in paymentsPayments in Gaming: The Female Gamer Powers-Up
The global games market is booming, with revenues set to reach USD $137.9 billion by 2021. But along with the growth, gaming is also transforming and diversifying; in genre, gaming devices, platforms, economics and demographics. Notably, female gamers are ‘powering up’ – representing 40% of paying gamers across all platforms – and there are implications for how gaming companies deliver their products and the role of payments in the overall customer experience.
Changing the narrative
Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Gears of War, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Battlefield 5 have all recently introduced strong leading female characters into the realm of role play and virtual reality games, illustrating a continuing shift away from the few – and often ‘damsel in distress’-type – female characters of the past. This shows that game developers are recognizing the need to create more diversity in games and cater for the growing female gamer segment.
But with women forming a near equal share of the gaming population, more needs to be done to engage the female gamer than just adding more playable female characters. For example, research shows that women enjoy a broader range of genres than men; particularly puzzle, simulation, and arcade. This divergence in favored genres is most notable on mobile, with 48% of women listing puzzle as their top pick.
The changing narratives, combined with the broader variety of games available, show that gaming companies are beginning to respond to genre and character preferences across their diverse audience. But what about some of the other differences between male and female gamers? This is something that gaming companies must understand and cater for if they want to appeal to this fast-growing customer group – not just in their game design, but also in their marketing and monetization strategies.
Paying motivations
Our research with Newzoo shows that paying gamers are spending money across PC, console and mobile – with the rates of male and female paying players being closer than you might think, particularly on mobile (which make sense given the rise in female social gamers).
While the gender gap is closing in terms of the proportions of male and female players, there are still some important differences around player preferences – and the gender divide is still evident when it comes to platforms, genres, how players discover games and whether and why they choose to pay.
For example, among the players we surveyed, 23% of paying male players said they spend money to show appreciation for the developer. Female gamers are more likely to be influenced to pay by reward programs (23% vs 17%), with appreciation for developers a motivation for only 15%.
There are also some notable differences when it comes to what players are prepared to spend their money on. Take mobile gaming for instance – most mobile gamers who do spend money, spend on in-game purchases, making this an important revenue stream for mobile game developers.
When asked what in-game purchases they would buy, we found women were more likely to buy power-ups and time-savers, across every country we surveyed. On the other hand, male players were 20% more likely to buy expansion packs than female gamers.
Catering for the crowds
Successfully crafting an excellent game that delivers a superior playing experience AND sustained revenue is a much tougher job than it used to be. Game developers need now, more than ever, to take time to understand gamers’ playing habits, spending motivations, payment preferences and desired experiences. Understanding these nuances and how they differ across demographic groups helps developers create the high quality, custom experiences that today’s gamers expect.
While game developers certainly need to consider the differences between gender behavior and preferences, they should also be careful not to assume there is always a strong divide. Player gender is also just one of the many factors they should take into account; game genre, favored platforms and other demographic information (such as age) are all equally important elements to consider in order to create gaming experiences that resonate with as much of the intended audience as possible.
One thing is for sure – the female gaming population is growing fast, and has more power in the market than ever before. This is something that game developers must sit up and take notice of to make sure they secure their share of the opportunity ahead.
Download our latest report "What Turns Players Into Payers: Understanding the Gaming Payments Experience," which reveals the payment preferences, motivations and experiences of gamers in the largest games markets in the world – or get in touch with our team to meet at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, August 21-23.
Related Blog Posts
Could COVID-19 Be India’s Cashless Catalyst?
India’s push towards a digital economy has accelerated over the years, with a supportive regulatory environment, home-grown technologies and innovation around digital infrastructure improving “last mile” connectivity to the remote towns and rural areas of the country. While the “Digital India” drive has been consistent, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the true value of digitization for businesses and consumers alike. It is a watershed moment and has fast-tracked the pace of digital adoption, particularly for payments, which now plays a critical role in economic recovery.
Only One-Third of Major Fuel Merchants Have Fully Implemented EMV and 20 Percent are Still in the Planning Stage
Earlier this year, we blogged about the issue of EMV implementation in the U.S. fuel sector and the fraud issues fuel merchants can expect to see if they’re not ready by the extended April 2021 deadline.
Omni-Commerce Is Heating Up the Merchant Token Revolution
Merchants around the world have embraced the wisdom of keeping sensitive customer data (such as card numbers) out of their own environments, with tokens emerging as the tool of choice to bridge the gap. Merchant functions — including reservations, returns, reporting, rewards, research, reconciliation and more — have typically required access to sensitive data, but a series of high-profile breaches has highlighted the need to store card numbers in tightly secured safe harbors.
Are Alternative Payment Methods the Future of Fuel and C-Store Payments?
Card payments are still king in many sectors, including fuel and convenience, where according to Mercator Advisory Group, 57 percent of U.S. drivers currently use a credit or debit card to pay. However, the rising adoption and associated benefits of mobile and other alternative payment methods (APMs) in many other sectors have put the topic of APMs on the radars of fuel merchants.
Will COVID-19 Accelerate Friction-Free Payments in the Fuel Sector?
Today’s consumers expect easier and more frictionless ways to pay. The upshot for merchants is that consumers who do receive convenient, friction-free experiences tend to spend more and show greater loyalty.
COVID-19: Global eCommerce Sales are likely to rise beyond the crisis and businesses need to prepare accordingly
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, ACI has published a monthly Covid-19 eCommerce Tracker, analyzing global eCommerce sales, consumer purchasing behaviors and fraud trends. Katrin Boettger spoke with ACI’s Debbie Guerra, executive vice president at ACI, about the latest eCommerce trends and the long-term changes the pandemic may bring for consumers and merchants.
The Co-op U.K.: In with the New Does Not Mean Out with the Old
I had the pleasure on May 19 to discuss The Co-operative Group’s consumer payments strategy with Paul Fletcher, Co-op’s Head of Payments.
The Co-operative Group is a compelling case study within the U.K.’s convenience grocery sector; steeped in history and tradition, with a culture that demonstrates a real heartfelt pride in its mutual ownership origins. A nod to the past now seems to be a trend among big businesses, as they remind customers of their (usually) long-ago establishments and “origin stories.” But in the case of Co-op, it really does mean something, and it influences everything they do — payments included.
Move Over EMV – Meet the Real Protectors of Fuel Pump Payments
There’s much more than EMV for fuel merchants to consider when it comes to blocking fraudsters. Learn why P2PE and tokenization are the data security duo fuel merchants need to block fraud and satisfy genuine customers.
The EMV Deadline Has Been Extended for U.S. Fuel Merchants – Now What?
U.S. fuel stations were originally supposed to be EMV-compliant by October 2017, but due to complications and costs at the time, the deadline for EMV at the pump was extended for three years – and it has now been pushed out further to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Are Chargebacks Making a Comeback for U.S. Fuel Merchants?
With the planned EMV implementation date looming for U.S. fuel merchants, we’ll be spending some time ahead of the October 2020 deadline looking at the fraud issues affecting fuel merchants and how these might change through the final quarter of this year.