Although mentalities are changing, certain prejudices die hard and many continue to think that the world of video games is essentially male. Gold, various surveys have proven for several years that the proportion of male and female players is similar. For the first time in 2020, according to the annual report of the Syndicate of Leisure Software Publishers, women even accounted for 51% of video game players. The study carried out recently by the association Women in Games France details, under different prisms, the share of women in the video game industry.
Video game publishers are one of the only sectors of activity in which parity has been achieved. Indeed, we learn in the investigation of Women in Games that in 2020, women represented 50% of employees working at the various French publishers. Within development studios too, the proportion of women is constantly growing: it now stands at 22% of the workforce, compared to just 14% in 2019. 38% of women working in the video game industry work in image, 33% in design and 21% in technology. In special schools, 26% of enrolled pupils are female students, a relatively stable figure compared to previous years.
Although they represent half of video game enthusiasts, theomen are vastly underrepresented in esports competitions. The study of Women in Games highlights that only 7% of tournament participants are women. Various reasons can explain this lack of representativeness: thus, one woman out of four affirms that the toxicity of certain players robs them of all desire to play on a network. Among those who have already been attacked online, 80% do not know that there are now effective ways to protect themselves from discrimination in video games. On streaming platforms too, women are not very present. Of the 1,000 most popular channels in 2021, the percentage of those owned by women is only 11.3% on Twitch and 8.3% on Youtube.
Still based on the results of the study of Women in Games France, 72% of French women play video games (all media combined: PC, consoles, smartphones and tablets), i.e. 19.1 million players in total. Women have always represented a significant proportion of gamers and it is clear that their number is constantly increasing, especially since confinement. This evolution is reflected even in games that more often put female characters in the foreground. It seems paradoxical that women are so underrepresented in esports competitions and on streaming platforms. This question, among others, has been the subject of a live podcast on our channel Youtubeaccompanied by Morgane Falaize (president of the association).
If you want to support the association’s projects Women in Games Franceyou can join via its website. Also note that if you encounter harassment or other problems, you have an online guide to deal with cyberbullying by helping victims to minimize the risks and to know the legal remedies and to give advice to moderate his community and protect his information on his private life. Finally, whether or not you are a member of the association, the server Discord of the association is always open to you and the “advice-support” channel is dedicated to sharing experiences of sexism, discrimination and harassment experienced in the video game industry.