Women and the Game Industry

Published on July 27, 2005 By CariElf In PC Gaming

On Monday, CNN used the furor over the change in rating for GTA: San Andreas to ride one of the game industry's favorite hobbyhorses: why most women aren't interested in computer games. This is something that seems to mystify the mostly male game industry, and the IDGA even formed a Special Interest Group (SIG) called "Women in Game Development" to try and get more women in the industry. Being one of the few women developers in the game industry, this sort of thing interests me, and I've read articles from the IDGA and other places about how women aren't interested in gaming, or game development. The general consensus is that the male-dominated game industry is generally not making games that women like, so women aren't interested in the games, and are not interested in developing games. This is part of the truth.

The article on CNN claims that it's because women don't want to play violent games where the women characters are sex symbols, and they neglect to mention the games where you don't even have the option to play as a female character. This is true as far as it goes. First person shooters aren't my first choice of games, and Halo is the only one that I've played for any length of time (and the feature I like the best in Halo are the vehicles, not running around shooting aliens). None of the women who I know who play games play first person shooters or GTA. None of them play Lara Croft either. CNN goes on to claim that the perception of games being violent and debasing women is what prevents women from entering the game industry, which acerbates the problem of games being created that women don't like.

I went to Lawrence Technological University of Southfield, and women students were in the minority, more so in the Computer Science major. I had 3 female classmates who were also Comp Sci majors, and I knew a few more who were in the graduate program. None of them were interested in programming computer games. I don't remember if I ever asked them why they didn't want to program computer games, but I now have the vague impression that they considered the game industry too instable. Game development is really something you have to have a passion for, and it's not something that you just end up in after college, so maybe it is true that women don't want to program computer games because they aren't interested in computer games. However, I don't think it's necessary to have women in the game industry first to make games that women like. Even if you assume that the majority of game developers are socially inept (being the geeks that they are), I'm willing to bet that many of them have mothers, sisters, and female cousins available for consultation.

I think that the game industry would be better off analyzing what kind of games that women like, and why they like them, rather than spend time worrying about what games they don't like and whether women characters with smaller cup sizes would make a game more acceptable. The women gamers who I know like playing games like The Sims, Sim City, strategy games, role-playing games, horse racing games, puzzle games and word games. I am going to separate the kinds of games that women like into two categories: casual games and building games.

Even women who I wouldn't call gamers like to play causal games like Bejeweled and Bookworm. They're quick, easy, fun games that you can pick up and put down at will without having to worry about remembering what you were doing in your last save game. They don't require a commitment of interest. Most women have other priorities than playing computer games, so casual games appeal to them. Casual games also tend to be extremely polished. Their sound and music is excellent, and the graphics are appealing. Bejeweled, for example, has an effect where the jewels shine like a beam of light has just hit them. It's just as fun to play the Bejeweled clone I downloaded to my new cell phone, but I definitely miss the quality of sound and little graphical touches that are available in the original, pc version of Bejeweled.

I lumped all the other kinds of games that I mentioned that women like into the category of building games, because that's what they all have in common. In strategy games, you build empires. In role-playing games, you develop characters. In the Sims, you build both the world and its inhabitants. In the horse racing game I mentioned, you breed horses and then race them against other horses to try and win blue ribbons. True, they also generally lack buxom females and gore, but I would argue that it's just as important that these games allow you to create something. These are also kinds of games where you are either able to play as a female character, or you aren't so much a character as playing God. It's also fairly easy to make these games either gender unspecific or allow you to choose between male and female. In the case of a role-playing game, it might create more artwork to have to have female models, but if it makes the game more appealing to women, it's probably worth the investment.

