A report from Sony provided statistics that indicate a growing female interest in PlayStation gaming since the debut of its original console back in the '90s.
The new report comes from Sony’s 2021 Investor Relation’s Day, and although it does not focus solely on demographics, the data on gender is certainly one of the most interesting takeaways. Since the days of the original PlayStation, the amount of women and girls who own a PlayStation console has grown by 23 percent. More specifically, 18 percent of console owners were female in the era of the PS1, compared to 41 percent in the era of the PS4 and PS5.
Growth in the number of female players and overall representation in gaming has become increasingly evident in recent years. While the gaming industry has typically been thought to be male dominated, recent studies have shown that females make up a large portion of the gamer population, more than half in some places. Even game-specific data supports this picture, with Animal Crossing’s head having revealed last year that the player demographic is almost evenly split between men and women. Strong female characters have also become more prominent in some of the most popular games, such as Lysithea and Catherine from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and FemShep from Mass Effect.
Additional data on demographics reveal that the age group that made up the largest portion of PS1 owners is now the group of players making up the largest portion of PS4 and PS5 owners. In other words, the console’s original fans are remaining loyal to the brand. And as for ownership by region, PlayStation has seen an expansion outside of North America, Europe, and Japan into markets like South America, Africa, and Central Asia. Whether talking about gender, age, or geography, the statistics paint a clear picture—Sony is doing something right.
While Sony’s report does not come as a complete surprise, it is encouraging to see statistics from one of gaming’s biggest names supporting the emerging picture of high female engagement in gaming. Although the industry at large still has a long way to go in terms of positive representation for all identities, the data presented demonstrate that progress, however small, is being made.