GAMER GIRLS
The video game and esports industries are seeing an unprecedented surge in revenue thanks to women gamers, the majority who are single. Video game revenue has a projected revenue growth of $321 billion dollars over the next three years according to Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2022–2026.
The biggest area of growth are women gamers. According to a reports 48% of people who play games identify as female, a sharp increase from just 40% in 2020. Female gamers are more prevalent than ever 47% of women own an Xbox or a PlayStation, 50% of PC video game players and 54% of mobile video game players are women.
In the US, around 40% of the Xbox Live audience are women.
Gaming Personas indicate women’s dedication, skill, and experience toward gaming. Ultimate Gamers are the most avid and skilled, while Time Fillers have the least experience and time for gaming. Studies show most women gamers are casual esports fans or play mainstream games casually spending an average 8 hours per week gaming. Hardcore female gamers spent an average of 5.44 days per week playing and that the average gaming session for these esports gamers spanned around 170 minutes per game, spending an average of 8.3 hours weekly playing video games, 3.8 hours less than men. 33% of female gamers were aged 25-34. 81% play alone offline while 32% have the preference of strictly playing on their own.
81% play alone offline while 32% have the preference of strictly playing on their own.
More and more brands are targeting women through games, understanding the power of catering to female gamers as an extremely important part of today’s gaming world success. For example, beauty brands like NYX Professional Makeup became the official beauty partner of esports organization Dignitas, and E.l.f. Cosmetics launching its E.l.f. You Twitch channel to support young gamers, the global streaming platform has more than 140 million monthly users.
Women comprise a significant portion of the user base, showing that the continued development of and marketing to women in games is a successful path for the growth of gaming. In 2022, female tournaments generated a cumulative of $23.76 million hours watched, 1.5x times more than the previous year. 49.2% was from Twitch viewers, and 44% was from the YouTube audience. We need to continue leveling up by raising awareness of gender inequalities across economic, social and political scopes, may be absolutely vital to the diversity and growth of the gaming industry.
While single women are holding the controls in gaming there is an immediate need to expand ways to help combat abuse and sexism as women are often targets of threats of sexual and racial violence. Nearly 60% of women gamers have experienced abuse from male gamers and nearly 30% have have experienced sexual harassment including objectification, rape and death threats. Tools for moderation can be implemented, such as recording gaming chats and integrating ways for players to report inappropriate activities. In addition, fostering healthy and balanced working environments in today’s gaming studios can help extend fostering safe gaming environments into online gaming worlds. 29% are people of color, leadership should encourage collaboration and creativity within a diverse and inclusive workplace, that can extend to the gaming environments teams as well create environments that support in diminishing harassment online.
Nearly 60% of women gamers have experienced abuse from male gamers and nearly 30% have have experienced sexual harassment including objectification, rape and death threats.
Despite making up almost half of the video gaming population, esports women have yet to truly make a significant mark in the industry. Most issues stem from discrimination and harassment from their male counterparts, significantly hindering women from fully immersing themselves in the industry. The stats also show the disparity between prizes between male and female esports tournaments, another notable road bump in women’s long journey in esports. The industry must do more to encourage and help women gamers, especially men, become major players in the esports industry.
There is a staggering pay gap in gaming. Esports gamers earn an average salary of $50,000–$60,000 annually, excluding tournament prize earnings. The average wage in the US amounts to $70,930 annually. Sasha Hostyn is the highest-paid female esports gamer. Scarlett has earned $445,871.56 from playing Starcraft II since starting her career in 2011. Her highest prize money won was during the IEM XII, where she took home $50,000. The highest paid male gamer, Johan Sundstein has earned over $7 million throughout his esports gaming career.
While there have been significant strides, there's still room for improvement in achieving gender equality within the gaming industry, particularly in leadership positions and esports. The gaming industry is undergoing a transformation with the increasing involvement of women, both as gamers and industry professionals. While significant progress has been made, there's a continued need for efforts to address gender disparities and create inclusive environments for everyone involved in gaming.