There is also the fact that the games geared towards little girls are not always of the best quality. I used to baby-sit a lot, and some of the little girls I babysat for had the Barbie games that Mattel makes. The games they had were buggy, bloated, and traded more on the popularity of Barbie than on good game design. Habits form when people are young. If I hadn't had a computer with games on it since computers didn't even have hard drives, I probably wouldn't be a programmer, let alone a game developer, today. Too many computer games as a kid can be bad, but computer games also help your spatial relations and hand eye coordination. They're also more interactive than TV.

So will making games that women like generate more women interested in becoming game developers? My guess is that it would, up to a point. However, there is still the problem that women are less interested in programming in the first place. CNN says in its article that only 10% of software engineers are women, as opposed to 4% in the game industry. Let's assume that both of those figures are accurate, although I think that both might be a bit too generous. That means that only 14% of all software developers are women. I blame it on the difficulty of getting women interested in math and "hard" science (like physics). So, if people are really interested in getting more women in the game industry, they're going to have to get them interested in math, science, and then programming first. People, particularly women, have the perception that programming is very difficult, and that computers are way too complex. Well, I'm a game developer, but the thought of teaching kindergarteners scares me. Yet, there's a lot of people who say "those who can't do, teach" and think that teachers have a cushy job with summers off; they have no idea how hard it really is and how much skill good teaching really requires. We have to direct young people's minds away from thinking that different disciplines are easy or hard, and instead direct them into thinking of things in terms of what they like to do.

It's not going to be easy to get more women interested in gaming and game development, and it's going to take effort on the part of more people than just the ones in the game industry. The game industry, like all the other parts of the entertainment industry, have to know their target audience, and that might actually involve talking with women.
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Comments (Page 2)

CariElf

on Jul 29, 2005

I'm addicted to World of Warcraft. I've also heard that there are a lot more women playing World of Warcraft than most popular MMORPGs, but I haven't been able to find any articles or anything to back this up. Mostly, it's been anecdotal evidence chatting with people in game.

Lucky_Jack

on Jul 30, 2005

The problem is that "games are for kids" in most older peoples eyes

Then I must be just a kid at heart. I'm 66.

Ugleb

on Jul 30, 2005

66? I never would have guessed, that's brilliant.

Bassen_Hjertelos

on Jul 31, 2005

If it's a conundrum to the gaming industry...well...there's your problem really. If you want to make games that women like, you ask women what they'd like in a game and you hire female programmers, designers, concept artists, etc...

I think if the gaming industry really wants to know why women don't play games they'd find out. The money makers rarely pass up a chance to make dem shiny moooneys.

By the way... There's a really good article in #151 (August) of the UK edition of PC Gamer. It's written by Jess Bates and is titled "Why won't women play? - A manifesto for change". It's seven pages. Perhaps a bit to long for us attention challenged guys, eh?

Ugleb

on Jul 31, 2005

"If it's a conundrum to the gaming industry...well...there's your problem really. If you want to make games that women like, you ask women what they'd like in a game and you hire female programmers, designers, concept artists, etc..."

The problem is, where do they hire these women from? Only a relative handful are in the industry at all, which leaves a rather shallow pool to recruit from. With such a small number feeding input into development, the female perspective is marginalised and the products come out male orientated. And so on. The companies really do want to sell to both genders, they just haven't figured quite out how yet.

"By the way... There's a really good article in #151 (August) of the UK edition of PC Gamer. It's written by Jess Bates and is titled "Why won't women play? - A manifesto for change". It's seven pages. Perhaps a bit to long for us attention challenged guys, eh? "

Read it, it's pretty good.

