Players want more women in the video games

Published on:
28/04/2025

The majority of gamers want to see more diversity in video game characters, a new survey shows. Close to 50% of gamers worldwide are women but only about 30% of game-developers globally are women. Video game audience is diverse, but the character composition of the most popular game titles does not reflect that reality.

More than three billion people worldwide play digital games and 46% of them are women. Despite this diverse community of gamers, their reflection on screen is significantly lacking, US-based Geena Davis Institute on gender in media says. 

Out of the total online population, 72% of women play video games. Women and men who play games consider diversity in games important, with 65% of men and 62% of women agreeing, video game data company Newzoo has reported. 

Key findings from a new US and UK survey by  Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and measurement firm Nielsen: 

• 64% agree they would more likely play a video game if it has characters who are more diverse than usually in video games.” Only 12% disagree. The rest neither agrees nor disagrees.
• 63% agree they would more likely play a video game if it includes women as playable characters.” Among men, it is 60%, and among women, it is 68%.
• Among gamers ages 18 to 24, 72% agree they would be more likely to play a video game if it includes women as playable characters.” Video games make up 19% of the monthly entertainment spending for this age group.
• 47% agree say they are less likely to play a video game that uses gender stereotypes.”

A 2023 survey by the Institute found that 68% felt female characters were often oversexualised. 

An analysis of 684 15-minute segments from gameplay sessions with the top-20 Twitch streamers in October 2020 found that female characters were nearly 13 times more likely than male characters to be shown in revealing clothing (25% compared with 2%).

The Institute has earlier published a guidebook with advice on how to improve the gender balance in gaming. Among the advises are to hire balanced developer teams and to eliminate sexualised violence.