A survey finds 59% of female gamers hide their gender online whilst playing games to avoid harassment. 55% of female gamers revealed they had used non-gender specific or male-gendered identities when playing online games to avoid conflict and sexual harassment.
This survey was conducted by Reach3 Insights in partnership with Lenovo and asked 900 female gamers across the US, China and Germany about their gaming habits report GameIndustry.Biz.
In this research certain trends were revealed including the fact that 88% of gamers surveyed were playing competitive games, while 75% saying they play action/survival-style games.
A further 44% of females said they had received unsolicited questions about their relationship status while playing online.
Despite issues the respondents have with how they’re treated online most are happy with the way females are portrayed in major blockbuster games with 80% responding positively to the portrayal of women in AAA-rated games.
Indie games scored better with 91% of respondents expressing satisfaction with how women are portrayed in Indie Games.
When questioned on how representation can be improved 71% said that advertising could be changed to show more women playing blockbuster games and include a more balanced cast of gamers in advertisements.
You can read the survey findings in full at Reach3 Insights, you may need to sign up to view the content.
This survey was prompted by reports of publisher and developer Ubisoft failing to make major changes to its internal culture after last years allegations of abuse and sexual harassment.
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