What you’ll learn from this report:

The female gamer demographic cohort in Asia has experienced a significant growth over the past five years, now composing 37% of the total gamers in the region. In conjunction with the rising awareness of a need for inclusivity within the video games industry, publishers and developers should take note of the female gamer segment as a key pathway to growth in Asia.

This report provides actionable insights on female gamers to help companies with sales and marketing strategies, game design and strategic planning.

PUBLISHED JUNE 2023

32 slides

$2,500

Key takeaways from the analysis:

  • The female gamer market has significant growth potential in Asia, already 37% of total gamers and currently growing at a rate of 11% per year, nearly double that of new male gamers.   
  • Female gamers make up approximately 23.5% of total revenue for the games market in Asia but has the potential to more than double in size over the next few years as the female gamer market continues to inch closer to parity with that of male gamers.   
  • Female gamers in Asia predominantly are playing on mobile, but there are indications that PC and console have lots of room for growth. There are opportunities for developers and publishers on all 3 platforms. 
  • Although the majority of female gamers are casual gamers, there is a growing number of female Gen Z gamers playing competitive games and esports genre. 
  • Esports can be a key driver of monetization and growth among female gamers. Women who engage in esports either through livestreaming, competing, or playing esports games, are far more likely to spend money and time playing and consuming gaming content.   
  • More than half of gamers we surveyed are dissatisfied with how women are portrayed in games and special attention should be paid to more diverse representation of female appearances in avatars and characters, as well as community wide call for improvement in gender discrimination among gamers and negative online interactions.   
    • Executive Summary
    • Key Takeaways ​
    • The Market Potential of the Female Gamer ​
      • The potential of the female gamer audience​
      • The popularity of female characters
      • Opportunities for female character development​
      • Where representation can be improved​
      • Why gamers are playing as female characters​
      • Consequences of in-game anti-social behavior
      • Negative perceptions of female gamers​
    • Strategies for the Effective Market Penetration of Female Gamers​
      • Age distribution among gamers in Asia
      • Gaming and spending behavior, by platform
      • Negative experiences faced by female gamers
      • The importance of social media to reach female gamer audience
      • Movements to create safe spaces for female gamers​
    • Esports and Livestreaming: Creating Value Through Engagement​
      • Women in Asia’s esports scene
      • Esports as engagement driver among female gamers
      • Women esports tournaments in Asia
      • Women esports teams in Asia
      • Pro female gamers in Asia
      • Game livestreaming experience for women in Asia
      • Popular female gaming livestreamers in Asia
      • Popular female Vtubers in Asia
    • Methodology ​
    • Gender split of gamers in Asia (2023)​ 
    • YoY growth of gamers in Asia (2023) ​ 
    • Preference to play as female characters in video games (by respondents’ gender)​ 
    • Reasons to play as female characters in video games (by respondents’ gender)​ 
    • Preferred in-game spending in Asia ​ 
    • Opinion on female game characters (by respondents’ gender)​ 
    • Disliked aspects when playing video games​ 
    • Age distribution among gamers in Asia (by gender) 
    • Average time spent on gaming by platform ​(hours per week) 
    • Average monthly spend by platform (in USD) 
    • Preferred genres among female gamers in Asia 
    • Sources of information on gaming 
    • Esports engagements in Asia (by gender) 
    • Average hours per week spent watching the following content across all mediums 
          • Esports Federation of Cambodia
          • FSL
          • International Game Developer Association (IGDA)
          • Kincir Esports
          • KPL alliance
          • KRAFTON
          • Loco
          • Mineski Indonesia
          • Moonton
          • Project AWR (Asian Women Representation)
          • Riot Games
          • Smilegate
          • Tencent
          • Tianmei
          • VIRESA​
          • VSPO!
          • Women in Games Asia