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[FunkMiller]

The ESA or the Circana (linked above) doesn't seem to specify by genre, but they do break it down by console and PC level stats and 47% of total console owners is a pretty even divide.

Women really don't play the kinds of games we mainly discuss here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games

The study reported the following proportions of male and female gamers with respect to specific genres:

Genre	Women	Men	Outlier games within the genre
Sports	2%	98%
Tactical shooter	4%	96%
Racing	6%	94%	Mario Kart Tour (40% women)
First-person shooter	7%	93%
Grand strategy	7%	93%
MOBA	10%	90%
Turn-based strategy	11%	89%
Open world	14%	86%	Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (27% women)
Sci-fi MMO	16%	84%	Star Wars: The Old Republic (29% women)
Action-adventure	18%	82%
Sandbox	18%	82%
Action RPG	20%	80%
City-building	22%	78%
Platformer	25%	75%
Survival roguelike	25%	75%
Western RPG	26%	74%	Dragon Age: Inquisition (48% women)
Japanese RPG	33%	66%
High fantasy MMO	36%	64%
Interactive drama	37%	63%
Atmospheric exploration	41%	59%
Casual puzzle	42%	58%
Family or farming simulator	69%	31%
Match-3	69%	31%	Candy Crush Saga (83% women)

 

[kevboard]

man, those are a lot of words to tell us you like looking at men...

 

[adamsapple]

Women really don't play the kinds of games we mainly discuss here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games

Agree to a certain extent but the source on those percentages is a nearly decade old research. I think it's fair to assume percentages can shift a lot in a decade.

In-fact, much of the reporting on that wiki link is citing very old stuff, 2012, 2013 etc.

 

[kunonabi]

Generally I prefer female protagonists and I will argue to the day day that I die that the best video game protagonist of all time is either Heather Mason or Yuna.

The problem is we havent had a female protagonist in their league since and western devs and Capcom/Square have been happy to just put out absolutele crap female protagonists for the last 10 or so years.

 

[ToneyJ]

I tend to prefer how female characters look and their designs. Only time I go male character is for from soft games because the female chars look like shit in those.

 

[Loboxxx]

 

[whatup]

Remove yourself from your own arse and we'll talk.

After a knee jerk reaction from myself and some self reflection if you read the op i think he has some valid points.

Which was the good point? Was it when he conjecture, without any basis (and despite all evidence to the contrary), that men won't accept playing as a woman unless the design is eye candy? Or was it the part where he says "A well written female character will have female issues. Why would I as a man enjoy experiencing that?" Deep stuff.

Yes, there's been a misplaced focus among game developers (and across the entertainment industry generally) on forced diversity. It has not been good for games but many of you are worse than the woke brigade, using liberal overreach as cover for your emotional stuntedness. If you think it's reasonable to ask, rhetorically, why a man would enjoy playing as a well written woman character, you're either 12 years old or an incel and it's time to get out of mom and dad's basement before you shoot up a school.

 

[{insert code here}]

Yep. It’s a dissonance thing.

A lot of the negative view on women is them just acting like men and it doesn’t make sense.

Just like a Mary sue cliche where a woman is able to beat up a bunch of men’s for “reasons”.

Yeah this is pretty much where I'm at as well. I never had a problem with female protagonists in older games because they were almost always well written (OG Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Bloodrayne, Metroid, Fear Effect, etc.) but take a look at the trailer for Darksiders 3. Holy shit man that character (Fury) is so absurd like no female I've ever seen walks, talks, or acts like this. You could literally mod in a male character model, add some bass to the vocal tracks and nobody would recognize Fury was supposed to be a female. Female characters are just imo so poorly written/designed that I just avoid playing them unless it's an Eastern-made game.

 

[ChoosableOne]

It depends on the game. If it's a shooting game and it doesn't break immersion, I don't mind. Returnal, Resi 2 were great. I like female mages too. However, in a melee or sword based game, it can stand out and be distracting. Generally, it prevents me from connecting with the character, but I don't mind it if it's a good game.

 

[The Pleasure]

You only want male protags? I got the perfect show for you.

 

[Boss Mog]

OP must be american or eastern european. I absolutely despise such ignorant intolerance.

And you must be a .