"I'm addicted to World of Warcraft. I've also heard that there are a lot more women playing World of Warcraft than most popular MMORPGs, but I haven't been able to find any articles or anything to back this up. Mostly, it's been anecdotal evidence chatting with people in game. "

I have a few ideas why. Firstly it has all those non-combat activities to persue. You can build stuff, travel chat in peace and so on. Secondly it has a fantasy setting, which I think appeals to women more than a science fiction setting does. I think that women generally find it easier to relate to medieval castle than to space station. Lastly, and most importantly, is World of Warcraft's visual aesthetic. Brightly coloured, playful, cartoonish forms. It's just not as serious as taking the realism approach, so could feel less intimidating and more welcoming. Once players get into mmo's they are often hooked (I've been playing Eve-Online for over a year), the catch is to get them in the first place. WoW I think has unintentionally done itself a huge favour by adopting that visual style. That look started with Warcraft 2, developed into 3D in Warcraft 3 and was carefully translated into WoW. Although I doubt they thought of it back in the mid 90's, but it just so happens to appeal to a female eye.

CariElf

on Aug 01, 2005

I saw an article here Link that shows that some women who date or marry gamers get into gaming in order to spend time with their mate, doing something that he enjoys. So if a male gamer is lucky enough to date a woman who is open minded enough to both not resent all the time he spends playing video games and to consider playing with him because he enjoys it so much, that woman might become a gamer if she enjoys playing the game. This, in fact, is what happened with one of my best friends from high school. She got into role-playing and computer games because her husband (then her boyfriend) was so interested in them, and she enjoys it as long as she doesn't get too frustrated.

I'm trying to think if all my girl friends have less tolerance for being frustrated by games or not; I know that the guys will throw their controllers (or other objects) across the room if they get frustrated with a game, but they'll usually come back to it unless the game is truly awful.

DavidPesta

on Aug 02, 2005

From the original post:
CNN says in its article that only 10% of software engineers are women, as opposed to 4% in the game industry...That means that only 14% of all software developers are women.

No it doesn't. It means the number is between 4% and 10% assuming these are the only two fields of programming. And if "game programmer" is a subset of "software engineer" (which it may, depending upon what the study did to gather those numbers), then the number of female software developers is exactly 10%, not 14%.

Everyone needs a nit picky friend to point this stuff out.

Lucky_Jack

on Aug 02, 2005

Also don't forget that "software engineer" is a relatively new term, one that is objected to by many older, more experienced programmers. This may scew the "statistics" to exclude many female programming professionals.

Also, I saw more women go into management positions than men. While my experience may be anacdotal, it could also point out that many women are left out of the "statistical" base that should be included.

For those that will surely ask: "Why do you object to the term "software engineer?":

The objection comes from the idea that programming is an engineering science, and the idea that all a "software engineer" has to do is select items from a supply shelf to develop a product. It completely ignores three very important artistic steps of programming; 1). the gathering and 2). analysis of requirements, and 3). the designing of a program product to fit those requirements. Isn't there any college or university with a CS program that teaches RADCT? (For those that will be asking, RADCT stands for Requirements, Analysis, Design, Code, and Test, the five most basic steps of developing a program product.)

Embird

on Aug 03, 2005

I got interested in computer games because my husband, an ex pilot, spent time on flight simulator games.
I tried my hand at it and found it easy. i suspect he found that annoying, which made it more fun.
Combat flight sims were fun, as I got to shoot down in flames, pilots with macho, male names.

Empire buiding games are the only other type that interest me, but I don't have the time, or inclination to become addicted.

Here, in Australia, 'they'' are trying to get females interested in maths and science by revamping the courses and teaching of them to make them more appealing to females. Eactly how, I am not sure.

FuzzyMatrix

on Aug 09, 2005

I'm trying to think if all my girl friends have less tolerance for being frustrated by games or not; I know that the guys will throw their controllers (or other objects) across the room if they get frustrated with a game, but they'll usually come back to it unless the game is truly awful.

