EA: Women 'too big an audience to ignore'

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Apr 19, 2007 12:23 pm PT

While underlining the female demographic's importance at the Women in Games Conference, EA VP Sharon Knight said developers should avoid making games that only target women.

NEWPORT, Wales--Electronic Arts vice president of Europe Online, Sharon Knight, believes that if game developers and publishers were to ignore the female audience, it would be "a great waste." Knight was the first speaker at this year's Women In Games Conference at the University of Wales, the fourth such annual event.

Making games which appeal to both genders will only increase the success of the medium, she believes, and create potentially hugely successful titles. She gave the example of the film Titanic, which surpassed Star Wars as the most successful movie of all time, because "women loved it, they went to see it in droves, they went to see it multiple times."

That said, Knight thinks it's a mistake to try to create games solely for a female audience. "If you look at how other media forms have tapped into women, for example, you don't see movies and music being exclusive to men," She said. "Women enjoy all forms of entertainment. We [at EA] want to avoid making 'pink games.' Women enjoy many of the same features in gameplay as men do. The way EA sees it is there's a lot of untapped potential out there."

Knight believes a big reason the Wii has been successful is that women find it more accessible than other consoles. "The Wii levels the playing field," she said. "You don't embarrass yourself--you can grab it and right away start having fun. ... [Wii games] don't require the same investment to learn and to master how to pick up and play [as other consoles' games]."

EA's The Sims, one of the most popular franchises of all time, has a 65 percent female audience, said Knight. However, she admitted the series' success was more of a happy accident. "No, Will [Wright, the creator of the game] was definitely not targeting the game at women," she said, laughing. "It just resonated. I think it was at the brink of the whole 'who do you want to be?' trend. You can make an avatar that you play as yourself, as a character that looks a lot like you, or you can be somebody wildly different. Now you're seeing that everywhere."

184 Comments

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:10 am PT

    Funny, I was guessing 80% female for the Sims. Cool.
    I agree with her. Problem is, most girls just aren't interested in traditional games in my experience. They lap up The SIms and Wii Sports, but just don't get The Orange box.

  • NightCrowe

    Posted Jul 2, 2007 2:59 am PT

    I'm a PC Woman Gamer (mouse and keyboard are best!) and I play most of the WWII action series around on and offline. I also play the Hitman series, Far cry, Splinter Cell series, Deus Ex , Thief series, GTA...in fact anything that has interesting storyline/ great weapons and plenty of enemies to take down. I am NOT interested in 'pink' fluffy games...and, for the record, I also loathe and despise most 'Romantic' films....especially Titanic! Urgh!

    I'm quite happy playing a supposed 'male-oriented' game, but do occasionally get fed up with the constant assumption that the players of these games must be male and therefore there is constant marketing of men's 'Interests' ( Hot Women articles or adverts) connected to such games in the games magazines, sites and indeed on many forums. I REALLY hate having to stand by the girlie mags in a store in order to look at the computer magazines! It's all sooooo sexist.

    So, as long as the games designers make something that doesn't absolutely require the player to be a certain sex, then both men and women can and will play if it contains interactive INTELLIGENT gameplay that interests them. Lots of big guns please!

  • karateyoyo

    Posted May 11, 2007 1:26 pm PT

    YES!!!
    But no girly girl games please!!!
    Sims, doa (NOT EXTREME BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLEASE) DDR, KH, FF, JSRF!!! Need more!! These are the best!!!
    And gamer guys are not better than us girls!!! We're all equal!!!

  • LaniReaper

    Posted May 2, 2007 6:48 am PT

    Okay, what's with this again? The girl gamer debate is getting old. Yes, I'm female. Yes, I got my PS3 on release day. I'm debating whether I prefer Resistance: Fall Of Man or ES4: Oblivion better. I played The Sims 2. I hated it.

    A lot of women probably won't go towards video games unless said game is 'pink'. But bear in mind, about 5%, I'd say, of the mainstream gaming community are female. And 'mainstream' doesn't mean female Wii owners. Kthx.

  • EhopeQuill

    Posted May 2, 2007 5:20 am PT

    Sadly, female gamers are not viewed equal to male gamers. Not only are many games geared towards the male player, females are often scolded for playing games. Males are free to use games as a source of relaxation and entertainment however females playing games are viewed as a waste of time. We should be mastering "The Joy of Cooking" and not our critical strikes.

    Pfft..go make your own chateau brion. I am happy with a salad and a slice of cheese.

  • imperial_agent

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:43 am PT

    Sharon Knight is freakin hot. Is she single? I live near EA!

