 and female playing WoW and Played all the other warcrafts for many many years.

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1 month ago

I simply don't believe it. It's like someone coming out with a study that finds 40% of Americans eat their own shit for breakfast. Just because there was some apparent "study" with various information coming out of it doesn't make it true. I don't believe this for one second. Especially the part about 25% of gamers being over age 50, or 40% of gamers being women. Their definition of a "gamer" must have been something like having played Tetris or Mario in the last 20 years.

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1 month ago

That, or you're just being stupid in the face of evidence. Which you are.

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1 month ago

haha that was supprising =) cool research.

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1 month ago

Looks like the face of gaming is changing, which, I suppose, was always bound to happen as games grew in popularity.

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1 month ago

That's pretty neat, gaming diversity is always nice.

Now guys just have to learn how to treat a lady before getting blacklisted.

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