New Insights Into Women Gamers From King.com

Leading online social games site King.com recently organised a special live focus group giving females gamers the opportunity to speak directly to the casual games industry and reveal what it is that motivates them.

Organised during last week’s Casual Connect Seattle conference, the women gamers were aged between 24 and 61 and answered key questions such as ‘have you been playing more games during the recession versus earlier’ and ‘do you think you become a different person online than offline when playing games’.

King.com stated that key findings from the panel included that women are just as competitive as men.

'Anytime a girl can win anything, a girl's going to want it,” said Kimberly Carney, a 24-year-old member of the special group.

In addition, King.com found that female players want games to look good and be visually captivating with vivid colours and animation a big motivator.

Surprisingly, the panel indicated that women play for up to eight hours every day, breaking up their gameplay in order to accommodate professional and domestic schedules, and want to be able to donate prizes, points and cash to charity.

Far from feeling like a geek while playing online, female gamers now believe that the pastime is sexy because gaming has become mainstream and socially acceptable among friends.

King.com revealed that the panel found that women use games as a form of mental exercise and will actively hunting out a title if they believe it will help them to improve their gameplay.

Finally, the special focus group discovered that most female gamers spent $30 to $50 per month on online games although one of the panellists laid down $300 regularly every month.

'We continue to gain insight into our users through dialog, surveys and ongoing interaction,” said Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Executive Officer for King.com.

“This panel provided a useful snapshot of new interests and trends within the casual games industry.”