Along with the fast boom in economy, women’s life has been changing a lot. A woman is no longer known as a housewife, who is unemployed and spends the whole life to “serve" her husband and children. Especially in China, which is partly known by its strong feudal system and where male chauvinism more or less still exits, one third of game players are women.

According to the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, Game industry revenue of 2005 hit 3.77 billion yuan, up 53 percent compared with the statistic in 2004. Of course, the number is not made up by men only. Female-game-player market is really potential, estimated at 4 billion yuan ($500 million) and this is the reason why there are more and more games designed for women. Game firms also promptly jump into this lucrative area.

Most women love to play casual and puzzle games while men’s favorite categories are online and role playing games. Lovely images, romantic backgrounds, animals, and one round in a short time are the main features of games for women. Daily activities related to a woman’s life is also a popular topic for many game firms to develop. Pretty Woman is a good example for such games. In the game, players can make their virtual female characters more beautiful and attractive by choosing various make-up tools: eyeliner, eye-shadow, lipstick and gloss, etc. Those seem very simple but actually appeal to many women.

But women do play online games as well.

Unlike the “common principles" of online games for men which usually easily go to sex and violence, favorite online games for women are very “feminine." Many white-collar women play chess and some other games with friends on MSN, Yahoo, etc. in spare time or in the break between morning and afternoon shifts. However, that is not all for the whole picture. World of Warcraft, MU, or Counter Strike also have a great number of female users.

Liu Bing, one of few female players who has progressed to the highest level, 60, in World of Warcraft said “I have been playing World of War Craft for one year and a half. Playing games has become my strong desire that pushes me in front of the computer screen every time I am free."

Internet is so popular in China now. “Café internet," “internet service," “internet cyber," and “game online" can be seen at every single corner of Shanghai or Beijing, and the fact that China becomes one of the biggest online game markets is totally understandable.

“Online games are not only man’s entertainment," said Zi Wei, another female player who spends at least 3 hours per day for online games. Wei plays with a group of 9 other friends, both male and female, and her talent is considered the best in this group.

Zi Wei shared that voice communication is highly important in online role playing games. Every player usually uses chat applications such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN or some chat clients such as Ventrilo, Teamspeak, Roger Wilco to play a role in the team and recognize the voice of each member. Players can type but it takes a long time when online role playing game’s speed is really high, so voice chat seems to be the sole best solution.

“It was so funny that the first time when I started to play online game, I looked around in the Internet shop and imitated a small boy sitting next to me to take a microphone and talk to my partners, all are men. They shouted to me “Go home, babe!" Liu Bing laughed, “It was because I’m female! I was a bit angry with those guys and immediately search a voice changer online. Luckily I found one. My God, my voice totally became male voice. And I was able to play World of Warcraft with those guys until I came to level 35. Then I decided to talk to them that I was a girl. Wow, they were shocked…and we are close friends in the group now!"

Maybe Liu Bing’s story is a special case. Women play games as they love to, not really because they try to show that they are as good as men in anything. Playing online games is just one more choice for women’s entertainment.

“I can spend 3 hours per day for online games, but my major interest is very traditional: shopping, clothes, and books," Zi Wei explained.

About the author:

Chris Martin, Avnex’s copywriter, who is conducting a project on online role playing games and their affects on society.