SuperMarit is dedicated to turn male dominance in the gaming world to rubble. The Swedish organization encourages and supports women in all levels of gaming — from developer to end user. Photo: Annika Olofsdotter Bergström

Gaming is the fastest growing industry in the world of entertainment. In 2005 it generated nearly SEK 650 million (USD 100 million) for Sweden — a 19 percent increase compared to the year before. A mere 15 percent of people working in this booming industry are female. But organizations and individuals are increasingly keen on getting more women into the gaming business.

SuperMarit is an organization that works with industry and government to strengthen the role of women in gaming through workshops, seminars, networking, and other help. SuperMarit’s Annika Olofsdotter Bergström says: “Games are the world’s biggest popular culture of today. Why shouldn’t women get into that big wheel and have influence?”

Room for women

Camilla Anger, the president of Vivendi Games Nordic, says that women have a lot to gain by being a part of the games industry. “It is a new industry with new opportunities,” she says. “It’s kind of untapped ground for women and they can succeed quite easily — everyone wants more women developers.”

The vast majority of game developers are men, who are making games for their male peers, ranging in age from around 8 to 35. But there is enormous potential in appealing to the other half of the population that, until recently, has been largely overlooked.

“Female developers know what appeals to female gamers, so there is definitely a financial incentive to attract more women to the industry,” Anger says. “This is also a really fun industry for women to work in, but that message hasn’t got across yet.”

World of Warcraft is popular with boys and girls alike.

Not a boy thing

Olofsdotter Bergström sees additional benefits from attracting women to gaming. She believes that it not only contributes to equality in the gaming world, but in the field of technology in general. “Game playing leads straight to an interest in technology and games are also a great tool for learning and discussion,” she says.
 
So, why are there so few women in the games industry? Perhaps it has to do with ingrained attitudes, Olofsdotter Bergström suggests. “Technology and computer games are seen as a boy thing, due to attitudes in school and in society towards these subjects,” she says. “Games and technology are often marketed with sexy girls or in media that is seen as men/boy media. There have been too few female role models in games, but they are coming now!”

A deeper psychology

Role models and story plots are gradually changing as more women enter the games world. Studies show that women are generally more interested in characters with substance and women developers tend to make games with “cool female heroines and characters with a deeper psychology,” according to Olofsdotter Bergström.

Annika Olofsdotter Bergström calls for Swedish producers with the guts to try new things. Photo: Annika Olofsdotter Bergström

But many game manufacturers persist in making games for women which portray them in traditional stereotypical roles. “There is a series of games for women with topics such as ‘Be a mother’ and ‘Be a fashion designer,’ and of course there are women who like that type of game, but it is so tiring that as soon as the industry makes games for women it goes straight to stereotypes, forgetting that women are not a single target group,” says Olofsdotter Bergström. “Producers must have the guts to try out new games and let more women develop games.”

Certainly games such as Singstar and The Sims are breaking new ground and appealing to women, and while some traditionally male games like Vivendi’s popular World of Warcraft attract many female players, Camilla Anger admits that much more needs to be done for women gamers. 

Beyond gender

“Women are generally looking for more social gaming and interaction, as well as more realistic plots and relationship angles in their games,” Anger says. “And, I don’t want to stereotype, but they also want platforms that are not too technical. The Nintendo DS hand-held platform is more popular among women than any other platform and one likely reason is that it is easy to use.”

Perhaps at the same time that the games industry starts opening up the field for more female players and developers, it could also benefit from addressing another potentially big market. Project PlaymÄker is currently testing the effects of PlayStation games on Swedish seniors, evaluating possible mental and physical benefits.

The goal of the project is to activate and stimulate elderly people by helping them exercise their minds, improve their coordination, and get their circulation flowing. Looks like it really is time for gaming to venture beyond the boy-box.

(Statistics: The Swedish Games Industry Report 2005)

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Freelance writer Cari Simmons is looking forward to game content that exercises the mind and body, and requires very little technical effort from the user.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.

Classification: A215EN