There is a rise of female gamers and many of them face abuse online because of their gender unfortunately.
Women gamers have increased in recent years and continue to do so, currently constituting approximately 48% of players worldwide, according to a 2022 report by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
Despite women making up nearly half of the gaming community and their growing interest, they only constitute 30% of video game developers globally in 2021, according to Statista.
The report detailed limited growth with females in the industry, only rising by 8% from 2014, whilst men consistently dominate the game development sector.
In addition, women only hold 16% of the executive positions in the top 14 global gaming companies.
The underrepresentation of women in the industry negatively impacts the creation of games, where the development and marketing are orientated to male preference. As a result, this has the potential to restrict the appeal of gaming to many women.
Emma Hughes, 22, from Buckinghamshire, has been gaming for six years and her favourite single-player game is Tomb Raider. She said:
“I think the first problem causing women to be marginalised in gaming is how they are represented. Stella Blade is the perfect example because it has recently just been released and is very controversial because the female lead character has been sexualised and given an array of revealing costumes. It is common for this kind of game to have really only been designed with male preference, and unfortunately within this industry, sex sells, which ends up objectifying us.
“A lot of this comes down to development and if not many women create these games or get a say in how we are portrayed, then there is no chance any difference will be made.
“I think there have been some positive changes because some games like Tomb Raider and Horrizon Zero Dawn follow a female hero, who sets a brilliant example and is aspirating for many female audiences”
Emma also enjoys playing games online, such as Valorant but has faced many obstacles, including harassment and abuse.
She said: “The online gaming world can be a very toxic place which would put any woman off. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that ‘gamer girls’ get fetishized online, where women are consistently harassed by excessive flirting, threats, abuse or misogyny.
“A lot of us do hide our gender and never go on voice chats because of this, but even if we play with males we know, we have that added pressure to do well otherwise sexist comments will be made, even if just a joke sometimes.”
Emma is not alone. A study from Sky News discovered that out of 4,000 female gamers surveyed, 49% of them faced abuse or harassment when playing or streaming online. Specifically, for female gamers aged 18-24, 75% faced abuse whilst playing.
As a result of the harassment, 25% of the women surveyed said that it harmed their mental health, causing them to feel depressed. In the same study, 40% said they were personally threatened by the abuse, with 27% fearing that they would be attacked in real life as a result of these threats.
The most disturbing finding from this study was that one in ten female gamers has felt suicidal as a result of abuse.
“Gaming should be an enjoyable experience, and it usually is if you protect yourself online and only play with people who you have a strong friendship with. It is something that everyone can do.
“It doesn’t make a difference what ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender you are; we all have the ability to play a game and be immersed in a story, so I don’t understand why we are targeted. We have the same reaction times, intelligence and skills as men, and are better gamers on so many levels. No one ever deserves abuse and we especially don’t because of toxic masculinity when we beat the men.”
