Study: Women Rule Mobile Gaming
By Geoff Duncan
June 30, 2006
Electronic games are guy thing, right? A study from Parks Associates finds that 59 percent of all U.S. consumers who play games on a mobile phone are women.
Historically, electronic games of any kind have been seen as more of a "guy thing," right alongside muscle cars, power tools, and other techno doodads. Well, a new study from Parks Associates flies in the face of that conventional wisdom in at least one arena, finding some 59 percent of U.S. consumers who play games on their mobile phones are women. Women also comprise 61 percent of users playing mobile games one to four hours per month, and 58 percent of users playing mobile games more than 4 hours a month.
According to Parks, the findings sync up with demographic profiles of Internet gamers, which also skew toward women "due to their penchant for online trivia and card games." Conversely, men gravitate towards action, combat, and role-playing games.
"Women are the foundation of the gaming market, and as an industry, we need to cater to their preferences," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "This effort is key to future revenue growth because right now women generally spend little on gaming even though they like to play games and often have disposable income. The industry just needs to find a game they are will to pay for."
Nice! Trying to wheedle money is great way to make the gals feel welcome, John.