Gaming companies see big money in ‘fair’ play

KOLKATA: Gaming may have been a male bastion, but women are making swift inroads. Gaming companies claim women gamers have evolved as a thriving segment in India, accounting for nearly 20% of the total market and could potentially double in the next three years.

Women are initially getting glued to internet games in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, which, in turn, is triggering growth of console and mobile gaming. ‘Small wonder’ biggies like Microsoft, Sony and ADAG’s Zapak are fine-tuning their business strategies to tap the growing base of women gamers in India.

“Technology has truly transgressed the gender,” said Microsoft India director marketing (entertainment and devices division) Ashim Mathur. Microsoft claims social gaming capabilities in Xbox 360 gaming consoles have emerged as a main driver for growth among women. Xbox titles like UNO, Pacman and Viva pinata have become huge success amongst
Indian women.

Rival Sony PlayStation said the so-called male game categories like sports and racing are becoming gender-neutral in India. Sony Computer Entertainment country head (India) Atindriya Bose feels: “As the market matures, more social and family games, which specifically target women gamers, will become mainstream.”

Nearly 25% of Sony PlayStation console sales are generated from women consumers in India. Almost 20% of Zapak’s user base comprises of women, which prompted the company to roll out an exclusive platform — Zapak Girls.

Several women gamers have even taken a fancy for cricket. Almost 20% of the gamers in the online social cricket game based on IPL, Dream11.com, are women. The average age of such gamers fall between 16 and 28 years.

Dream11 Gaming CMD Harsh Jain feels it is a paradigm shift in its target consumer. “And most women gamers are playing much better than their male counterparts. It is probably the social networking ability, which is making such games popular among women,” he said.

Zapak CEO Rohit Sharma said the Zapak Girls site currently has more than 2,000 games. Games on fashion, puzzles, cooking, celebrity, love games to makeover ones are extremely popular with women.

A KPMG study indicates the Indian gaming market is growing at 32%, and will become a Rs 32-billion industry by 2014 from Rs 8 billion at present. A recent survey conducted for the Popcap Games by Information Services Group highlights that nearly 55% of social gamers globally are female.

Another study by the NPD Group found the number of women, who play console games globally, has increased from 23% in 2008 to 28% in 2009. Leading game developers like Ubisoft has a team of gamer girls called Frag Dolls, who promote gaming.