Sex & Games

You gave a great talk at the Women in Games conference in Scotland. Can you summarize that talk here?


I have been researching the video game industry for 10 years. Throughout this time I have found the way that women are addressed as a market to be very interesting and confusing. My talk in Scotland focused on the ways that the games industry excludes women as consumers of games. I see three distinct areas of exclusion, game design, game magazines, and game promotion. While women are often courted through one of these areas the other two areas send women such a clear message that they are not desirable customers that they drive potential women gamers away. This is not to say that all women are excluded. There are still quite a few women who play games, but these women are so driven to play these games that they are willing to cross the gender barriers to gain access to the games. These barriers are not intentionally created; they are simply part of the imbedded structure of the industry.

My main point is that the industry needs to imagine the increase in sales of the current game library if women were not driven away from the get-go. This is a main reason for the success behind casual games with women. The women who play these games don’t need to go anywhere but their friendly yahoo site to locate games they might enjoy. The barrier to entry is much lower.

In marketing to their audience, what common mistakes do you see people making that exclude particular markets?


A very common mistake is for the character creation aspect of a game to be underrepresented in the marketing and promotion. Most of the time, the fact that a female character is a playable option for a game is never mentioned in the marketing of the game. Many players want to feel an emotional attachment to their character, and the ability to play a female rocker or snowboarder is key to making some women and men want to purchase a game. To ignore this key aspect in the marketing and promotion of a game is to leave out a segment of the population that may love to play a snowboarding game; they just don’t want to play as a guy. I realize that this seems to be a minor aspect of game marketing and promotion, but the details are where the industry is missing the point on the marketing side.


In what way can developers of sexual content learn from your research (I.e. how can we apply that?)


What my research has shown is that unintentional barriers are often in place and the people that create a game can be unaware of these barriers because they don’t see them. This is why I believe that it is important for any game developer to have the most diverse team possible. Only when a diverse group of people are present during the game development can the barriers be recognized. It is often too late, if barriers to game play are noticed once the game is finished.


What's next for you (business and research)?

Next year Evergreen Events has planned two game industry conferences: Marketing Games to a Diverse Audience: Easily Increase Your Bottom Line (San Francisco-June 22-23)

As far as research is concerned, I am interested in examining the ways that the retail part of the game industry does or does not attract women into the game space.