In the domestic and foreign game market, it has always been dominated by men. The mainstream big-name games such as "World of Warcraft" and "League of Legends" are all aimed at the male market, catering to men’s preferences and aesthetics. But recently, on social platforms such as Weibo, you can see many girls showing off their face-pinching "daughters" and looking for dating strategies everywhere. These are the posts of female players of the game "Feather Clothes". Players show off their designs generously, and once again set off a trend of women turning to games.
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The spending power of female players should not be underestimated
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In the past, the number of female players was far less than that of male players, so game companies mainly designed games for the male market. Most of the games targeted at male players were action and Adventure Games, focusing on visual and auditory experiences and pursuing sensory stimulation. A major feature of female-oriented games was the emphasis on emotional communication and resonance of players during the game process. In the early days, female-oriented games were always in the minority, mainly divided into Otome-oriented games and Rotten-oriented games, and the types were mostly games such as cultivation and dress-up.
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Japan’s video game production is huge, and most of the early female-oriented games came from Japan. "Heartbeat Memories" and "Beautiful Girl DreamWorks" are all classic masterpieces. In China, many people’s understanding of female-oriented games comes from "Orange Light Games". The game takes the female protagonist as the player’s perspective, and from the perspective of women, there are many themes such as palace fighting and cultivation. Although female-oriented games have always been popular, they are not as mainstream as traditional games.
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In recent years, the number of female players has increased significantly. The 2017 Global Mobile Game Industry White Paper shows that the proportion of female players in China’s mobile game users has reached 50.2%, exceeding 49.8% of male players. The consumption figures of women in the game market cannot be ignored. According to the "2018 China Women’s Game Research Report" released by Gamma Data, the income of the female game market in 2017 reached 43.07 billion yuan.
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In early 2018, the mobile game "Mr Love: Queen’s Choice" became a phenomenon of women to the game, causing the upsurge of the whole people to raise husbands. Moments, Weibo and other social platforms were swiped by the paper man husband, and the four male protagonists in the game were more often on Weibo’s trending topic list. "Mr Love: Queen’s Choice" was launched in the first week of single-day IOS income has exceeded 300,000 yuan, and the first month’s income has exceeded 50 million yuan. On the evening of January 13, on the birthday of Li Zeyan, one of the male protagonists of the game, female players raised funds through the community and placed birthday advertisements on the LED screen of Shenzhen Jingji 100 Building. "Happy Birthday Li Zeyan", "Don’t make a fuss", "It was bought with your black card" and other strings were broadcast, costing about 240,000 yuan. It can be seen that the consumption ability and willingness of female players are not lower than that of men.
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Aesthetic painting style attracts women
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Eight years ago, Helen, who started to contact women in the game, said bluntly that she was initially attracted by the male protagonist of the game. The female protagonist’s style of the game is usually more beautiful, and the male protagonist’s appearance is relatively high. Compared with the male characters in the game, it is more beautiful and more in line with the female aesthetic. "Other games don’t have so many male characters, nor are they so handsome, and the gameplay is always fighting and fighting."
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Miss Li, who has been playing women’s games for nearly 11 years, has switched from web games to mobile games, from "Beautiful Girl Growth Plan" to "Beautiful Boy Big Olympics", and has dabbled in palace fights, development, love and other topics. In her opinion, women’s games are usually overhead or through the background, can experience the identity and life that cannot be had in real life, and the plot and character setting of women’s games are relatively dreamy, and the female protagonist is always lucky and very popular with the opposite sex, which can satisfy her fantasies. "You don’t need to use your brain much, and you don’t need to be bloody frightened. It’s like reading a light novel, and playing it in your spare time can relieve stress."
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In the past, when web games were popular, it was difficult for players to support game companies, but now mobile game IPs are mature. In addition to limited-time activities, card draws, story rolls and other activities in the game to attract players "krypton gold", peripheral goods will also be released, and even the game is used as a blueprint to create stage plays, which shortens the distance between players and games. The world of the paper man’s second dimension feels more real. However, Miss Li feels that society has not fully accepted women’s games, and there are still certain prejudices and contempt. For example, she feels that female players who play love development games are single housewives who love fantasies. As women’s games become more and more valued and popular, she believes that more people will know women’s games, and the themes will be more diverse.
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Serious gender discrimination
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Due to the fact that the game market has always been dominated by men in the past, many male gamers have an inherent concept that women do not like to play games, and even if they play games, they only play some casual games with simple operation, and despise female players. When playing competitive games, some male players encounter players with poor skills, and they will use "female players" to complain to others "playing so poorly, are you a woman?" "Female players really react slowly and play badly". In addition, some media have played up ideas such as "women don’t know anything about games" and "women don’t understand the fun of boyfriends playing games", which weakens the ability and status of female players, deepens the problem of gender discrimination in the game industry, and also makes the voices and needs of female players ignored by the public.
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Sissi, who has been playing League of Legends for seven years, lamented that in the gaming industry, cases of discrimination against female players are common, and some male players even sexually harass female players. The female players she knows have all said that they have had similar unpleasant experiences in the game. "Once I was playing League of Legends with other male friends. At the beginning of the game, a member of the opposite team asked if there were any female players present on the whole channel. My friend pointed me out, and the players kept asking me if I had any physical reactions. I felt offended. The only thing I could do was to report the player in the game, but I still felt very uneasy and helpless."
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According to a research report on a game released by Penguin Zhiku, 54% of 200 million users are women, and the number exceeds 100 million. It can be seen that in general male-oriented games, the number of female players cannot be underestimated. At the same time, the problem of gender discrimination in games by men is very serious, and there is a lack of relevant education and publicity. Many male players habitually despise female players, and even say harassment or humiliation, which makes female players disgusted, but there is no complaint or reporting mechanism to protect female players. The game experience includes not only the quality of the game, but also the atmosphere of the whole game and the communication between players. If the problem of discrimination against female players is not solved, the quality of experience of the game will decline, and over time, the loss of female players will increase.
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With the popularity of Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice and Traveling Frog in early 2018, the future potential of women’s games has attracted the attention of more game companies and given more choices to female players. Not only has there been a significant change in the female gaming market, but there are also more and more female players from traditional men to games. It can be seen that the female market will be a must for future game companies, and more games targeting women’s preferences and needs will be available. But the rights and interests of female players cannot be ignored. To retain female players, it is necessary to build a female-friendly gaming environment.
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