Women Gamers Now Outnumber Men in the UK

According to a survey by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK, British women now play games more than their male counterparts. 

MCV reports that 52 per cent of gamers in the UK during the last six months were women, a rise of three per cent from 2011 when the figure was 49 per cent. 

The expansion has been fuelled by the 25 to 44 age group who have heavily downloaded free trivia and puzzle games on their smartphones according to the IAB. 

“The internet and mobile devices have changed the gaming landscape forever,” commented Steve Chester, director of data and industry programmes at the Internet Advertising Bureau.

“They’ve brought down the barriers to entry, making gaming far more accessible and opened it up to a whole new audience. In the past you needed to go out and buy an expensive console and the discs on top to get a decent experience, now you can just download a free app.”

Britons typically play games for six hours per week across three different devices. Those aged over 44 are now more likely to play games than children and apps are the most popular type of game format, being played by 55 per cent of the gaming population. 

48 per cent have played online games in the last six months, while 40 per cent have played a disc-based game. 61 per cent of all games acquired in the last six months have been free-to-play mobile titles and a majority (61 per cent) say they accept in-game advertising if it means a game is free. 

Because of the free-to-play shift, phones have become the most popular devices for playing games, being cited by 54 per cent of respondents, followed by computers (51 per cent), consoles (45 per cent), and then tablets (44 per cent).

However, console games still takes up the most playing time at 30 per cent, compared to 21 per cent for smartphones.