Women in Games
MMO Market to Drive Female Adoption of Gaming
IGDA founder Ernest Adams will
be giving a keynote speech at this year's Women in Games conference. Adams
believes that the industry will soon see a major influx of women thanks to
the success of MMORPGs. MMOs are already appealing to women because of the
social aspect inherent in these games, and the number of women playing can
only increase as publishers start focusing more on content that women, not
just men, find interesting.According to IGDA founder Ernest Adams MMORPGs might help lead a female invasion into an industry currently dominated by men at all levels. Adams is scheduled to give a keynote speech at the 2005 Women in Games conference in August to spell out what women have brought to the industry throughout its history, and why he feels like we're about to see a major change.
Massively
Multiplayer Female Roleplaying Games?
Demographic data has long shown that females gamers are playing much more
than The Sims, but Adams seems confident that the MMO genre is
going to be what will truly push female gamers into a position of
importance for publishers.
"We are soon going to be seeing massively-multi-player online games
that are dominated by female players," Adams said. "Existing
online role-playing games are succeeding with women in spite of their
subject matter, not because of it. When we get more games whose gameplay
genuinely appeals to female players, we can expect to see huge growth
there."
| [ | "Paradoxically, the Women in Games Conference can most likely consider itself a success when there is no longer a need to hold one." | ] |
Lisa Sikora, Group Product Manager, Windows
Consumer Division Microsoft Corp., presented a similar argument on GameDAILY
BIZ this past January in our My
Turn column. Her argument is that the social aspect of MMORPGs is what
is keeping women interested, and if a company develops a game that focuses
on content for both sexes and less on technology, they will most likely
experience a much wider base of users.
"...The Internet itself is a social tool and we women are social
beings," Sikora said. "I'd also add that because casual games
have a large female audience, some people then wrongly assume that's all
women are interested in—familiar games that are easy to jump into. They
forget that casual games are played primarily for a quick escape.
Traditional computer games aren't meant to scratch the same itch. They're
meant to take longer and be more engaging. And that means the content will
have to be engaging for women. I'd put it this way: content is
queen."
Other women in professional positions in the video game industry have long
insisted that it wasn't technology that convinced females to pick up the
controller, but instead specific elements of the game's content
itself—elements that nearly every MMO include. "These Massive
Multiplayer Online games incorporate key areas of interest to women—an
interesting storyline, the option to customize (OK,
"accessorize") your character, and the ability to socialize with
people from around the world," Sikora explained.
Only
Men Buy Games, Right?
Males drive the gaming industry, but just how wide is that divide?
According to NPD Entertainment Industry Analyst Anita Frazier it might not
be as big as you think. "In 2004, 81% of games were bought for males
as the end recipient while only 19% were purchased for females. However,
the actual purchases were made by males and females equally," she
explained to GameDAILY BIZ.
So, they might not be playing them (yet), but half of all the gaming
dollars spent in the U.S. are actually spent by women.
Another interesting piece of statistical data is that a large percentage
of 13-34 year-old players of kids entertainment titles are female.
"More than 60% of the individuals ages 13-34 playing Sponge Bob
Square Pants: The Movie were women, for instance—suggesting that
it's not only dads that are playing these games with their kids; it's
mothers, sisters, aunts and babysitters," noted Frazier.
While they might not be rushing out at midnight to pick up Halo 2
or to attend LAN parties in mass numbers, the data shows that, according
to Frazier, "there are more of them involved with the industry than
previously acknowledged."
Women
in Games Conference
Paradoxically, the Women in Games Conference can most likely consider
itself a success when there is no longer a need to hold one (after all,
there isn't an annual "Men in Games Conference"). For the time
being the need is there, however.
"The Women in Games Conference is all about how women and girls
interact with computer games, and seeks to explain their historical lack
of interaction with games as well as the recent growth in games playing by
females as a proportion of the total gaming population," Conference
Organizer Inga Paterson said.
The specific focus of this year's conference will be on the professional
development of women currently or women wishing to be involved in the
industry. It is being held August 8-10 at Abertay University in Dundee,
Scotland.