Video games have changed quite a bit over the years, as has the audience that’s playing them. In addition to a larger portion of online streaming gamers and “hardcore” fans of titles like World of Warcraft and League of Legends, women are also playing a larger part, taking a majority stake in the mobile gaming audience and getting a fair share of numbers on consoles and PC as well.
According to Adweek, YouTube has begun noticing this trend and has picked up on it, indicating that female viewership of gaming content has doubled over the past year, with women over the age of 25 becoming the fastest growing demographic for video game-themed clips on its online network.
The IDC concurred with YouTube’s findings, stating that 45 percent of eSports fans (who either watch an event online, attend in person or actually play a competitive part) were women.
“Ten years from now, the next great global sports leagues will not be played on soccer pitches – it will be online,” said Lewis Ward, IDC gaming research director. This no doubt points towards the possibility of better equality with players, male and female alike.
As a result, brands and marketers are beginning to pay attention to the growing demographic. Coca-Cola recently held a Mario Kart 8 gaming session on Twitch, featuring both male and female players taking part. Before that, Pizza Hut became a sponsor for the eSports Defense of the Ancients 2 competition at Madison Square Garden, which, again, featured a diverse audience of male and females; and Amazon is getting a piece of the action, not only picking up a number of developers for its own game studios, but also creating a team-up with fellow sponsors like Foot Locket and Axe.
“With so many eyeballs and so much time spent, it’s making gaming as an entertainment expression a very attractive media platform,” said Matt Wolfe, global head of gaming for Coca-Cola. The company plans to diversify with its gaming content over the year, and experimenting with new ideas that caters to all types. “As a game maker myself, I would certainly like to explore those waters.”
