Overwatch is more popular among women than other shooters. But what is the reason for that?
According to research by Quantic Foundry, Overwatch has a particularly high percentage of female players. Overall, it is estimated that there are nearly 16% women in Overwatch – which means about one per match and team on average. Thus, the female ratio is more than double that of almost all other shooters.
This is mainly because Overwatch features many female, versatile characters. In other games, especially in World War shooters, female player characters are hard to find. There, women are at most civilians to be rescued or the reason for a plausible “revenge” story to be mowed down.
It is also interesting that women do not always have the urge to “protect” others, as the stereotype of the healing women often suggests. According to studies, women prefer to eliminate others in games in a more fantastic way. While men particularly like to use realistic weapons like machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades, women prefer tools like magic, swords, and bows. This is also reflected in the fact that women tend to prefer a fantasy setting, whereas men more often enjoy SciFi.
As one of the researchers, Nick Yee, puts it:
“Women do not find weapons appealing (even if they have nothing against violence) and consider them a boring and uninspired way to kill someone. Overwatch offers more magic and other alternatives (in addition to the weapons).”
There you have it: Women also enjoy killing, but prefer to do it more creatively.
