According to Newzoo’s 2021 global mobile games guide, of the total revenue of 93.2 billion dollars in 2021, 42 billion dollars were spent by female gamers. Mobile games have surpassed computer and console games to become the market area with the highest potential. What about the presence of women in the games?
Presence and absence of female actors
High-intelligence and athletic female characters in the games
Although female actors have been present from the very beginning, they do not have distinctive images and Female characters with deep stories are rare in games. Princess Peach is a character who is always saved by a male character in the story as the female character type in the past games, giving the player the feeling of being a hero and being satisfied.
When analyzing the data, the developers noticed that female characters in-game attract more male players. For this reason, more female characters began to appear in the games, and characters such as Chun-Li from Street Fighter II and Lara Croft from Tomb Raider were given their own impressive stories.
High-intelligent and athletic female characters in the games
The first female main characters in the games
As a result of the awareness of women in the games, more women in the games The main character began to appear. From the first female protagonist Samus in 1986 to Angelique targeting the first female player audience in 1999, and then looking to the future, it has been revealed that the market targeting female gamers has grown rapidly and that female players are an indispensable power in game revenues.
The reason for the increase in games for women
Well-designed female characters have caused an increase in the number of female actors, and the awareness of women has also increased the number of players. With the changes in social formation and the development of science and technology, women have a regular income that can meet their expenses. As has been said, the economic base determines the superstructure. With their rising social position and economic independence, women have become one of the main forces of consumption.
In addition to the fact that female users are getting richer and more willing to spend money, the advanced hardware and software offered by mobile and game companies have also increased the spending of female players on mobile games.
With the development of technology, smart systems have become much cheaper, smart phones have become widespread and the number of internet users has increased considerably. In addition, since the beginning of the internet age, 60% of internet users have been women, always more than male users.
All mobile games that have experienced some kind of hardware restriction are based on touch screen interaction method such as Angry Birds and Subway Surfers. These games, which have simple gameplay and do not require a lot of time, have been very suitable for female players and have become popular. From casual games to match-3, simulation, RPG, MOBA and all other categories, female gamers account for over 50% of total players.
The number of female players, which has experienced a huge increase, encourages game developers to make games for women. The target markets at this point were the Southeast Asian market, Europe and the Americas market.
The big differences between the European and American market and the Southeast Asian market
The two regions where games targeting female players come out are quite different from each other in terms of art styles, stories and It has gameplay. Starting with the art style, according to SocialPeta’s data, the game genres that mostly target women have the line-drawing style, while Japan and South Korea care about the sweet and delicate drawing style, while the other market prefers Disney’s dramatic drawing style. If we talk about the story, the games in the Southeast Asian market attract the attention of female players with male characters in their stories.
In the Southeast Asian market, Ensemble Stars!! There are popular games for female gamers such as (ES2 for short) that are very popular on Twitter. ES2 is a female rhythm game with the theme of cultivating idols. The game is based on the concept of cultivating idols, which is quite common in Japan, and tells stories that show how hard-working handsome young men are working towards their dreams, which are so loved by female actors.
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Charming male character, female by developers It is used as a secret weapon to lure players. Developers are now well versed in creating groups of diverse handsome men with different personalities.
Games in Europe and America are more targeted towards gameplay than games in Southeast Asia. According to the “Best Mobile Games for February 2022” list published by SocialPeta, Project Makeover, the game targeting the popular female gamer of Magic Tavern, increased 14.8% compared to the previous month and had more than 3 million downloads in the App Store, February 2022′ also earned $16 million, an increase of 10.7% compared to the previous month. In 2020, IGG released the very famous game Time Princess. Both games have feminine elements that participate in simulation and match-3, accompanying the development of female characters along with story progression.
Apart from various gameplay, the main female characters in the games targeting European and American female audiences are equipped with excellent stories. They cease to be part of a romantic relationship and have their own lives and problems. There are various types of characters, sometimes those who like to wear heavy make-up, sometimes have an imperfect structure, and sometimes can be mothers.
The handsome male figures or independent female characters used in the stories are based on giving pleasure to the female players while playing the game, which is the main purpose of the game types targeting women.
As a result
According to SocialPeta, games targeting female audiences can be developed in two ways:
If the game wants to be released in the Southeast Asian market, the game prefers Japanese and South Korean art styles, male It is recommended to pay attention to the design of the characters,
If the game is to be released in the European and American market, it should prefer Disney’s art style and focus on engaging gameplay and fantastic stories.
With the rising economic power of women, the game market targeting female players attracts a lot of attention. It will be much easier for game companies to determine in advance which market they will target.
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