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Yeah, can't say you are a proud empowered female character unless you introduce the menstruation cycle in the gameplay loop, have a few days of stress and bitchiness in you and not being able to do stealth kills because of it or have low stamina. MGS games were on point with their games, they paid attention to details like these like smoking a cigarette lowers your stamina bar etc. Only then they can say they created an empowered female because so far they just cherry-picking the best version. Lara Croft aint going to be doing those splits in front of her butler if there is a pool of blood tracing her. Im also pretty sure they dont sell tampons in the jungle.

 

[Red Scarlet]

lol

 

[Auto_aim1]

For the last 20 years we've had male protagonists and mostly generic ones too. I don't identify with most of them. What's the problem with female protagonists? It shouldn't really matter.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

A big part of being a good game are the characters in it.

If Kratos wasn’t a man it wouldn’t be a good game.

If Nathan Drake wasn’t a man it wouldn’t be a good game.

If Sam Fisher wasn’t a man it wouldn’t be a good game.

Hell, they replaced Solid Snake with Raiden who is semi-female and it almost ruined the game.

One of the most brazenly retarded opinions I've ever seen on here and that's a true achievement. Take your crown, Dwight.

 

[mansoor1980]

Make bald space marines great again

you got it fam

 

[JimmyRustler]

Same here OP and I‘m confused as why it’s supposed to be wrong to say this. I mean, we have no issue if a women says she won’t play with a male, do we?

I especially dislike games with choices as female. Tried ME2 once as femshep and just could not do it.

There as a few exceptions like Tomb Raider and female only RE where I don’t mind but usually I don’t bother with these games.

 

[chakadave]

For the last 20 years we've had male protagonists and mostly generic ones too. I don't identify with most of them. What's the problem with female protagonists? It shouldn't really matter.

This works though unlike most mediums because a generic character is lets the player “be” the character

I think of Stalker and think of the game world and NPCs treating you the player character as one of them.

 

[FalconPunch]

It's okay to be gay

Get this shit outta here. This is the stupid tactic to spoil the by attacking the op’s sexuality instead of actually discussing the points being raised. Lazy ass post.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I just don’t find them relatable. I don’t understand why this is considered a blasphemous opinion. The same people lambasting me for holding it, are the ones pushing for female protagonists on the basis of inclusivity.

Okay, so having a male protagonist excludes women and we should have female protagonists instead… well, why does this logic not work in reverse? Why can’t women just accept male protagonists the way I have to for female? How do female protagonists not exclude me using the same logic?

There are some exceptions where I’m okay with it, such as Lara Croft or Jill Valentine.. I still prefer playing as Nathan Drake or Leon, but I can accept those others.

What I can’t accept though is Ghost of Yotei, Chloe/Nadine, Assassin’s Creed Kassandra, Ellie, Kait in Gears of War, etc.

The fact is, the majority of men don’t want to play as women, and the only way they accept it is if it’s a highly attractive woman whose ass they can stare at. That’s reality. Even then, I’m not a slave to sex, and I’d prefer playing as a cool dude than a hot female if given the choice.

A well written female character will have female issues. Why would I as a man enjoy experiencing that? I don’t. At all. And if you’re going to write in male issues for her, then the game falls apart entirely because women aren’t men and they’ll never be men.

I know there will be an argument that games already require a significant degree of suspension of belief. However, those people are missing the point. Good fantasy is an extrapolation of observable innate characteristics, not a turning of reality upside down.

Example: Special Forces commando comes home and wages a one man war against the mob to save his town. Unrealistic but enjoyable. Woman picks up a sword and slays every man in sight… men are cowards and relying on her to save everybody… stupid.

EDIT: Special thank you to @clarky for the gold! You’re a real one, brother.

It’s so f*cking weird. Female oriented media is still dominated by female protagonists. They’re not getting male protagonists shoved down their throat at every turn.

Only in male oriented media do we see girlboss protagonists everywhere. PlayStation Studios post Uncharted 4 output has been crazy female centric.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Get this shit outta here. This is the stupid tactic to spoil the by attacking the op’s sexuality instead of actually discussing the points being raised. Lazy ass post.

It is stupid though. Just play the game. If it bugs you THAT much, that's a you issue.

 

[FalconPunch]

It is stupid though. Just play the game.

Telling people that what they like is stupid is pretty condescending. If someone doesn’t want to play as a female, they don’t want to. People like different things than you? Just get over yourself. Nothing the OP is saying is hardly surprising. The data supports this anecdote. Just go look at Baldurs gate 3 data

 

[duck_sauce]

It’s always refreshing when someone kicks off their argument with “I just don’t find them relatable,” as if relatability is the gold standard for enjoying media. By that logic, I guess we should all stop playing as super-soldiers, treasure hunters, or anthropomorphic hedgehogs because, hey, not relatable!

