Female gamer demographics, growth among girls and grannies

Dress-up and doily-making have been replaced by digital activities such as virtual worlds and card games. comScore has put figures against the obvious trend that girls and women are just as likely to be found participating in online games as boys and men.

by Helen Leggatt

Marketers are starting to look closer at the female gamer demographic, and rightly so, says comScore. The research firm found that the particularly lucrative teen and over-55 demographics have shown a marked increase in online gaming in the last twelve months to August, 2008.

Growth in the 12 – 17 age range was 55% compared to the total female online gaming audience rate of 27%, and the over-55 age range grew 43%. Teen growth, says comScore, is most likely due to the rise in popularity of sites such as dress-up venue StarDoll.com and virtual worlds such as Neopets.com, while the more mature women are likely to be found on casual gaming sites such as Pogo.com.

"Many advertisers and their ad agencies have long understood the appeal of online gaming among teenage boys, and they have now found creative ways to effectively reach these female audiences with targeted ad campaigns," said Edward Hunter, director of gaming solutions at comScore.

"With the increased interest in online gaming among the highly lucrative teenage girl and older female demographic segments, marketers who have been hesitant to transfer some of their ad spend to the gaming space may now be taking a second look."