Teen girls may face the stereotype of only liking to talk about boys or makeup but a new survey has found out that most of them like video games too. According to new surveys from the United Kingdom, more than three-quarters of teen girls play video games. It also says that they’re more interested in watching others play games than teen boys.
Gamesindustry.biz reported on the recent Insights People‘s Kids Insights survey of 5,000 U.K. children under the age of 18 from July to September. Their questions focused on gaming hobbies and interests, including watching esports, playing mobile or console games, and streaming. According to their survey, 84 percent of teen girls spend some of their free time gaming. That number is up from 75 percent last year, and puts gaming as the eighth most popular hobby for young girls.
The survey also showed that 15 percent of girls now watch esports, and there are more 13 to 15 year-old girls watching esports live than boys. Gaming is on the rise in the younger generation, although tastes vary widely between girls and boys. The Insights People CEO Nick Richardson spoke about the results.
“Not only are the gender results revealed by this survey very striking, what’s clear is that the very idea of online gaming needs to be thought about differently,” he said. “There’s a clear difference between what boy are into, such as Fortnite and Call of Duty, and what girls are doing online, which is much more about collaboration and co-creation.”
A 2015 survey of children in the U.S. found that 72 percent of teens play video games, with 84 percent of teen boys playing. The U.S. survey saw only 59 percent of teen girls reporting that they play video games. It’s important to note, however, that this was specifically related to playing games, not watching livestreams and such. A 2018 study from the Pew Research Center found that nearly half of all U.S. women ages 18 to 29 play games often. Gaming in teen girls, and in everybody else, is on the rise as games become more ubiquitous and easy to access.
