ELSPA launches free research paper on women and gaming

A new study has been launched by ELSPA at the Women's Game Conference in Austin, Texas, exploring the role of women in the videogame industry - both as creators and as consumers of interactive entertainment.

Titled Chicks and Joysticks: An Exploration of Women and Gaming, the white paper is available for download from the ELSPA website as of today, and is being published free of charge by the publisher body.

The paper argues that women are one of the key ways to increase the reach of the global games market, and covers ground from the earliest days of computer programming through to up to date statistics and research on female gamers and game developers.

"There is an enormous potential audience out there," according to the report's author, journalist, presenter and student Aleks Krotoski. "Women do play games by the majority approach them differently to men and the industry needs to recognise these differences when making and marketing their products. Diversity in gaming can only be positive, for everyone."