Why Video Game Designers Are Missing The Mark With Women

By Miss Cellania in Video and Computer Games on Jul 29, 2010 at 4:25 pm

It’s a fact of life: woman play video games, whether you call them girls or whatever. Natania of Geeks Are Sexy is one of those female gamers, and she feels the industry is ignoring a lucrative demographic at their own peril.

…as a girl gamer myself, it’s abundantly clear that the video game industry is not only run by a majority of men, but it’s catered to them as well. And it doesn’t seem to be changing much. Of course, catering to men makes sense from a business perspective, or at least it used to. But statistics indicate that’s no longer the case. And for some reason, many video game companies are just not willing to change to accommodate that shift. Maybe it’s part of the whole industry, so deep-seeded, that executives and producers can’t think outside of the box. But really, it’s still not an excuse. It’s honestly disgraceful at times, and downright disrespectful.

But there are ways game developers could attract more women and earn their loyalty, if they care about the future of the industry. Link

Tags: girl gamers, video games, women

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Gauldar
Jul 29th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Will Wright knows how to cater to women, and he’s proven that with the crap load of money he’s made making The Sims. MMOs have really opened interests in females too with the social aspect to the games, but then there are more neutral issues such as crafting and trade between players which appeal to both sexes. I’ve seen change appear in gaming, and while the bulk of it is male centered, much development has happened that people fail to look at. I don’t see how the companies that make games focused for guys are losing money, when they have sales that make them think otherwise.
Vonskippy
Jul 29th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I don’t think there’s a viable business model in “gaming for girls”.

For the VERY few girls that actually get into games as 99.999999999% of boys – it’s a loss leader to cater to girl games in general.

I’ve actually seen a girl gamer quit mid-level so she could go paint her toes. Meanwhile, I’ve seen guys eat ramen for a month so they would have enough money to get the latest game on the day it’s released.
Michelle
Jul 30th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Its funny, because I’m a girl and you posted an image from my favorite game. I have beat that game on every origin story. I LOVE the battles, but honestly, I went through it so many times to hear the different converstaions…and to get the achievements of course.

I would say I am just into video games as my husband. We both enjoy all levels of games. We play COD3 a lot, but at the same time, we arent above enjoying a casual game.

I can be girly too, but Ive never quit a video game to “go do girl stuff.” I like wearing nice clothes and all, but I would pay my mortgage late to get New Vegas the night it comes out. I failed one of my classes the semester fallout came out.

That having been said, I’ve never met another girl like me in real life.
Michelle
Jul 30th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
correction..

dragon age is one of my favorie games…not my favorite.

Also, I think the article itself is a little sexist. It implys that girls are, what, too sensitive to enjoy the things men do in a video game? I enjoy The Sims too from time to time, but that doesnt mean I don’t enjoy running over hookers in GTA3 also. Why do gamers have to be pigeonholed into a category.
Vonskippy
Jul 30th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
@Michelle

“Why do gamers have to be pigeonholed into a category.”

It’s called Demographics, and it’s how companies figure out how to market their stuff to maximize profits.

Sure, there’s always a few exceptions (like yourself) that don’t fit the bell curve – but by their very nature they’re not worth spending money on (i.e. too little ROI).
Twist
Jul 31st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
All I have to say is that, as a girl gamer, I loved DragonAge and Morrigan is hot.
ben
Aug 2nd, 2010 at 1:32 am
The game industry is changing… slowly. I’m in it, I now work with more females than I did 2 years ago and way more than I did 4 years ago.

The change will come slowly and in 2 steps. 1. realize there is money to be made off women in games (just happened thanks to casual games and social games) 2. wait for that realization to propagate throughout industry (guessing 10 years)

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