10/16/09

Videogame publishers, pushing to expand their businesses, are making games that target girls and women a new industry battleground.

This holiday season, more games than ever are being geared toward female players. Electronic Arts Inc. is releasing the latest installment of its "Littlest Pet Shop" game for young girls and introducing a series of fashion-themed games called "Charm Girls Club" for older girls later this month. Sony Corp. in August packaged a lilac version of its PlayStation Portable device with a "Hannah Montana" game, based on the popular television show about a girl and her secret pop career.

Publishers also will target women with workout games. Ubisoft Entertainment SA is introducing "Your Shape," a personal-training game, and "Just Dance," a dancing game, in November. Nintendo Co. hit the market with "Wii Fit Plus," a sequel to its popular fitness game, in September.

Ubisoft Entertainment plans to introduce 'Your Shape,' above, a personal-training game for women, in November.

Videogames have long been considered the domain of teenage boys and young men. Though a few publishers have developed computer games for women, the genre wasn't considered significant until the past several years. Nintendo helped fuel the change with its touch-screen DS portable device five years ago and Wii console three years ago, providing easy-to-play games that appealed to a broader audience—including women—and helped spur its sales.

Since then, publishers have made a serious effort to develop mass-market games beyond the usual shooter, racing and sports titles. According to financial firm Wedbush Morgan, female game players now account for about 40% of the overall market, compared with the IDC research firm's estimate of less than 12% in 2001. Wedbush calculates that a 5% increase in female players could translate into as much as $1 billion in new revenue every year.

"Most publishers have been frustrated by the apparent lack of audience growth for core games," said John Taylor, an analyst for Arcadia Investment Corp., adding that nonhard-core game players have been responsible for much of the double-digit sales growth in the $21.3 billion U.S. videogame industry over the past few years.

Ubisoft was one of the first publishers to recognize the female market's potential, with "Petz." The pet-stimulation series has sold 19 million copies since it was introduced four years ago.

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Your Shape Team