Women and Game Culture: Do girls play games

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Women and Game CultureDo girls play games?

• Aleks Krotoski
• University of Surrey
• A.Krotoski_at_surrey.ac.uk
• http//www.surrey.ac.uk/psp1ak

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-History of women and computer games -The things
that appeal -Hijacking the mainframe women's
and MMOGs -Barriers to entry
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History of women and gaming

• Proud beginnings
• Ada Lovelace
• Grace Hopper
• Donna Bailey to Roberta Williams

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In the beginning
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Later
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Or
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History of women and gaming

• Girl Games
• From Barbie to Mortal Kombat
• The Sims
• Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games
• SingStar, Dance Mat and EyeToy
• Quake and Halo 2?

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Result of gendered entertainment?

• Proliferation of boy genres
• Shooters, sports simulations
• Magazine ads

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Result of gendered entertainment?

• Proliferation of boy genres
• Shooters, sports simulations
• Magazine ads
• Fewer female players
• Less access to technology which may benefit their
  futures (Home Office, 2001)

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Current Player Demographics Girls and games
GameVision Dromgoole, 2004
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Current Player Demographics Girls dont play
games?

• Men play 12.34 hours per week
• Women play 9.22 hours of play per week

GameVision Dromgoole, 2004
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Current Player Demographics Girls dont play
games?

• Girls
• Preferred console is PS1
• Bargain purchaser, relies on recommendation or
  existing IP

• Boys
• Preferred console is PS2
• New games, sports games, FPS

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What women want

• A social life
• Something worthwhile
• Something they can learn from (Graner Ray, 2003)
• A storyline with good characters
• Nothing that forces them to learn a completely
  useless skill

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Social Life (internet) worthwhile (learning
story) a familiar medium (PCs) Massively
Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)
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MMOGs Who?
Fantasy-based games 12-20 (like Dungeons and
Dragons, 5-15) The Sims Online 60 5-6 years
older than men Kids Steady relationship
(60.3) (Yee, 2002a, 2002b Lewis, 2004)
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MMOGs How?

• Men introduce them
• Play with romantic partner (69.5)
• learning bonus boost RL bonds and solve RL
  problems
• New Mums

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MMOGS Why?

• Open-ended
• Relaxation of traditional objectives
• Real-Life (RL) communities and relationships
• More likely than men to
• Interact with the same others
• Engage in group activities
• Perceive online friends and more like themselves
  than their offline friends
• Disclose personal information about themselves to
  online friends
• Stay dedicated they dont swap titles, or they
  migrate to new ones together
• Be satisfied with their game
• In-game repercussions help shape the world!
• More likely to hold powerful leadership roles
• Direct activity, diplomacy and in-game politics

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MMOGs and the Self

• RL limitations for self-actualisation
• Possible selves, career, leisure
• Taylor and EverQuest mastery, social
  involvement and exploration without fear for
  safety
• Sherry Turkle and the MUDs Identity Laboratories

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Deterrents Solutions They have to change - not
us.

• Play
• something a woman is not (Turkle, 1985)
• Marketing and its malcontents
• Products that dont speak to a broader audience
• Economics
• Bargain bins and the hardcore gamer
• Time
• interstitial gaming
• Work
• male culture
• Quality of Life

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Is the games industry a place for gender
diversity?

• Demographics
• Art and Design 91 men 9 women
• Programmers 98 men 2 women
• Senior Management95 men 3 women
• Sales/Marketing/PR 74 men 26 women
• Applicants per year???
• From Chicks and Joysticks An exploration of
  women and computer gaming, commissioned and
  published by ELSPA 2004

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Is the games industry a place for gender
diversity?

• Methods of recruitment
• 42.9 advertise in specialist magazines
• 64.3 recruit through specialist agencies
• 14.3 approach schools, colleges
• Job disparities due to gender
• 353.57 less at starting salary
• 6,738.03 pay gap
• 0.4 women hold Lead, Director, Management
  positions versus 1.2 of men
• Slower promotion times (approximately 6 months)
• From Chicks and Joysticks An exploration of
  women and computer gaming, commissioned and
  published by ELSPA 2004

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Is the games industry a place for gender
diversity?

• All signs point to no.
• Future research
• What would a broader appointments drive do for
  games industry diversity?
• How can girl games scholarships increase female
  participation in games courses?
• How can an increase in role models in the games
  industry increases female participation in games
  courses?

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Summary

• Women have been involved since year dot
• Pink games work for kiddies but not for grown-ups
• New technologies are pushing the gender divide
• Industry diversity is rubbish

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Women and Game CultureDo girls play games?

• Aleks Krotoski
• University of Surrey
• A.Krotoski_at_surrey.ac.uk
• http//www.surrey.ac.uk/psp1ak