Bravo on this groundbreaking scientific observation: “The fact is, the majority of men don’t want to play as women.” Ah yes, the famed Statistical Study of Dudes Who Just Wanna Bro Out. Where was this published, by the way? The Journal of Bro Psychology? Peer-reviewed by your buddies at GameStop?

 

[Gonzito]

I personally dont mind to play as a female character as long as she is well written and portrayed but I understand you too. If I have the option, I always play with a male character

 

[Red Scarlet]

Telling people that what they like is stupid is pretty condescending. If someone doesn’t want to play as a female, they don’t want to. People like different things than you? Just get over yourself. Nothing the OP is saying is hardly surprising. The data supports this anecdote. Just go look at Baldurs gate 3 data

And I still play games that have a male protagonist. Oh wow, what a concept. The op's point is a mysognistic laughable idea. Just play the damn game. Or don't. But don't expect everything to cater to you for 30 years. I'm not being condescending, you are. Don't care about BG3. I never said playing what you like is stupid.

Who gives a shit about relatability? Do you refuse to play Tetris because you don't feel like a block?

 

[FalconPunch]

And I still play games that have a male protagonist. Oh wow, what a concept. The op's point is a mysognistic laughable idea. Just play the damn game. Or don't. But don't expect everything to cater to you for 30 years. I'm not being condescending, you are. Don't care about BG3. I never said playing what you like is stupid.

“Don’t care about BG3” = “I don’t like data that challenges my world view and would rather toss inflammatory terms out incorrectly in hopes to bully my way to an argument win”.

There are lots of academic data backing the op’s sentiment and if you live in reality, it’s not remotely surprising. The OP preferring to play as male characters is not remotely misogynistic at all. I for one am looking forward to this new era where this sort of nonsense Hail Mary distraction tactics will have no weight in civil discourse anymore. How lazy it is to resort to personal attacks instead of discussing the points being raised.

 

[Red Scarlet]

No, it means I don't care about BG3 one way or the other. Go ahead and prefer playing as this or that. Must feel good to be entitled enough to do that now. I don't play any of these new weird games with all the 'woke hooplah'. Last new game I played was like Darkest Dungeon 2 or SMT5 Vengeance. For some people it's never mattered who/what the main character is. That's a valid point. You're throwing out just as many personal attacks, person with username associated with punching women in the stomach.

 

[amigastar]

you got it fam

Yuck, a woman with a bald head

 

[mansoor1980]

Yuck, a woman with a bald head

 

[DoubleClutch]

And I still play games that have a male protagonist. Oh wow, what a concept. The op's point is a mysognistic laughable idea. Just play the damn game. Or don't. But don't expect everything to cater to you for 30 years. I'm not being condescending, you are. Don't care about BG3. I never said playing what you like is stupid.

Who gives a shit about relatability? Do you refuse to play Tetris because you don't feel like a block?

Anybody that understands what makes a quality story. Having relatable characters makes for an emotional connection.

Look at what the trailer for the Gears of War prequel was about. Marcus fighting where it seems like there is no hope, and his brother in arms being there to pick him up.

So many men can relate to that. The battle, fighting for something, relying on your best bros, etc.. they can’t relate to two sisters exploring womanhood and worrying about if Prince Charming will choose one of them.

Relatability is what forms an emotional connection to the story. When you see yourself in it you’re more motivated to see it through. Why else do you think the push for females? It’s not for artistic creativity but to push for more women in gaming.

But maybe not with your smooth brain argument of Tetris and blocks. You don’t play as a block genius, and there is no story to relate to.

 

[FalconPunch]

No, it means I don't care about BG3 one way or the other. Go ahead and prefer playing as this or that. Must feel good to be entitled enough to do that now. I don't play any of these new weird games with all the 'woke hooplah'. Last new game I played was like Darkest Dungeon 2 or SMT5 Vengeance. For some people it's never mattered who/what the main character is. That's a valid point. You're throwing out just as many personal attacks, person with username associated with punching women in the stomach.

See what I'm talking about? Hail mary distraction tactics lol. I accuse you of personal attacks and hail mary distraction tactics. You prove me right by doing exactly what I accused you of lol. You can't make this shit up.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[mansoor1980]

nice avatar

 

[amigastar]

Ok, thank you for the nightmares.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Anybody that understands what makes a quality story. Having relatable characters makes for an emotional connection.

