Older females are now the largest gamer demographic

[Mercy]

Im sure some people saying girls doesn't play wow are trolls or they mean it as a joke. They usually say "G.I.R.L. guy in real life" but mean it as a joke.

I would take it as a joke if it wasn't so damned over-done.

[Jakkre]

If there are so many girls that are playing games then it makes me curious why most games are designed for guys.
I mean, I highly doubt that call of duty and most other ego shooters are designed to attract girls and ego shooters seem to be the main focus of the gaming industry these days.

[Slywyn]

If there are so many girls that are playing games then it makes me curious why most games are designed for guys.
I mean, I highly doubt that call of duty and most other ego shooters are designed to attract girls and ego shooters seem to be the main focus of the gaming industry these days.

Because that's how it's always been done and gaming companies are afraid of change.

More girls play games nowadays than ever before. And game companies are starting to realize that. Just look at the uproar that happened over 'females are hard' that Ubisoft tried to get away with a year or two ago. Do I think that this data is completely inclusive? No, not really. It seems a little bit skewed toward making a point, but the fact is even without it, it's been becoming clearer and clearer the last few years that women aren't going to be kept out of gaming much longer.

There's pushback, there always will be when change happens(Just look at GG and the huge mess that created). But change -will- happen.

Where I work, at <companyIcan'ttalkabout>, there's even been several efforts to try to draw more girls into gaming. And you know what they've realized? We're here, we've always -been- here, there's just more of us now. And we don't want 'girly' games. I have just as much fun playing something like God of War as the next person. We just want games that give us representation. Characters that aren't just eyecandy. And companies are starting to listen. It's actually pretty nice.

So, why are most games still designed for guys? Tradition, fear of change, fear of loss of audience, and bigotry/sexism. The last one's not as big as it used to be, but it is -definitely- still a factor.

[Harai]

I have seem some research that someone made in the wow servers about its demographics, and some interesting facts came to light, I dont remember if was this one http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001369.php

In other words:
about 1 out of every 2 female characters is played by a man
about 1 out of every 100 male characters is played by a woman

But then this data is somewhat old already as its from 2005

[Mercy]

Because that's how it's always been done and gaming companies are afraid of change.

More girls play games nowadays than ever before. And game companies are starting to realize that. Just look at the uproar that happened over 'females are hard' that Ubisoft tried to get away with a year or two ago. Do I think that this data is completely inclusive? No, not really. It seems a little bit skewed toward making a point, but the fact is even without it, it's been becoming clearer and clearer the last few years that women aren't going to be kept out of gaming much longer.

There's pushback, there always will be when change happens(Just look at GG and the huge mess that created). But change -will- happen.

Where I work, at <companyIcan'ttalkabout>, there's even been several efforts to try to draw more girls into gaming. And you know what they've realized? We're here, we've always -been- here, there's just more of us now. And we don't want 'girly' games. I have just as much fun playing something like God of War as the next person. We just want games that give us representation. Characters that aren't just eyecandy. And companies are starting to listen. It's actually pretty nice.

So, why are most games still designed for guys? Tradition, fear of change, fear of loss of audience, and bigotry/sexism. The last one's not as big as it used to be, but it is -definitely- still a factor.

They don't even need to design the games in question for women. Just add some features that we may be interested in, like when it comes to character customization -- more hair and hair decoration options -- in MMOs as an example.
There are plenty of games that appeal to me though. Borderlands 2, I can use a pink colored assault rifle if I want.
I can fly a pink colored spaceship in Elite: Dangerous.
But it should be noted that not all games appeal to everyone, be the person in question a woman or not. Just because most women aren't competitive in nature like men are, doesn't mean we can't enjoy a competitive game. And just because most women aren't competitive nature doesn't mean more non-competitive games are necessary.
Non-competitive features added to games, along with cosmetics for characters and the game in general can be included to make a game, that would normally be viewed as male-oriented, much more appealing to the opposite sex.

Representation is definitely a nice thing, too.


Playing Unreal Tournament, I had always dressed myself in either pink, blue or silver color palettes. Do I blend in less? Sure thing, but that didn't mean I couldn't roflstomp the competition either, which I regularly did.

[Obnoxious]

If there are so many girls that are playing games then it makes me curious why most games are designed for guys.
I mean, I highly doubt that call of duty and most other ego shooters are designed to attract girls and ego shooters seem to be the main focus of the gaming industry these days.

While there are girls who play Call of Duty, games like that hardly are what most games are like.

In the end of the day, games aren't "designed for guys." They are designed for people to play, no matter the gender. Some games might have themes or presentations that attract guys more, but they still don't forbid girls from playing in any way. Women who are into games have been playing games since ever. What seems to happen is that more girls just aren't into gaming as often as guys.

The ones who generally will talk about "games for guys" and/or lack of "games for girls" are feminists in their eternal quest for something to complain about. Meanwhile women who want to play games are enjoying just fine the "games for gamers" that are made.

[Slywyn]

While there are girls who play Call of Duty, games like that hardly are what most games are like.

In the end of the day, games aren't "designed for guys." They are designed for people to play, no matter the gender. Some games might have themes or presentations that attract guys more, but they still don't forbid girls from playing in any way. Women who are into games have been playing games since ever. What seems to happen is that more girls just aren't into gaming as often as guys.

The ones who generally will talk about "games for guys" and/or lack of "games for girls" are feminists in their eternal quest for something to complain about. Meanwhile women who want to play games are enjoying just fine the "games for gamers" that are made.

This is pretty much entirely untrue. Gaming has traditionally been an extremely hostile place for women. Games -are- designed for guys. This is a truth that has been being slowly unraveled, faster recently.

Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't really know what they're talking about.

(Also, just as a by the by, 'feminists looking for something to complain about' is a pretty ineffective attack.)

[Obnoxious]

I've been playing games since the Atari (as far as consoles go). Girls played with us back then. Not many, because most didn't like games, but they never were "hostilized" into not playing. The same went on through all gaming I had contact with, be it consoles, computers, arcades, board games, tabletop RPG or anything. I never had any female friend of mine who's into games complain about hostility over her gender or anything like that. What some would say is that they felt intimidated about "invading" something they themselves saw as a "boys' thing," but not because the guys made them feel like that. Once they got over expecting to find a hostile place, they found out it was quite welcoming of females instead.

Maybe you think otherwise because you had a different experience, but guess what: there are good people and bad people in everything. There are guys who will "protect" what they see as theirs, but most guys will be glad to have females playing games with them too.

[kvreddy25]

the facet is that all girls r busy in playing with boys .. darling bring this / that ..bla bla ..

how can they get time to play game . anyway they r busy in playing in boys ...





Just kidding .....

[Mercy]

This is pretty much entirely untrue. Gaming has traditionally been an extremely hostile place for women. Games -are- designed for guys. This is a truth that has been being slowly unraveled, faster recently.

Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't really know what they're talking about.

(Also, just as a by the by, 'feminists looking for something to complain about' is a pretty ineffective attack.)

If "gaming" has ever been a hostile environment for women, then it would be due to the male players that are around them in most cases, not by the games themselves. At least from what I've seen. It's not too common where I actually see games that just 'scream' "THIS IS FOR MEN", like Duke Nukem perhaps, though I ended up playing it anyway. I have bigger issues with every guy figuring out that I don't have a penis telling me to go back to the kitchen, than walking into a strip club on Duke Nukem.

[Adeptis]

This is pretty much entirely untrue. Gaming has traditionally been an extremely hostile place for women. Games -are- designed for guys. This is a truth that has been being slowly unraveled, faster recently.

Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't really know what they're talking about.

(Also, just as a by the by, 'feminists looking for something to complain about' is a pretty ineffective attack.)

This in itself is a very narrow opinion.

The only reason a game is a hostile place for a female is the male population being misogynistic bastards and cannot accept the fact that there is a woman playing a game and that chances are they may be better (Talking from experience from years of playing Call of Duty). Games developers don't sit there and go "Oh what do men want?", I'm pretty sure they tend to be gender neutral and think of "what would people want?", or "What would be cool?".
Otherwise I wouldn't be running around as a pink spartan in Halo kicking ***.

[Gretzel]

(cos undead females suck)

You take that back, y-you...

[romz]

I'm going to take Perfect World Entertainment's Forsaken World for an example. Or Wanmei as it is known in China or whatever. It's a MMO where 90% of the male fashion is either catered towards women or for gays. I mean I don't mean to offend anyone here so don't get me wrong, and it isn't just the bright colors they chose for the fashion, it's more of how they look like these weird dress things or hair styles using these weird models with a lot of bright colors kind of gives me that opinion on it. Now a huge chunk of the Female Fashion is depicted as for women who like to have a lot of sex. Some of the fashion in this game isn't that bad but a lot of it kind of is. Now this might just be a cultural thing since they were first designed in China. But of course you wouldn't believe how many girls actually play that game. (I swear mostly just for fashion.) The game itself is pretty good though just lacks a bit of lore and has interesting PvP mechanics but it is very grind like and heavy on Pay2Win. You would not believe how many females I met on there. Most guilds I joined there had I swear about 75% of the members being female. So girls do play the game as how they want to play it and if it looks aesthetically good to them.

[claudio123]

I don't even understand why people discuss these kinds of things. Why does it matter what other people say about your hobbies, every person whether male or female can do whatever they want and if someone doesn't like it ignore them. You don't have anything to prove so just focus on what you like doing and ignore the haters.

Secondly every topic like this ends up with someone calling all men or boys misogynistic bastards which is not true and hurts. This is the reason these kinds of topic should be avoided because they bring out hatred. Even a certain staff member here thinks men are misogynistic bastards.

[mizara]

Secondly every topic like this ends up with someone calling all men or boys misogynistic bastards which is not true and hurts. This is the reason these kinds of topic should be avoided because they bring out hatred. Even a certain staff member here thinks men are misogynistic bastards.

I viewed that response as clear reasoning to the post in which was quoted. She didnt say alllll men are. She said the men in question, when/if it comes to hostile game environments for women, are. I find profound and utter truth in that, infact, what other reason can there be?

If Dr.Phil (or any other male) said it...we'd say ahhh yes, that makes much sense.

OT - maybe the poll is accurate - but i will keep living in the world i see, as i see it > out of 20 guys i know, and they all game to some extent> the average age adds up. i would say the poll is not tooo far off.
Out of 20 women i know well, 19 have nothing to do with games, 1 plays candycrush.
For 'my own' further analyses into a younger female generation, i have a teenage daughter w/many friends...out of 12 or so, off the top of my head, none of her gfs play video games. Nor does she. i bought her a Wii 2 christmas's ago (that she wanted oohh so bad) for her and her freinds to play when they came...annnd... it works well for netflix :/ :P

Ive been gaming since atari, so cleary my age has bias on what i see/as opposed to what a large scale poll will indicate.
So the poll doesnt quite add up 'for me'( and i dont think its a lack of 'girly' games) but that could be just a product of my own particular environment.

In anycase, i have shown this poll to my mate, see if it might sway her mind into letting me get away with a few more hours of WoW each day - because you see honey, all the other women are gaming :))