I was going to write some reply and read this new reply of yours.... it fits what I was going to write. From about 4PM to midnight, I just played a game of Risk 2210 with 2 other guys and a woman. The woman is good at it and wins most of her games, she loves it. Risk 2210 is NOT a light and easy to master game (card types, energy, turns, commanders, moon... see wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_2210). It's kinda Risk... 100 times deeper in strategic implications and depth. But she tried to play a very SIMPLE game (www.ogame.org) which only has:
- industry iwht its producing buildings (3 ressources)
- energy buildings to furnish buildings
- army (defense + fleets)

But it's all in numbers, with precise details for each type of building with costs, plating, shields, etc. But nothing compared to Risk 2210 strategic depth (produce -> stock -> attack). Her reaction? It's a mess to manage, I didn't understood and got it; I dumped it fast. Well... Risk 2210 is aloooot harder, but it's not a mess of management. It's straight forward, just as we could compare Civilization franchise and Europa Universalis both looking at history. Great lines from which to push DEEP strategy, or lots of shallow details (and strat of course). I resume: one has a light form and lots of content, and the other has a heavy form and also lots of content. Weird... but this heavy form looks like mechanics, cpu hardware, programmation details, etc.

Wanna hear wost? This woman, playing board games once in a while, find Civilization too much of a hassle. And from what I saw, it's not because she dislikes the strategy style or is bad at it! She's immersed in those board games, excels at it, is like strategy lovers.

MissAnimosity

on Aug 24, 2005

As a woman I wanted to throw in my two cents... that list you came up with casual games and builder games are right on the money that women like to play. In my opinion.. I liked every game you used as a reference... However how many games like that are out there? Hardly any at all, I would love to buy a really awesome horse racing game.. but err I've only ran across two in my life time. One when I was a kid for playstation... and one a few weeks ago that had lame cartoon graphic characters it was for PS2... If I was able to find the first one I found when I was a kid I would buy it today just to play it.

I also would say that I'm definetly a rare one as a gamer woman.. I loved LaraCroft as a girl power Icon and that intrigued me to play the game... but unfortunately I found the game play boring and repetitive, it was to much work to go from one place to another. So for that reason I've never played a single one of her games through more then a few levels. It never bothered me that she had sex appeal, and they used that to sell her games. Infact one part that I liked about her persona was in game she cared less about men... as in some movie sequences she'd blow them away. Now if she would have been say a female James Bond... that would 'always get the guy'.. Puh-lease I would of lost all interest in the game entirely.

As for other playstation games I also enjoyed numerous fighting games Tekken, was my favorite of fighting games, racing games it was Gran Turismo hands down, because of the awesome graphics, and realistic driving feel. First person shooter games OOO Metal Gear Solid! I played that game atleast 4 times all the way through. Syphon filter, was another good one, I didn't like duke nukem, not because of the typical sex content, or aliens, and violence, and gore, that was in it but because of the really sucky graphics. Half life has plenty of aliens violence gore, but the game play made duke nukem look like nintendo.

You know speaking of nintendo I remember playing that with lots of my girlfriends good ol mario brothers.. we've come a long way from mario brothers.

On PCs I've played half life 1 and 2 and loved them, Diablo, Warcraft...*these were my first online playing games* and oh yes most definetly World of warcraft... I had to give it a try since I played warcraft in its old days. And yes will admit that I'm most addicted to W.O.W.... more then any game ever, TheSims2 runs a close second.. but the fact is I can save TS2 at any point of my game play and come back later... WOW on the other hand...*8 hour instances is Blizz crazy or what?* I think that's a HUGE draw back to WOW, but none the less Really Enjoy playing because of the SOCIAL factor in it, not to mention as odd as it is as much time as you spend developing your character and grinding out levels... you miss them when you leave the game for a month or so. That character litterally becomes like an alt personality to you... *is that going to far?* WOw addicts understand I'm sure.

I must say I think your article and all your research is pretty right on. But also as long as women are such a minority in gaming are they really going to spend extra money to gear games that only a minority will buy? So maybe if there were more games that women obviously liked... women would be more inclined to be apart of developing them.. but why be a woman developer if your going to end up developing something you don't have the passion for.

Sorry if my post was a bit long... I wanted to toss a quick two cents but ended up dragging it out. Great article I loved reading it!!

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