Defying stereotypes, women have emerged one of key sections of society who are into online gaming; and game developers and programmers are now focusing on keeping them in the loop. “The number of smart phones has increased by 200 million over the last two years. The first thing that people do with a smart phone is join the Whatsapp family group, then Facebook and the next is gaming. And we have discovered that women are majorly into gaming,” said Rajesh Rao of Nasscom on the sidelines of Nasscom Gaming Conference-2016 in the city on Friday.
According to a study released on Friday, app downloads for games has touched 1.6 billion and is likely to reach 5.3 billion in another four years with a staggering growth rate of 48 per cent with revenues touching $1.1 billion.
“Men prefer action, racing and games with adrenaline rush while women prefer strategy and casual games. While men have shorter attention span, women are sticky players and stay with a game for a long time,” says Manoj Barot of Gamesbond, a gaming platform.
In a study with a sample size of 1,336 gamers conducted for one month by Gamesbond, it was discovered that: “59 per cent of women gamers are in the age group of 30 and above; and of that 46 per cent are homemakers - vis-a-vis only 24 per cent of male gamers are above 30 and 50 per cent are students. Among these, 63 per cent women gamers play every day.”
“Being a woman gives a better insight into what a woman would like to play. This game is called Pillo which you hug closely and play with a partner. It acts like a console. Women like games which they can finish quickly like CandyCrush or Angry Birds. It is like mental meditation for them,” says Ellis Bartholomeus, who researches value of play, and is part of the Dutch delegation to Hyderabad Gaming Conference.
“Women prefer games which have a narrative or require shorter attention time like CandyCrush or Deep Dive. Yes, more women are now playing games. Though there is a notion of gamers to be macho, it is no longer true,” says Padmini Ray Murry, an academic and a speaker at the gaming conference.
