Evolution is leading the virtual world into uncharted territory as a new generation of “geeks” is emergerging. Video games were once dominated almost completely by male players, but females are increasingly making their presence known.
According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2008 report, over 40 percent of “gamers” are women, and today, women 18 years or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent).
The multitude of games with themes that women are more interested in may be fueling the trend, says Tom McMahon, CEO of Play N Trade, one of the largest video game franchises.
“Games such as American Idol, Guitar Hero, The Sims and even Tomb Raider are appealing to females and so the market is changing. We’ve seen firsthand how both girls and women are gaining interest in video games and making up a big part of our customer base,” McMahon said.
Play N Trade is meeting the demands of those new customers by increasing their inventory in stores to accommodate the female gamers’ selection. Store employees and staff are also educating them on what types of games they may like that are new to the market and they can try that in the store before they buy. Some of the company’s tournaments are now being geared towards the females.
And with the trend comes more video game blogs and Web sites dominated by girl gamers, as well as marketing campaigns directed specifically to females -“ something that was once an anomaly in the industry.
In addition to being consumers, as the number of “female gamers” grows and widely accepted games develop, the motivation for women to become more dominant in career fields such as video game development and programming becomes a possibility, McMahon said.
