|
Counting Women, Part 1:
International Female Demographics
Article Discussion Forum
Aleks Krotoski of the UK's University of Surrey
recently released a whitepaper detailing the gaming habits
and statistics associated with gaming women all over the world.
She began his research by charting which countries housed
the most women who play computer and console games.
Active Female Gamers by Country
Korea (KGDI)
- 50.6% of the general population play MMOGs
- Female and elderly users are new main consumer segments
- Women prefer mobile games and arcade games
Japan (CESA)
–
- 69.2% of women have at least one games console in the home
- 8.7m mobile phone users
- 25% of females intend to try a MMOG
USA
- 70 m women with PCs
- 53% of PC titles purchased by women
UK (ELSPA)
- 51.2% of UK men between the ages of 10-35 play games.
- 27.2% of UK gamers are women
- Average Age: 30-35 years old
- The second-largest game playing population in Western Europe
-
The UK’s adult female gamers spend the most on gaming appliances and software than any other PAL-region women, more than $290 per year
Preferred Characteristics
Aleks then researched which characteristics were preferred by women gamers in the games that they play:
- Good plot
- Rich characterizations
- Choice in goal-attainment strategies
- Freedom of self-expression
- Novelty
- Pick-up-and-play
- Flexibility
- Social interaction
Employment Patterns: Women in the UK
The next topic for research was the employment patterns of women in the gaming industry within the UK. The results of his survey were dismal:
Art & design
161 men, 17 women
Programmers
103 men, 2 women
Senior Management 62 men, 3 women
Sales/Marketing/PR
49 men, 16 women
The results of the employment survey made it clear that there were three key issues to be addressed with regards to the large disparity of employment in the gaming industry for women: the methods of recruitment, bad marketing, and a lack of gender inclusive game design.
Methods of recruitment
- 42.9% advertise in specialist magazines
- 64.3% recruit through specialist agencies
- 14.3% approach schools, colleges
Job disparities due to gender
- $667 less at starting salary
- $12,713 pay gap
- 0.4% women hold Lead, Director, Management positions versus men
- Slower promotion times (approximately 6 months)
To learn more about this study, please see the original ELSPA White Paper
|
 |
Are you an enthusiastic, fire-in-the-belly writer who would love nothing
more than to write juicy editorials and off-the-wall articles for a fast-paced,
ultra-cool website? If this sounds like *YOU*, drop us a line.
We would love to hear from you!
Support the site! Visit our Online Store and get some
great new gear for the school year!
|
