The main reason why gaming is today viewed as a male activity when it wasn’t initially is the increased number of male players in the video. Statistics show that there are more male gamers today compared to their women counterparts. Furthermore, the fact that there are very few female heroes and lead characters means that the heroes and lead characters are males which mean that gaming remains a male-dominated activity (Parmer, 2013).
Today’s gamers
Over the years online gaming attracted different types of players. However, the majority of today’s gamers comprise of male players while female players are the minority. The average age of gamers is 35 years a number that is slowly increasing as people who played as kids are still playing on the current systems. Online media is highly flexible as marketers have the chance of crafting programs to run on certain games (Prescott, 2014). Most gamers today prefer violent heavy games such as GTA and call of duty which attract more male gamers.
The industry’s gender assessment of gamers and role of female gamers in gaming today and its future?
The gender assessment of gamers in the industry does not sell its male consumers short about not needing female protagonist since women seem to be less interested in video games. Currently, female protagonists in video games are a minority especially since most of the developers perceive that female protags do not sell. The creation of complex and great female characters in video games has been an involving process where developers risk the creation of complex female characters as they have to go outside the established or expected conventions (Rott, 2014).
Female gamers are key to pushing for increased engagement of female protagonists in gaming today and in the future. While females are increasingly sidelined in the gaming industry today, the few female gamers who take part in the industry today play a key role in attracting other female players in the field thus increasing the visibility of women in the industry (Parmer, 2013). Furthermore, given that women are easily wooed to making purchasing decisions, female gamers can aid in increasing the number of purchases made by women in the gaming industry in the future by encouraging other women that there is a chance for other women to take part in the industry.
Games with more female protagonists
More games with female protagonists would grow the gaming audience given that it would appeal to a broader audience including the female audience as opposed to concentrating on only the male gamers. There is a great potential in a female audience which has not been exploited for the longest times and in case it is understood, it would earn a fortune for the developers (Prescott, 2014). Casting aside the old stereotypes that only male gamers are attracted to playing games should be a key step for creators and characters seeking to increase their market. Furthermore, women have always played games, and the contemporary mobile games’ growth in the industry has been perpetrated by female consumer base which means that by having more females as protagonists, the gaming audience stands to grow.
Fighting misogyny
Women like Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian play a key role in fighting misogyny in the gaming industry since they feel like being a gamer is not gender oriented and therefore everyone irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, disability or religion has a chance to enjoy gaming without being threatened or harassed. Furthermore, gaming should be a form of entertainment that depends on one’s creativity and therefore is not limited to a specific gender (Rott, 2014). By enhancing diversity in the gaming industry or trying to change it as we see it today, it is possible to allow the game to flourish as it has a chance of attracting more audience. As a result, more female gamers are fighting misogyny to ensure that women feel comfortable while participating in the gaming industry as with less misogyny, they can be able to express themselves which in turn increase diversification in the industry (Prescott, 2014).
Audience understanding
As per the current situation, the industry does not understand its audience given that it does not understand the potential that the women have in increasing its ability in the current market. With more women seeking to either take part in gaming during their leisure time or joining their male counterparts to engage in gaming competitions, it is clear that by locking out women and lowering their chances of acquiring the protagonist stance in the industry, the industry is failing in how it understands its audience (Rott, 2014).
The industry is also failing in performing long-term analysis for its business model given that the anti-woman stance stands to limit the industry’s growth since women across the globe are seeking to engage in video games as an entertainment tool thus providing a great market which would not be exploited if they are locked out. Failure to eliminate the anti-women stance stands in the future may lead to business decline as the male gamers cannot fully exploit the gaming market which stands to grow in stature as well as ability in the future (Parmer, 2013). As the notion of what a game entails dawns to more female, failure to tap in such a market may result in a business decline in the future.
References
Parmer, B. (2013). Why does the games industry have such a problem with female protagonists? The Women’s blog.
Prescott, J. (Ed.). (2014). Gender considerations and influence in the digital media and gaming industry. IGI Global.
Rott, N. (2014). Gamergate controversy fuels debate on women and video games. NPR: All Things Considered, 25.
