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Close to 50% of gamers are women

Growing number of women in gaming but few of them in top management

Globally, close to half of gamers identify as women but only 16% of executive teams in global top 15 games companies are women according to a recent study presented by non-profit organisation Women in Gaming. The number of women working in any role or competing in esports is around 5% or 1 in 20. There is a long way to go in achieving a representative games and esports industry and better understanding on how to do that, states Women in Gaming.

But the diversity is improving. Women in Gaming is a non-profit organisation founded in 2009 when women numbered only 6% of the games industry workforce. In 2020, the number had reached 22%.

Google says that globally there are 3.2 billion gamers and 46% of them identify as female and the percentage is even higher if the focus is mobile gaming. 29% of the total number of gamers identify as people of colour. 

In the US, 48% of gamers identified as women in 2022 and the number is growing, according to market data firm Statista. In 2021, 45% were women.  

Female gamers are more likely to play games on their mobile devices compared to men. Women play on mobile at higher frequencies, too (32% play five days a week vs. 28% of men), according to game market research firm Newzoo.

“And the majority of female gamers play on other platforms (59% for console and 70% for PC). The group also stakes a considerable share of the most dedicated gamer personas, including Ultimate Gamers, and across all platforms”, Newzoo says.

“Many women in business are treated differently to male colleagues or have concerns over gender pay gaps,” Carolin Krenzer, co-founder of London-based gaming studio Trailmix, told a Google blog.

Trailmix sees it as their responsibility to have a positive impact and help provoke societal change. 

“For us, that’s about world building, creating characters that represent everyone, and stories that just feel nourishing and cosy. It’s for that reason we called the company Trailmix in the end. We wanted to make games that are snackable yet nourishing”, she told the Google blog.

“Gaming has a special power of connection, more than other entertainment industries,” Trailmix marketing director, Yoojin Jung, told the Google blog. 

“You can communicate with your friends and family by playing games. You play together, you achieve, and progress together. Gaming can be a medium where we represent different cultures, genders, LGBTQ+, and different races. It’s about understanding and spreading knowledge about representation. People like to see heroes that reflect them.”

Traimix has created successful game Love & Pies. Before that game, no other mass-market mobile game had the courage to tell the stories that aren’t being told, by characters that aren’t usually highlighted,” Jung explains.

At the heart of Love & Pies is a divorced single mother building a new life with her young daughter and players help them.

“We hope we’ve inspired other companies to focus more on representation in their games. Of course you’ll always ruffle some feathers when you do something that’s not as common. But to be honest, we also enjoy ruffling feathers”, said Jung.

In its presentation, Trailmix says its team is now 30 people strong and that half of the wider leadership team is female

Mobile game company Supercell has acquired a majority stake in Trailmix and has committed USD 60 million in financing. The company was started in 2017 by Krenzer and her co-founder, Tristan Clark.

 

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