US Women and Gaming Consumer Report 2022

Women and gaming market overview

The gaming industry continues to grow despite inflation slowing down momentum, and is expected to reach nearly $200 billion in revenue for the year. This comes with growing interest from women towards the industry.

Women make up nearly half of the US adult video gaming population, and nearly three-quarters of women aged 18+ played video games in the past three months. Adult women gamers also play nearly as frequently as male gamers.

While women gamers are most engaged on mobile platforms, their interest in console gaming platforms should not be discounted. For example, half of Nintendo Switch owners are women, and more generally 32% of all women gamers play video games on a console of some kind.

Women in gaming market trends and opportunities

Brands can appeal by providing gaming knowledge and challenging stereotypes

Women gamers are mostly influenced by friends when it comes to making decisions, but brands have an opportunity to appeal where knowledge is sought, such as teaching them more about video games they like to play. A portion of moms are also turning towards gaming media and review websites to learn about their children’s games, likely influencing their game purchase decisions.

The greatest gap in playing video games between men and women occurs for dedicated console gaming for women ages 18-54. This is likely due to the fact that societal and home-related pressures become more prominent as younger girls mature. To counter this, the historical perception that gaming is a male-only activity can continue to be challenged, and parents encouraged to play video games with their daughters, as well as their sons.

Improve gaming community standards and representation

There’s further opportunity for brands and those with a platform in the gaming industry to confront harassment in gaming towards women. Over half of young women gamers worry about opening themselves up to harassment, discrimination, or gatekeeping in online games. With this in mind, women tend to gravitate towards games that offer better community standards and guidelines, presenting an opportunity for this kind of practice to be rolled out across the board. 

Representation is also important for women gamers, and game developers can make an effort to ensure women are represented in game characters, while gaming advertisers can include women more in their messages.

• Women in gaming consumer behavior: 78% of women see their video game hobby as something they don’t openly disclose.
• Women gaming industry market trends: 62% of women in the US play video games for at least an hour a week.
• Women and gaming market challenges: 53% of Gen Z female gamers worry that disclosing their gender in online video games will expose them to harassment.

To discover more about the Women and Gaming Industry, read our US Diversity in Gaming Market Report, or take a look at our extensive Gaming Industry Market Research.

Quickly understand

• What’s impacting women and gaming and how women’s role in the gaming industry is evolving.
• How women gamers treat gaming as a hobby and their general approach to engaging with it.
• Why women gamers do and do not engage more with the gaming industry.
• Where women gamers look to discover games and the best channels for discoverability.
• What women gamers think about advertising in gaming, especially on mobile.
• Gamers’ attitudes toward the gaming industry and interacting with other players.

Covered in this report

Brands and organizations: Rockstar Games, Bloomberg, Dove, Epic Games, Women in Games, Girls Who Code, Feminist Frequency, G4TV, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive, and more.

Games: Fortnite, Roblox, Grand Theft Auto VI, Animal Crossing, Candy Crush, Elden Ring, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch, and more.