  • demoman_chaos

    Posted May 1, 2007 6:01 pm PT

    Star Wars lost in movies because most geeks don't go to the theater.
    Just like Joe Dirt, sucked in theaters, went to Wal*Mart, sold faster than they could produce them.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 10:25 pm PT

    hidden ninja - The problem is that mindset is that, for gaming to be taken seriously, it has to evolve out of the frat houses and into mainstream America, and part of that is not treating women (and minorities) like they're lesser. The best selling games in the world - Sims, Wow, etc - have a universal appeal that DoAX2 simply doesn't have. That's what this girl's talking about: games that women can enjoy just as much as men without feeling uncomfortable.

    And of course Titanic beat out Star Wars in theatres. The Star Wars fans waited till it hit VHS to view it millions of times a day.

  • hidden_ninja4

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 9:22 pm PT

    ok, comparing box office sales to games doesn't work: you can't go see a game in the theaters
    and since when were movies catered strictly to men anyway?
    the vast, vast majority of gamers is male anyway, so what if the market sells to its main demographic

  • Bozanimal

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 3:42 pm PT

    Video games are designed primarily for men, but there have been many, many games designed with women in mind for a long time. Go all the way back to Super Mario Brothers, which had little gender bias unless you're of the anti-princess rescuing feminist movement. Take Bubble Bobble, Kirby, and Pikmin into account. Sure, there are 10 Doom clones for every Mario Kart, but the games exist. The fact of the matter is that women spend less time playing games and have more of an interest in real-world social interaction. For shame (sarcasm)!

    Developers are also predominately male, so they tend to develop games with an audience in mind that is similar to themselves. Of course, as more women grow up with games the audience has expanded, so developers are recognizing this. My wife is grateful!

  • GonzoGuy

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 12:40 pm PT

    My wife has always been into games (from introducing me to the sims to most recently monopolising my psp and it's GTA Vice City Stories) but ever since I got the Wii, I noticed allot more wifes and girlfriends coming out more often for game night. It's definitely the most inclusive gaming machine since the atari. Even some girls I know who always hated video games (and I mean HATE; like you'd think Donkey Kong donkey punched her mom) want to buy a Wii after playing it once. They mean titanic did better in theaters compared to Star Wars' first run. It will never rake in as much overall capital as any of the original Star Wars movies.

  • sodapopky

    Posted Apr 29, 2007 7:57 pm PT

    dont forget the average person has self esteem. which means they dont give a sh*t how you see them. and zero_space check this http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
    thats your education for the day

  • Zero_Space

    Posted Apr 29, 2007 3:05 pm PT

    "She gave the example of the film Titanic, which surpassed Star Wars as the most successful movie of all time"

    Ummmm. Sorry. I will never believe Titanic was more successful than the Star Wars franchise. lol.

  • Mezzanne

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 11:44 pm PT

    I dunno, the popular genres cater more for men, really...like FPS, I don't know if most women are interested in killing things. There're others, but as an exception, I think RPGs are generally quite "acceptable" to women.. my ex played a few of them. Still, I do think that generally, women are less interested in games. Besides, what the hell does she's think she's doing out of the kitchen playing games anyway?! ...just kidding

  • ogretroll123

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 6:50 pm PT

    Dreski83. I do kinda agree with you. You do look pretty dumb when you play with a controller/joystick/whatever. But as fun as it is, it's almost impossible NOT to make an ass out of yourself playing the Wii.

  • xatman911

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 12:01 pm PT

    They could start giving two types of character per game like you can choose who you want to be.

  • arc_salvo

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 8:57 pm PT

    "stinger503 - How the hell is Zelda a "girly" game?"

    I'm not stinger503, but I gotta say this: Ever see that hot (if flat chested) dame Link that you play in that game? I think that fact speaks for itself!

    (Kidding! Kidding!)

  • Dreski83

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:33 pm PT

    I'm seriously tired of people who think playing games on the Wii are embarassing... I mean, when yer in the arcade playin shooting or racing games do you ever think about how cool you look?!
    If so, go home!
    Games are ment to be fun no matter the genre or gender playing them so to assume women need more exposure is not a fair thing to say. Leave that up to them if they want to be hardcore or casual...

  • zaphod_b

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:05 pm PT

    I'm sorry, did you say something? (kidding)

    I think there is plenty of room in this industry for games that cater to men, to women, and to both. As the market expands, targeting specific demographics will be important. While I think that female gamers still represent a small minority, this will continue to become increasingly important.

    Now, I'm sorry, did you say something?

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