Look at what the trailer for the Gears of War prequel was about. Marcus fighting where it seems like there is no hope, and his brother in arms being there to pick him up.

So many men can relate to that. The battle, fighting for something, relying on your best bros, etc.. they can’t relate to two sisters exploring womanhood and worrying about if Prince Charming will choose one of them.

Relatability is what forms an emotional connection to the story. When you see yourself in it you’re more motivated to see it through. Why else do you think the push for females? It’s not for artistic creativity but to push for more women in gaming.

But maybe not with your smooth brain argument of Tetris and blocks. You don’t play as a block genius, and there is no story to relate to.

Games haven't had good stories for 20+ years. Relatability has meant nothing to me in 35+ years of gaming. I've been a woman in gaming since the 80's. Why would I care about the ones coming in now? You do play as the blocks in Tetris. You're just whining for the sake of whining about not being a He-Man character all the time anymore, which back in the actual day, choosing that as a reason to play or not play a game meant you played nothing.

 

[Mister Wolf]

We know men prefer to play as male characters or physically attractive female characters. Intergalactic will be a interesting case study. Female character intentionally made unattractive. That's a double whammy. Was a death blow for Star Wars Outlaws. There is this notion that Naughty Dog has Carte Blanche and is immune to his phenomenon due to fan loyalty. I'm looking forward to finding out.

 

[Red Scarlet]

See what I'm talking about? Hail mary distraction tactics lol. I accuse you of personal attacks and hail mary distraction tactics. You prove me right by doing exactly what I accused you of lol. You can't make this shit up.

That's what your name is about. Who the hell are you?

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Obviously when I can I choose male character but if a game has a female character from the get-go I don't care as long it's a good game. So I get all points of views in this thread.

The problem is everything now has to be political, and the people making games want to see themselves in characters - I from a get-go when I first launched my PSOne, when I first played shooters or Diablo 1/2, Doom even on my friends PC, Soul Reaver on my PS and MediEvil, saw Splinter Cell 1 and 2, first Call of Duty on my friends PC it blew my mind, that I could play as someone else, as these cool characters in these absolute blast of the games.

This is the only beef I have with current state of gaming is not making games for gamers, making games to indentify with - what a misguided approach. And safe, bland, slop games.

That's why I didn't jump on PS5 Pro hype, switched to PC. PS5 is collecting dust waiting for any exclusives worth playing.

And I'm having a blast.

I can choose what to play and it's all in 60 fps, even old titles.

Sites like gg.deals let me compare prices, I get freebies from all around.

 

[FalconPunch]

Games haven't had good stories for 20+ years. Relatability has meant nothing to me in 35+ years of gaming. I've been a woman in gaming since the 80's. Why would I care about the ones coming in now? You do play as the blocks in Tetris. You're just whining for the sake of whining about not being a He-Man character all the time anymore, which back in the actual day, choosing that as a reason to play or not play a game meant you played nothing.

Explains a lot really and now it's starting to make sense.

 

[Skelterz]

I don’t like them either but if I have to play as one they have to be really really ugly and almost look like a man with no attractive features what so ever change my mind…

 

[Red Scarlet]

Explains a lot really and now it's starting to make sense.

Ok?

 

[DoubleClutch]

Games haven't had good stories for 20+ years. Relatability has meant nothing to me in 35+ years of gaming. I've been a woman in gaming since the 80's. Why would I care about the ones coming in now? You do play as the blocks in Tetris. You're just whining for the sake of whining about not being a He-Man character all the time anymore, which back in the actual day, choosing that as a reason to play or not play a game meant you played nothing.

???

Baldur’s Gate 3
Guardians of the Galaxy
GTA 5
Red Dead Redemption 2
Uncharted 4
Portal 2
Persona 5
Witcher 3

All of these are more recent titles that rival some of the best narratives in all of gaming.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Portal 2 isn't recent. Persona 5 is pretty old now too. They were fun though, but I enjoyed what they had to offer to play over their narratives. And I didn't get bothered who I was playing as in either one. I haven't played the other games.

 

[DoubleClutch]

Obviously when I can I choose male character but if a game has a female character from the get-go I don't care as long it's a good game. So I get all points of views in this thread.

The problem is everything now has to be political, and the people making games want to see themselves in characters - I from a get-go when I first launched my PSOne, when I first played shooters or Diablo 1/2, Doom even on my friends PC, Soul Reaver on my PS and MediEvil, saw Splinter Cell 1 and 2, first Call of Duty on my friends PC it blew my mind, that I could play as someone else, as these cool characters in these absolute blast of the games.

