women in games or lack thereof an insight into the world of games and how to introduce a more...
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WOMEN IN GAMESor lack thereof
An insight into the world of games and how to introduce a more gender-neutral game society.
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1. Why are there more men in the industry than women?
• Computer games provide an easy lead-in to computer literacy.
• Both boys and girls are equally adept at playing games.
• Boys are more likely to play with them, and continue playing with them into adulthood.
• Children of both sexes consider computer games to be ‘boys’ toys
• Girls are simply unaware of the industry.
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2. Boys+Games=Boys Games.
• More boys playing games leads to more men in game/computer related fields.
• Women represent a minority in the games industry, holding less than 10% of positions.
• This percentage is even less when it comes to key positions such as designers, producers and the exceptionally rare programmers, as most women are in customer service, marketing and QA.
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3. Is It The Games Themselves?
• Female characters can be too violent for most girls to relate to.
• Girls want femininity and feminism in a game character.
• Girls get turned off by stereotypical or degrading depictions of females.
• Female characters are consistently dressed in next to nothing.
• Girls are often a lesser character, or a ‘prize’ for a male character.
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4. Or The Way We Play Them?
• Women look for different things in games. Graphics are important.
• Boys are satisfied with explosive action and competition.
• Girls prefer character development, involving storylines, challenging gameplay.
• We are being bombarded by racing, fighting and sports titles with little point other than winning.
• To enjoy a game we don’t need a female character at all, as long as there are sufficient storytelling elements.
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5. A Woman's Touch
• Increasing numbers of women are becoming designers and producers.
• Many of these women work for female owned and run enterprise.
• Women in the industry are bringing into focus non-traditional career roles.
• Digital characters and game content are being rethought.
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6. Gender Balance V Bank Balance
• Games are a $10 billion industry with up to 80% of the sales revenue generated from a male market.
• The male market for games risks becoming saturated.
• For console developers to remain competitive, they need to broaden their consumer group.
• There is already a proven strong market for ‘girl’ games.
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7. No Boys Allowed?
• Do we make a girl only market?• Do boys and girls want
fundamentally different things from game content?
• Through market research, a product that appeals to girls interests can be made to stand alongside ‘boy’ games.
• Danger in splitting the market. • Girls will still buy ‘boy’ games, but
boys won’t respond to ‘girl’ games.
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8. Or Access All Areas?
• Do we expand the existing game market to include both male and female interests?
• Create stronger female characters in traditional boys games.
• Better marketing for existing games to female consumers.
• Increase gender neutral or girl focused advertising and marketing.
• Fewer games with negative images of women.
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9. Breaking the cycle.
• Informing teachers and careers advisors about the games industry.
• Ensuring correct information is passed on to children and young adults.
• Use the games industry to generate interest in studying relevant subjects.
• Increase the number of women working in the games industry.
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10. What you can do to help.
• Be aware of ALL the subjects that are relevant to the games industry, not just art and computer science.
• Use games as examples to make tedious subject more interesting.
• Let girls know that the industry is not just for men.
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References and Resources
• Gorriz & Medina
• Sheri Graner Ray