While there is still an apparent lack of women in the Web3 industry, blockchain-based games aimed at women can help promote inclusivity. A recent report from the Entertainment Software Association found that 48% of gamers in the United States identify as women. It was also noted that nearly half of all gamers in the world are women. Remarkable is the interest women have in the billion dollar gaming industry. This, combined with the massive growth expected by the GameFi industry, is one of the main reasons why a number of Web3 games are created specifically for female users.
Beryl Chavez Li, co-founder of Yield Guild Games, a global play-to-earn gaming community, told Cointelegraph that she believes blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity have begun to see an increase in female players. “While the statistics show that play-to-earn games are more attractive to male users, we think more women will start to take an interest,” she said.
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive president of Animoca Brands, further told Cointelegraph that finance and Web3 games are closely related, noting that over time this will naturally attract all kinds of people to space. Yet he believes women, in particular, will be drawn to their tendency towards greater financial responsibility. “This is particularly evident in developing countries where microfinance and in particular micro-lending are mainly driven by women,” he noted.
Web3 games incorporate features to attract women
Numerous Web3 games are being developed with the aim of attracting a predominantly female audience. For example, Fashion League is a free mobile game that allows users to develop their own fashion empire. Theresia Le Battistini, CEO and founder of Fashion League, told Cointelegraph that the game allows users to create virtual clothing lines that could be sold as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, while brands can leverage the game to showcase digital products. : “We believe that everything will be gamified in the future, as our statistics have found that the gaming market will exceed $ 300 billion by 2027. Web3 games must be inclusive.”
To guide female participation, Le Battistini explained that Fashion League contains some characteristics that women naturally like. “The aesthetics of the game are important, along with the fact that it will first be accessible on mobile devices. Women like to play on mobile devices, as there is a low barrier to entry,” she explained. Recent statistics show that 62% of people install a game on their phone within a week of possession. Furthermore, these results reveal that the current gender divide for mobile games is 51% for women and 49% for men. As for aesthetics, a report by The Female Quotient found this to be the most important factor in attracting women to the Web3 space.
Chavez Li, who sits on the Fashion League advisory board, also pointed out that many Web3 games focus on first and third person shooter games, but lack creativity. He noted that Fashion League encourages people to create digital items, which can eventually evolve into salable NFTs. “We are enabling the creator economy through a fun game. The more users play, the more points they can earn. In-game cash can then be exchanged for tokens that can be converted into fiat, “she said. Chavez Li also said that players can compete and interact with each other during events such as fashion shows, adding a layer of socialization. to the game.
In addition to Fashion League, Mishi McDuff, founder of the digital fashion brand Blueberry, told Cointelegraph that the company has launched a 3D boutique shopping experience on the Roblox gaming platform. Known as “BlueberryXWorld”, McDuff explained that the Web3 game was designed to create a fun and safe environment for players to explore their digital identity:
“Avatars can explore Blueberry’s two-story boutique and try on clothes and accessories. The clean lines and silhouettes of the collections are juxtaposed with flints of attitude such as mini skirts, cropped tops and metallic party girl garments, along with fun accessories such as cat backpacks. Plus, a variety of hairstyles are available for further customization. “
Like Fashion League, BlueberryXWorld was created entirely by female designers and developers. While McDuff noted that the game can be enjoyed by everyone, he believes this element ensures that the creators have a chance to make their point heard. He explained: “In most traditional games, you see women represented in such an unrealistic way: no cellulite, no stretch marks, no body fat. Our avatars have love handles, stretch marks and all the other things that make us human. “
McDuff also stressed that community is a principle behind the game, which she thinks women will really like: “Players can stop by the bar to grab a drink and chat with each other. Women have always had a knack for building strong communities. and close-knit, so it won’t be a surprise to see it in Web3 “.
Lenny Pettersson, chief operating officer of Antler Interactive, a mobile games studio based in Sweden, and interim CEO of “My Neighbor Alice”, told Cointelegraph that some of the most important features of the Web3 game are focused on collaboration. of players and in-game connections. Pettersson explained that the game allows users to gather resources to model an archipelago together. Pettersson shared that player collaboration has already become evident in the game’s Discord channel, noting that players text and post screenshots on the channel pointing out where to find the best places to fish, for example.
Given this kind of community involvement, Pettersson explained that much of the inspiration behind My Neighbor Alice was drawn from traditional games that were popular with a female audience. For example, you have noticed that the art style plays an important role here. “A colorful and playful art style that resembles a fairy tale is intentional.”
While aesthetics, personalization and community building are all important features in attracting women to the Web3, better representation is also key. Marcus Bläsche, CEO and co-founder of Rumble Kong League (RKL), a game that combines basketball, play-to-earn and NFT, told Cointelegraph that basketball and Web3, unfortunately, both share the challenge of lightning-fast representation of female users. To combat this, Bläsche explained that RKL recently partnered with Round 21, a female-driven Web3-native sports lifestyle brand with an emphasis on collaboration and community.
Related: Organizations look to multi-party computing to advance Web3
According to Bläsche, this partnership helped launch a new collection of NFT games called “The Rookies”, which creates a uniform division of male and female “rookies” to ensure female athletes are represented on Web3. Round21 founder Jasmine Maietta told Cointelegraph that the organization is specifically helping RKL create equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or social background, adding:
“We believe that the Web3 world offers a unique opportunity to create a fair and equitable ecosystem from scratch. Our Rookie collection is the first step in this direction, putting male and female athletes on the same page, and we plan to continue this narrative with whatever we do in the future ”.
Will games increase women’s participation in Web3?
All in all, it is still difficult to determine whether Web3 games aimed at women will actually result in increased participation. For example, Pettersson believes this is a difficult question to answer right now. Still, he noted that it would suffice to say that high-quality Web3 games aimed at women will impact the entry of more women into the industry: “The first ‘Web2’ games were designed and geared specifically for boys and men. Over the decades, more and more games have been designed for girls and women. “
Related: Reinventing Yourself in the Metaverse Through Digital Identity
With this in mind, she believes the Web3 industry is already aware that women love games and want to be involved, thus focusing more on this gender class. However, Pettersson added that it will be difficult to determine the real impact these games will have, noting:
“The challenge for Web3 games is also related to the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, which is not specifically related to a gender issue, but rather to a worldwide mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. And there is still a long way to go when it comes to accessibility and ease of use for that to happen. “
Siu also commented that games are becoming less gender dependent, while Maietta noted that Web3 has the opportunity to base their culture on intentional inclusiveness. While noteworthy, it’s important to recognize that the Web3 gaming space is still ongoing. Therefore, some in the industry believe that developers are currently more focused on ecosystem building rather than inclusiveness. For example, Olga Ivanova, content and community manager at Spielworks, a blockchain gaming platform, told Cointelegraph that she believes Web3 game developers are more interested in “creating solid game economies and elevating game design to at least standard. AAA “.