This is the only beef I have with current state of gaming is not making games for gamers, making games to indentify with - what a misguided approach. And safe, bland, slop games.

That's why I didn't jump on PS5 Pro hype, switched to PC. PS5 is collecting dust waiting for any exclusives worth playing.

And I'm having a blast.

I can choose what to play and it's all in 60 fps, even old titles.

Sites like gg.deals let me compare prices, I get freebies from all around.

“Games made for the gamer”. What a concept… some would have you believe relatability isn’t important.

 

[FalconPunch]

“Games made for the gamer”. What a concept… some would have you believe relatability isn’t important.

It's like some on here want to feign ignorance to the idea of a target audience. Listening to people yap on here telling us how they aren't bothered by either is just tiresome. It's not really about you. The data is in favor of the OP and there are way more people in the Op's camp than in the I'm fine with either camp.

 

[captainnapalm]

Yup most men prefer to play as male characters - it's completely normal. But they can handle female main characters in the right situations - but not the way most female characters are written these days - men with boobs - those are the worst kinds of characters. It's based on shitty woke beliefs that men and women are the same and should be portrayed the same way - and that femininity is somehow bad.

It's kind of like when you watch an old 80s action movie and there are black guys all over the place and they all feel natural - but you watch some modern piece of shit and the DEI hiring sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

[DoubleClutch]

Portal 2 isn't recent. Persona 5 is pretty old now too. They were fun though, but I enjoyed what they had to offer to play over their narratives. And I didn't get bothered who I was playing as in either one.

You said 20+ years and all the games I mentioned are within the grand scheme of things, more recent than not. With more money being pumped into developing high production games, narrative is becoming more intense than ever.

The point is relatability is important, and people can relate on gender more than they can even relate to race.

I would much rather play as a male of any race than a female of my own race. It’s not even close.

Give me Marcus, Dom, Cole, Kim, whoever from Gears over Kait. I don’t even think about the ethnicity, I just think about how I’m playing as some cool, badass dude. Not so with a female… the only thing that goes through my head is, yeah, this is bullshit.

 

[Griffon]

I just don’t find them relatable. I don’t understand why this is considered a blasphemous opinion. The same people lambasting me for holding it, are the ones pushing for female protagonists on the basis of inclusivity.

Okay, so having a male protagonist excludes women and we should have female protagonists instead… well, why does this logic not work in reverse? Why can’t women just accept male protagonists the way I have to for female? How do female protagonists not exclude me using the same logic?

There are some exceptions where I’m okay with it, such as Lara Croft or Jill Valentine.. I still prefer playing as Nathan Drake or Leon, but I can accept those others.

What I can’t accept though is Ghost of Yotei, Chloe/Nadine, Assassin’s Creed Kassandra, Ellie, Kait in Gears of War, etc.

The fact is, the majority of men don’t want to play as women, and the only way they accept it is if it’s a highly attractive woman whose ass they can stare at. That’s reality. Even then, I’m not a slave to sex, and I’d prefer playing as a cool dude than a hot female if given the choice.

A well written female character will have female issues. Why would I as a man enjoy experiencing that? I don’t. At all. And if you’re going to write in male issues for her, then the game falls apart entirely because women aren’t men and they’ll never be men.

I know there will be an argument that games already require a significant degree of suspension of belief. However, those people are missing the point. Good fantasy is an extrapolation of observable innate characteristics, not a turning of reality upside down.

Example: Special Forces commando comes home and wages a one man war against the mob to save his town. Unrealistic but enjoyable. Woman picks up a sword and slays every man in sight… men are cowards and relying on her to save everybody… stupid.

EDIT: Special thank you to @clarky for the gold! You’re a real one, brother.

I have no issue playing a female character, in many cases I'd rather look at that than a dude's ass. It's all good as long as she looks like a woman and not some trans shit.

 

[SHA]

Just give her 10 out of 10 and take the most from her, push her to her limit, your girlfriend/wife won't be angry with you, it's just a video game.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Depends. If i have the choice i 99% pick males. Doesn't mean i hate playing as females. Tomb Raider is fine, Life is Strange is fine and although i would prefer to play as Gerald, i can live with Ciri. But i 100% refuse to play as those things in Intergalactic or Ghost of whatever, because they handpicked them to provoke and polarize.