Video game culture is changing, and girls are getting more of a role to play. This presentation discusses this change and where women fit in a gaming audience.

1. Women, Myths & Video Games

2. In fact, women over 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (34 %) than boys age 17 or younger (18 %). The % of women has steadily increased, whilst the landscape of video games has significantly changed for the past few years. Why weren’t girls interested in video games before (or why was it believed that girls wouldn’t be interested)? Is there a video game gender? What is the perfect video game for women, if any? In the USA, 40% of all video game players are women .

4. Female Characters Didn’t Reflect a Realistic Female Identity for Women to Identify With… Good try, but I’m not a character women want to play Why have female characters always been sexualised? Women want more than a second role! Thankfully, female characters got much better (skilled, powerful, fun to play) in the 2000s… Hell yeah! … and we kick boys' butts

14. Who are they? Research shows that women are more likely to under-report the number of hours they play than men, as if being a video gamer does not fit with being a woman. Men, initially charmed by the idea of women playing video games, would turn hostile upon realizing that a woman was really competing . In the popular subconscious , women playing video games are abnormal : games are for guys .

15. The statistics put female players in one of two categories casual gamers (brought in by partner or sibling) hardcore gamers OR

16. In reality, girl gamers are not as monolithic as the statistcs show. Female gamers are deploring the lack of understanding of researchers and therefore the lack of accuracy from the industry. The ability to adapt their gaming time is something the industry should focus on to attract the female segment.

20. Marion Renoux [email_address] twitter.com/marionren Thanks!