Circana, formerly the NPD Group, recently published a PlayerPulse study that reported a growing number of female gamers in the United States. They might not outnumber men in every category, but the numbers are rising.
According to the April 2023 report, 47% of console gamers in the US are women. About 52% of Nintendo Switches are female-owned, making it the most popular console for the demographic. 45% of Xbox Series X|S consoles are owned by women, while that figure drops to 41% for PS5.
Women also make up 50% of PC video game players and 54 percent of mobile game players. These statistics challenge the narrative that women don’t make up a significant portion of gaming audiences, something that has been alleged for years.
Circana specified the demographics for its sample pool and the methodology used for collecting its data. Executive Director Mat Piscatella listed these specifics on Twitter, including a note that the team sampled over 10k households with participants over the age of 13. It’s a rotating sample, so participants may differ depending on the survey.
“To ensure consistency across samples and correct for any biases/errors, Circana implements a weighting system for each monthly dataset based on representative distributions of platform use and platform investment,” Piscatella writes in his thread. Circana also bases its models on “aggregated, cross-product samples” and updates its data quarterly to “account for market shifts.”
Circana’s survey comes after multiple reports about the rising number of female gamers, including one from the ESA last year (via GamesIndustry.biz). At the very least, it proves that women continue to be interested in games.
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