Men Are For MMOs, Women Are For RPGs According to New Study

A new study focusing on gender preference in video games turned up some interesting revelations: it seems men are more keen to play MMOs and first person shooters, while women tend to gravitate toward RPGs and mobile games.

The study, run by SuperData Research, and reported on by Joystiq, says that "women compose 57.8 percent of the mobile market, 53.6 percent of the RPG market and 50.2 percent of the PC market (including social games)," while men "make up 66 percent of MMO players, 66 percent of FPS players and 63 percent of digital console players." This data comes from multiple separate studies done throughout this year, each with "a minimum sample size of 1,000 respondents."

"Women are closing the gamer gender gap as they represent two out of five MMO gamers," SuperData said to Joystiq in the report. "Women account for almost half of MMO players, contrary to the stereotyped gamer landscape. Players between 18 and 30 account for 50 percent of the US MMO audience. These players represent the largest age group, many of which started playing MMOs as children, during the segment's early years, and have continued into their adulthood. This generation is expected to expand the older markets as they age since they are the first generation to have grown up with MMOs."

We knew that gender representation in video games was evening out based on previous studies, but it's cool to see that they're playing RPGs and PC games just as much if not more than men are. We can all find fun in video games, and studies like this are hard evidence of that fact.