In this episode of Research Review, we take a deep dive into the 2020 Bryter report on Female Game Players, including player behaviors, toxicity in games, and current state of women in esports.
For the last few years Bryter has released a report about female gamers. In 2018, they released their first female gamers study with females from the UK. In 2019, they expanded the survey to include US respondents. In their 2020 report, they looked at female and male gamers and explored areas such as esports and toxicity in more detail.
They looked at basic demographic factors like age, ethnicity, average play time and consoles owned. The really interesting findings start (for me at least) when they start to examine gaming behaviors. When assessing differences in how males and females play, Bryter reports that fewer females say they play online multiplayers (51% females as compared to 67% males) and significantly more say they play alone offline (32% females as compared to 24% males)
The survey report leaves some lingering questions under these numbers such as “Is playing with others too intimidating? And does it relate to the genres they play? While it may be somewhat related to genre (Females reported playing fewer tactical shooters and battle royale in this same survey, both of which are often played online multiplayer), I think it is far more related to the historical mistreatment of female players in games and gaming cultures (for more on that, see my previous State of the Resaerch reports on “Girl Gamer” and “Toxicity in Games and Gaming Cultures”)
Overall, the 2020 Bryter report is really thorough and that provides some interesting insights into the perception of and experiences within games and gaming cultures, particularly in relation to female participation in e-sports. Check out the video above for my full review and the full written report from Bryter if you are interested in learning more about the state of it all in 2020.