(MENAFN- Activision Blizzard, Inc)
Traditionally, video games were considered a male-dominated pastime, but those days are over. According to The Essential Facts report, sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association, nearly one in two gamers in the United States identifies as female. “Our largest community of players are 25- to 49-year-old women who play games like Candy Crush,” Bobby Koticthe CEO of Activision Blizzard, stated on: Leadership Live with David Rubenstein.
An Activision Blizzard survey found that more than two-thirds of women with children play video games on a variety of platforms, including mobile, PC, tablet, and console. According to Bobby Kotick’s company research, “They view entertainment, including gaming, as an important and positive part of their lives compared to their non-gaming mothers. In addition, 57% of gamer moms believe that entertainment technology improves their mood compared to [45% of] non-gamer moms.”
Superbloom CEO Emily Yim said mobile games “became a lifeline because I couldn’t control my day” [after becoming a mom]. My days were tied to the baby, and it was a chaotic experience. So mobile and casual games became a source of control, productivity and fun.”
She was inspired to make more games especially for women. “I started expanding on this idea of a game studio built by women and making games for women that are also closely tied to women’s real-world interests,” said Yim. “As my career grew, I started meeting more women in leadership and experiencing the power of more women on the team, so I really wanted to nurture and create that culture and environment for making games for women.”
Women in gaming are on the rise and the industry needs to adapt and embrace diversity
According to Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, “People play games and compete against people all over the world. We socialize with hundreds of millions of people around the world. We have the opportunity with our games to create heroes with different backgrounds and ethnicities. There are huge opportunities to build tolerance and understanding through video games.”
In the United States, female gamers comprise 41% of the players. Mobile games are especially popular with women, who, according to the survey, spend 25% longer on their phones than men. While female gamers are on the rise, less than 24% of game developers are women. That figure means that women make up less than a quarter of the video game industry workforce.
Bobby Kotick’s Activision Blizzard is committed to embracing diversity in the company, including increasing the number of women on its board. It elected Lulu Cheng Meservey and Kerry Carr to its board of directors earlier this year. “We have an opportunity to further improve our culture and be the example for other companies to follow,” said Kotick. “We are so incredibly lucky. Connecting and engaging the world through joy and fun is a powerful mission. By achieving this in a welcoming, inclusive workplace, we will achieve our mission with excellence.”
Meservey joined the board of directors as part of Activision Blizzard’s workplace responsibility committee, which was formed in November 2021 to oversee progress in implementing new policies, commitments and procedures to create a better workplace culture.
According to Kotick, Activision Blizzard has “taken meaningful actions to improve our business and culture. Creativity and inspiration thrives best in a safe, welcoming and respectful environment. There is no substitute for that. And staying true to our values, without exception, is the best way to retain our talent and attract the new talent we need to realize our great potential.”
Mobile games are big business for Bobby Kotick’s Activision Blizzard
According to a report, 64% of women prefer mobile games over other platforms. Consumer spending on mobile games was $116 billion in 2021, which was a $16 billion increase from 2020 — and is expected to reach $138 billion by 2025. Additionally, in the second quarter of 2022, Kotick’s company earned more from mobile games than from PC and console games combined.
The company’s Candy Crush Saga is a mobile game that is especially popular with female gamers. However, Call of Duty: Mobile, a free-to-play shooting game, was released in October 2019 and downloaded more than 270 million times in its first 365 days, making it one of the most successful game launches in history. “With free-to-play access points for mobile, PC and console, Call of Duty grew by more than 100 million players in just over a year,” said Bobby Kotick. When it works, it works, which is why he explained that the Call of Duty: Mobile franchise is “the template we apply to our proven franchises, as well as our new potential franchises as we try to expand our audience to a billion players. ”
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