64% of Online Gamers Are Female

According to a report discussed on 1up, a new study by the Nielsen folks finds that more than half of the 117 Million U.S. online gamers are women. From the article: "The study's announcement release doesn't break down what games they're playing, though we expect sites like pogo.com, which feature a multitude of Flash-based games are rather high on the list. Even more surprising is how many older gamers are playing. While the teenage market dominates in numbers, the study says more than 15 million gamers, about 8%, are actually at least 45 years old."

I bet it's true

[joe 155]

In my house it's my girlfriend who plays games online the majority of the time. I hardly play online at all, but when I do it's on my DS or maybe a FPS; more indepth "proper" games (if there is such a thing). My girlfriend likes to play on gamerival on the simple little flash games where you just have to do very simple little word puzzles or arranging blocks.

So it is believable, but it might not be how you think - I doubt they are running round fragging everyone they see, or playing WoW (although some might...)

Re:I bet it's true

[risacher]

Concur. In my house, my wife spends much time playing the flash-based puzzle games from neopets. Second prize goes to my daughter who plays the flash games on sesamestreet.org. I don't play online games at all. If I'm at the keyboard, I'm reading or coding.

They're all playing Sudoku

[tomhath]

The study isn't about RPG players; it includes games like crossword puzzles, Boggle, and Sudoku. So I believe the 64% number.

Re:yeah right

[Hogwash McFly]

Yeah, and those 10 percent are just pre-pubescent boys whose voices haven't broken.