Study: More than half of women hide their gender in online games to avoid harassment

Reach3 Insights, together with Lenovo, conducted a study on female gamers. In addition to preferred genres and other behavioral features, it turned out that almost 60% of women specifically hide their gender when playing online. They do this to avoid unnecessary conflicts and harassment from men.The study was based on a survey of 900 women from China, Germany and the USA.

The sample was made precisely from among the core audience – gamers who prefer not casual, but more hardcore genres.

Main conclusions77% of women admitted that they had experienced at least one form of gender discrimination.

• Most of the respondents (70%) reported that their gaming skills were regularly judged because of gender.
• 65% have experienced gatekeeping — in this case, a formal ban on male players from calling themselves a gamer or playing projects of certain genres. Half of the women declared a patronizing attitude towards themselves in the comments.44% of respondents have also faced attempts to start unwanted relationships for them.
• Because of such cases, 59% of women prefer to use male or gender-neutral aliases and names in online games.
• “We try to hide our gender because we don’t want to be flirted with, sent unwanted photos and messages,“ one of the respondents admitted.At the same time, the study showed that most women play the same games as men.
• 88% of respondents play competitive titles, 75% prefer action and survival games, and 65% — shooters.Despite cases of discrimination, the majority of respondents are satisfied with the representation of women in games.
• 80% are satisfied with female characters in AAA titles, and 91% are satisfied with heroines in indie games.71% of respondents also want to see more women in advertising games — for example, to involve them in the voiceover of commercials or show how girls play AAA titles.