LONDON: Nielsen, the globally renowned market research firm, has thrown up some interesting numbers according to its survey ‘Nielsen eSports Fan Insights 2018’.
It claims that eSports is not just for ‘male millennials’ as perceived generally, but women are engaging with it too at increasing rates. The likes of Korea and China, where eSports has boomed the most in the last four years in Asia, have 32% and 30% of fans as women respectively. Globally, this number is 22%.
Western countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany have their numbers hovering around the 20-25% mark in this regard. This is remarkably higher than heavyweights USA, which only has 17% of them.
India still has a long way to go, ranking lowest amongst countries taken in the survey, at 10% of female fans.
“We see a direct correlation between how mainstream eSports has become in a country’s culture, and how likely females are to participate in the eSports ecosystem. Newer fans are more likely to be females, who often start with casual viewing and then become more engaged over time,” Nielsen eSports MD Nicole Pike said.
The entertainment aspect of eSports is among the biggest draws for fans regardless of gender. However, females find it more interesting after connecting, meeting and socialising with other fans and gamers.
Rather than being competitive, they like dressing up or seeing fans in costumes representing their favourite eSports characters (commonly known as cosplay). Nielsen claims that 34% of female fans vis-à-vis 42% of males are likely to follow eSports as a way to learn tips and tricks from the pros and to become better gamers.
In terms of media and viewership, eSports companies and leagues must look at more fruitful social media partnerships as 46% female fans are estimated to engage on those platforms and communicate with other eSports fans during a live event as compared to 35% males.
Typically, women are considered to be better multitaskers and do the same while engaging with eSports as 28% of them listen to music and 38% of them surf the internet generally. These numbers are once again greater than those of their male counterparts.
As eSports becomes a more mainstream form of entertainment across more global markets, females will no doubt become a more important part of the audience for both rights holders and brands to address. It’s clear that it’s not just their gender that sets them apart from their male counterparts, but also their inherent motivations, preferences, and touch points within the eSports ecosystem.
Finding ways to uniquely connect with females on this more nuanced level will be increasingly key to industry stakeholders’ success and monetisation strategies moving forward.
