The culture and industry of video games is often considered to be a masculine arena and for men who are tech-savvy. However, in the last two decades, the medium has shifted and now, it includes women. There are women who play, as well as develop games. With women-run gaming teams, developing companies, and organisation, women have turned out to be an active part of the medium of video gaming.
However, it does not mean that females are welcomed in the gaming world. Instead, they often have to face negative stereotypes, demeaning remarks, and also hostile behavior of men. Organisations that are founded and led by women often tend to train and empower women gamers to be leaders of the industry with the aim to create an environment that is female-friendly. Women are associated with these areas strongly believe that involving females in the creation and design stages of gaming is going to encourage greater female interest in this field. Women have gained a robust foothold through large online community and active associations. Industry and culture don’t yet recognise gender equality. Even though women have made some significant progress in this field, there are still some barriers like social expectations of female gender and hyper-masculine culture.
Female gamers vs male gamers
Female professional gamers are just like other gamers. Like male gamers, they buy their games and play it every day. They solve a puzzle just like any other games. However, the term female gamers are used because gaming is taken to be a male activity. Even the media and advertisement is targeted to the male audience.
Previously, in the 1980s, the commercials always featured a male lead. You will hardly see any games with a female lead. Also, in the world of online gaming, even though new casino sites are coming up every day with a large collection of games, female gamers are hardly recognised. These casinos even come with lucrative bonus offers and promotions to new, as well as existing players for keeping them hooked up to the site.
Women DO like video games
The video gaming world is a multi-billion dollar industry which has evolved to a great extent in the last few decades. Pixels used to play a primitive tennis form on black and white screen, gamers at present have the option to make enemies, gather companions, and also forge a relationship, even if it is with AI computer characters. The industry has grown exponentially with time and has reached about $43 billion in the year 2008. This has crossed the revenue of box office entertainment. Just like other industry, the video gaming industry also depends on the growth and made its way towards greater gender diversity for many years. Irrespective of being marginalised in industry and culture, female players are covering half of the market. About 40% of the consumers in the gaming world is female. As a matter of fact, male and female gamers have also similar traits when it comes to gaming.