Female gamers were, for too long of a time, seen as a niche market for game devs. For decades gaming was geared almost exclusively to a male audience and women gamers were even slighted by their male counterparts.
However, as societally enforced gender roles have slowly broken down, the number of female gamers has risen dramatically.
In 2020, women made up nearly 41% of all gamers in the United States. This number is even higher in Asia, which accounts for 48% of the world’s total gaming revenue, where women now make up, up to 45% of the Asian gaming population.
These numbers are mirrored by the number of women playing online casino games such as Rainbow Riches. With some of the most fun online casino and slot games to play, Rainbow Riches Casino is the go-to for millions of casino gamers each year.
Studies show that most female gamers play not just for the sense of achievement but also for the social aspect. Representation also seems to have played a big part with the rise in the number of female gamers rising alongside the number of female character craven games on the market.
Many of these characters are no longer created via the male gaze. Characters like Lara Croft of Tomb Raider and Cortana from the Halo franchise have made way for more nuanced, narrative driven heroes rather than digital eye-candy.
Behind the scenes however, representation is not so good. A 2020 study of the top fourteen global gaming companies reveals that 84% of executive positions in the gaming industry are held by men. Outside of the executive ranks, only 24% of those working in the industry are women.
In some ways, the social aspect is also a turn-off for women gamers. Some portions of the male gaming community use online-gaming circles to bully and harass women.
However, many gaming studios/developers and online gaming spaces like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network are cracking down on online abuse to make these spaces kinder and safer for everyone.
Whilst some of those stereotypical characters remain and with work still needing to be done for more female protagonists, the rise is at least signifying a change in the way devsapproach their audience and the attitudes of the wider world.
As women are more widely accepted in the community with the help of execs an decision makers, the numbers we are witnessing right now are likely to grow even more.
So with the number of women gamers rising so much, whatare they playing exactly? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular games amongst females.
Call of duty
As the biggest first-person shooter game on the planet, it is no surprise that COD appears on this list. Statista reports that 36% of female gamers in the US played a Call of Duty game in 2019, the highest of any non-mobile exclusive game.
With a number of female characters in their campaign mode along with a huge list of female ‘operators’ to play as on their ‘Warzone Battle Royale’ online game mode, representation in COD is one of the strongest in the industry.
Some of the biggest female twitch streamers in the world also play COD live to audiences of millions. It is arguably the biggest video game franchise in the world and their decision to market to women is great news for everyone involved.
Rainbow Riches Pots of Gold
The number of women using online casinos has risen tenfold in recent years and many have chosen Rainbow Riches as their go-to. Pots of gold, the first ever Rainbow Riches game, is a classic 5 reel online slots game with 10 ways to win.
It works like any normal slots game— line up identical symbols to win. There are also wild symbols which substitute for all others on the reels along with 3 bonus rounds, requiring three or four Pot of Gold symbols and five for the super bonus.
After entering the bonus round you can spin the wheel to win a cash prize with bronze, silver and gold prizes available. You can win up to 5000x your stake in the bonus rounds.
With fun bonus rounds, great aesthetics and the opportunity to win incredible cash prizes it is no wonder that female gamers are flocking to Rainbow Riches.
Fortnite
Until COD released their own version, Fortnite was the biggest battle royale game in the world. Available on a multitude of platforms, it is one of the most accessible video games to play and welcomes hundreds of millions of players.
The biggest thing Fortnite has going for it is that it is completely free-to-play! It’s accessibility paired with a number of female characters, much like COD, makes it one of the most popular shooters for women gamers.
Pokemon Go
As previously mentioned, one of the biggest draws to gaming for women is the social aspect. There are not many games that incorporate this more than Pokemon Go.
By design, you need to leave the house to play Pokemon Go. After it’s release in 2016, millions of women were out playing in both female-clusters and mixed-gender groups.
As many women are frequently the targets of trolling and harassment when gaming online, Pokemon Go created a safe space where that couldn’t happen. The augmented reality removed the dissociative filter that some men often use online to harass women gamers.