For the first time, there are more women gamers in the UK than men gamers, a new research claims.
According to a new study carried out by Populus for the Internet Advertising Bureau, the number of female gamers has surpassed the number of male gamers in the UK market.
The study, based on interviews with over 4,000 UK residents aged 8 – 74, found that the percentage of women in gaming has grown to an incredible 52 percent, as compared to 49 percent recorded three years ago, outweighing the subsequent 48 percent of males.
The study found that UK’s gaming audience has grown to hit 33.5 million Brits, accounting for almost some 69 percent of the population and that the increase in female gamer numbers was primarily driven by women aged 25-44 downloading free puzzle and trivia games across a variety of home consoles, handhelds, and phone/tablet devices in the last 6 months.
The report also revealed that there are more people – over 44-year-old – playing games (27 percent of the audience) than children or teenagers (22 percent). As per the report, an average Brit spends 6 hours per week playing games; just over 11 percent of their 52 hours of media consumption.
An average gamer aged 16+ spends around 11 hours gaming a week, compared to 20 hours for 8-15 year olds.
“The internet and mobile devices have changed the gaming landscape forever,” said Steve Chester, Director of Data & Industry Programmes at the Internet Advertising Bureau, which commissioned the study. “They’ve brought down the barriers to entry, making gaming far more accessible and opened it up to a whole new audience.”
Chester added that it just takes a while to download a free app now, compared to the past, where the gamers had to go out and buy an expensive console and the discs on top to get a decent experience.
