In 2020, women made up nearly 41% of all gamers in the United States. And in Asia, which accounts for 48% of global gaming revenue, women now make up 40-45% of the Asian gaming population, according to Google. Female gamers are on the rise, and numerous studies have sought to understand whether female gamers have specific motivations and gaming behaviours.
Some country-specific studies show that gaming motivations differ culturally between genders. French female gamers seek competition or challenge in addition to escapism, while French males use games to cope with stress and achieve success through competition. A study of Taiwanese gamers shows that women play for performance and social reasons, while men play to pass the time. In America, female gamers appear to play for performance and social reasons, to engage socially and maintain relationships.
In terms of gaming, a recent Forbes study shows that female gamers play all types of game genres, using different devices and platforms.
Online casino games have also traditionally been dominated by men. But things are slowly changing here too, with many women bringing their skills to the virtual tables – and in many cases outperforming their male counterparts. Although we’ve yet to see a woman win the World Series of Online Casino Games Main Event, many commentators believe it’s only a matter of time. For example, it would be a real understatement to say that Liv Boeree’s gaming record is impressive. She is the only woman to have won major events on both the World Online Casino Tour and the European Online Casino Tour. Liv has also secured the coveted Online Casino Games bracelet. Do you want to play and win like these successful women? No problem, all you need is some free time and an online casino with a good reputation, visit https://casino-slotozen.com/ to find one. You never know if you don’t try, so we wish you luck.
Here we present some remarkable female gamers:
Li “VKLiooon” Xiaomeng
VKLiooon has been around in the Chinese Hearthstone community for some time, but only started to achieve exceptionally high rankings in 2019, including a qualification for the Hearthstone Global Finals. She is a very consistent player and can easily familiarise herself with the intricacies of a meta deck in just a few days.
Her path to becoming a professional player began with casting, streaming and content creation. VKLiooon broke three esports records at this year’s BlizzCon by becoming both the first woman and the first Chinese player to win a Hearthstone Grandmasters Championship. She is also the first woman to ever win a Grand Finals trophy at BlizzCon. Esports has long had a problem with the number of women making it to the highest professional levels, and in an emotional speech after her victory, Li had an encouraging message for women looking to break into the pro scene.
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter
Valkyrae began her streaming career as an extension of her love for gaming. While working at GameStop, she would go on Instagram in her spare time and talk about games that interested her, retro consoles or upcoming games that were coming out. She built up an audience until someone suggested she switch to Twitch, where she really blossomed. Nowadays you can see her on YouTube, where she streams to her audience of over 3.4 million subscribers.
Pokimane
Imane Anys, better known as Pokimane, is a Moroccan-Canadian businesswoman, influencer, streamer and internet personality. She participated in the record-breaking BlockChamps event and was also part of PogChamps 3. She has over 20 million followers across all platforms. Pokimane (also known as Poki) started streaming regularly on Twitch in 2017. In the same year, she gained more than 450,000 followers, which earned her the “Best Twitch Streamer of the Year” award at the Shorty Awards. A few months later, Pokimane surpassed the 1,000,000 follower mark. Today, Poki has 8 million followers on the platform, making her one of the ten biggest streamers on Twitch.
Part of her success comes from her laid-back personality and light-hearted sense of humour, combined with impressive gaming skills. Pokimane plays a wide range of games on her stream, including League of Legends, Fortnite, Minecraft and Among Us. She also spends a considerable amount of time interacting with her followers in the “Just Chatting” category.
Rebecca Heineman
Heineman became the first female national gaming champion in 1980, but didn’t begin the process of finding her self-worth until the 2000s when she realised she was transgender. Most of her fans probably know her best for her time at Interplay Productions, the publisher and developer founded by Brian Fargo, which she co-founded with Fargo and three other developers in 1983.
During her time at Interplay, Becky developed “Tass Times in Tonetown”, a quirky, cheeky and highly innovative point-and-click adventure game released in 1986. She was also jointly responsible for Interplay’s famous computer role-playing game, Tales of the Unknown: Volume I, better known as The Bard’s Tale.
A long-time fan of the genre, Becky wrote The Bard’s Tale III in 1988, widely regarded as the best game in the series. She also designed the critically acclaimed “Dragon Wars” in 1989, which, despite its bold innovations and meticulous design, achieved only moderate sales figures. She also earned a reputation for her many excellent conversions of popular games for the Apple IIGS, Macintosh and many other platforms.
But unlike most of these early programmers, who were sometimes more, sometimes less successful in the 80s before eventually moving on to other careers, Rebecca has remained a key figure. Most recently a senior engine programmer at Ubisoft Toronto, she was also a key member of Microsoft’s Kinect team. Heineman’s victory and the tournament itself were groundbreaking and signalled what would eventually evolve into the booming e-sports industry of today.
Women have always been a part of gaming and always will be. All such lists will be incomplete and somewhat personal. But it has been a truly heartening task to see so many women grow and thrive in this industry and pave the way for other strong women.
Conclusion
The success of women in the gaming industry is therefore indicative of the changing dynamics of gaming culture, which is characterised by greater inclusivity, diversity and innovation. The stories of these outstanding women not only highlight their individual achievements, but also pave the way for future generations of female gamers and creators. As the industry continues to evolve, women’s contributions will undoubtedly remain a vital part of its growth and success, challenging stereotypes and inspiring change. The journey of women in the games industry is far from over, but the progress made to date offers a promising prospect of a more inclusive and dynamic future.