Girl gamers are females who regularly engage in the playing of video games, role-playing games, or other games (colloquially referred to as "gaming"). This can be from the most casual interest to the most serious professional gaming.
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The role of women in the games industry - as professionals and as consumers - has received extensive academic and business attention.[1][2] Women represent approximately half the population but only constitute a small percentage of video game players by comparison.[1] Finding the reasons for, and changing the content and how games are advertised to attract and change the percent of women buying games drives a lot of professionals to research and find solutions to improve the gaming industry. Many available articles argue for the improvement of the gaming industry to appeal to a more general audience and for females in particular.[3] The majority of the people who work on game development teams are males.[4] Critics also attribute to a misogynistic attitude that is frequent among the professional and hardcore gamers [5] and to the negative portrayal of women in video games, as reasons for the small interest of women into videgames.
According to a survey done in 2004 by the Entertainment Software Association, 25 percent of console players and 39 percent of PC game players are women. Also, 40 percent of online game players are women; however, these numbers also include casual games.[6] According to another study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association in 2010, 40% of the game playing population is female, and women 18 or older now comprise 33% of all gamers.
Also, the percentage of women now playing online has risen to 42%, up several percent since 2004. The same study shows that 46% of game purchasers are female (Entertainment Software Association).[7] In recognition of the importance of the issues of women and girls as game developers and players, the International Game Developers Association, an association of companies and individuals in the games industry, has formed a special interest group on Women in Game Development.[8] This is an active field of discussion and a topic in many conferences in the video gaming industry.[1][2]