Lady LUX

The normally male-dominated industry, video games, is now making a run for the female market. It seems that they’re finally becoming aware of the female consumer!

“There is still a lot more work that can be done in creating games that engage the female demographic.…The market still is really more about potential,” said Edward Williams, a senior research analyst at BMO Capital Markets covering interactive entertainment and leisure.

With this new focus comes a completely different take on the designs and concepts for the games. It seems this focus also offers many of the big gaming companies a chance to put their creativity to work!

Expect less guns and more fashion! That’s right, LUXies! As a way to lure young women into the concept of gaming, the industry has decided to create games that get at the heart of things we love being shoes, clothes and our wardrobes!

One of the most anticipated games will be based on the hit series ‘Project Runway’ and will feature Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Tim Gunn in animation! You’ll be able to play both stylist for the models and designer for the runway! Expect this game to hit shelves March 2 and it’ll be a taste-test for this new market. Depending on the success of this game, we may be able to expect even more.

“The intersection of fashion and women and gaming is continuing to grow,” said Jeremy Barnett, 505 Games vice president of marketing and business development. With the fashion week product, “We think we can bring a game that provides the experience of fashion in an interactive environment….It brings us to a more sophisticated level of game play.”

With this new idea comes much testing. After the research, the theme for females is creativity, the ability to make it their own and interacting with the platform. There’s also a lot more realism and a realistic approach incorporated into the games. Where as with the males, they tend to care more about violence and guns.

“Things that women and girls especially like are games that center on creativity, a little bit of customization and socialization,” said Ann Hamilton, Ubisoft’s senior brand manager for the Imagine and Style Lab brands. “Girls like designing and building things, and boys like blowing up things.”

As you can see, this growing market is definitely becoming much more apparent this year. So we can expect the number of games to increase in this market.

We’d love to hear from you LUX Nation. How do you feel about your buying power being recognized? Do you see video games targeted at women as a good thing?

Tagged in: gaming industry, woman target market, project runway video game, fashion-infused games,