Gaming isn’t just a man’s world - or is it?
Gaming has been hugely popular for a number of years, with young boys (and girls) around the world asking for the latest console as a Christmas or birthday present and whiling away the hours stuck in front of the TV. Nowadays, while consoles are still big business, the hype has moved on - it tends to be mobile and online gaming that’s attracting the biggest audiences in 2017. Stereotypically, gaming has always been seen as the man’s domain, with ‘macho’ war games and F1 driving ruling the roost.
But that seems to be changing, with gaming becoming more universal and inclusive and games appealing to both male and female audiences gaining popularity. Unsurprisingly, there’s change in other areas of the gaming category too – market research firm Newzoo predicted that last year would be when mobile gaming overtook PC and console for the first time, with the global market expected to make $36.9 billion, up an impressive 21.3 percent from 2015.
Which games attract the most people?
Stats from SurveyMonkey show that in the US in July 2016 there were 107,000 of downloads of casino mobile games. Increasingly, people are looking online to get their casino fix, with live roulette and poker games easy enough to join and people still able to get that buzz from the comfort of their own home.
Coming top of the list of downloads was arcade games, with a whopping 631,000 downloads in that month alone. Think of slot games and anything you might find in a traditional arcade hall environment. Again, you can experience the excitement now while sitting on the settee in front of the TV, which is bound to appeal to many more people.
Both of these categories most definitely encompass both men and women, with the thrill and excitement something that both genders can enjoy.
Are times a-changing?
While most gaming tends to be considered to be men’s territory, an area that’s currently up for debate is the online bingo market. Matteo Monteverdi, senior VP of global product marketing for IGT, recently told Gambling Insider that he believes online bingo is no longer “as one-sided as people think” - no longer a game for older women to enjoy on Sundays. Visiting a leading bingo site such as Sun Bingo provides clear evidence of this: there's colourful graphics that appeal to younger ages and more importantly, a series of thematic approaches to their games that promises to appeal to both genders as well as many age groups, while it's just as accessible on mobiles and tablets as on a desktop PC.
When brands and products are more gender neutral in their marketing strategy, they tend to gain a “more equal customer base”, with around a split of 35 percent men vs 65 percent women.
A study by the British Internet Advertising Bureau has revealed that women now make up 52 percent of the gaming audience in the UK, so clearly times have changed. The advent of the smartphone is seen as the reason behind this, with it being far easier (and cheaper) to download apps and games that are easy to access on the go.
What’s next for gaming?
From a female perspective, given the number of women engaging with gaming nowadays, it’d be great to see a change in the overall landscape of the category. There are very few female protagonists in games, since it’s historically an area that’s targeted men. When there are female characters, they tend to be slightly more geared towards the male market – think luscious lips a la Angelina and sporting a physique similar to Scarlett Johansson. Maybe the developers will move closer towards the women that females aspire to be like.
Also, games are still predominantly made by men, which could explain why they don’t quite tap into the female psyche as well as we’d like. According to stats from the International Game Developers Association, around three-quarters of those working in the industry are men. Until there’s a step-change and more women choose gaming as a career option, we’re unlikely to see substantial differences. We can but dream, of course!
The good thing is that there are an increasing number of games aimed at a more gender neutral audience and one area we see this is in online casino gaming. Whether it’s live slot games, online bingo or roulette, there are plenty of different genres to choose from even within those categories. They’re targeting both men and women and not always conforming to the prevalent gender stereotypes.
With all these changes in the gaming demographics, there’ll hopefully be even less need for gender-specific options in the future anyway, paving the way towards a more gender neutral industry.
