I have no idea, PUBG Mobile also had lots more female playing and I asked a few times all they said was "It is very exciting!", the game is basically the same as CS, Battlefield or all other similar shooting game.

My guess is that, Mobile has a much lower barrier of entry, no more "computers" installing and set up, spec to play, complex keyboard input etc.

It is simple to understand, point and shoot.

It takes little time, 15 to 30 min a game. No grinding like WoW. As a matter of fact there are also lots of female playing LoL as well. But I think PUBG Mobile and Fortnite is on another level. And these female players, are a lot more willing to spend on in game clothings!

I have a few female friends who never play much mobile games, and couldn't understand why man spend a fortune in a game loot. But the first time they pay PUBG Mobile they decide to buy a nice hat and skirt...... And they asked did we spend all our money on clothing in games... ( Um.. no )

Another point worth pointing out is E-Sport / Gaming has level the playing field of male and female. No longer do genetics and muscle define what can or could not be done. ( Actually they properly still do but much less so then in real world ) And they are actually quite good at aiming and Snipers.

I'm male, but as someone with a family game developers really under-estimated how important it is to have a game you can jump into for 30 minutes or less at a time.

When you have a family, particularly a young one, you have time but not contiguous time. Meaning a 15-30 minute game is possible, a 1-2 hour game is simply not (except perhaps on weekends).

Fortnite, Overwatch, and many mobile games do very well at this. AAA games often fail due to the level of grinding just to be on par (e.g. Battlefield, COD) and for single player games it is a mixed bag, some like Far Cry and Breath of the Wild have gameplay elements (like freeing outposts) that lend themselves to short burst of gameplay with a small reward.

Millennials are now in our thirties. We have families and kids, we game. There's a market for this.

This a million times. I asked for this like for nearly a decade. And it seems wired no game studio quite understand this.

Oh, and another thing that was lost in the 20 years we grown up as millennials. Games are suppose to be FUN. Fun Fun, something we enjoy, not for wasting our time. Nowadays most games are graphics showcase, poor game play, little story line, and mostly for hardcore gamers. Zelda is fun, may be more so then before, but it is now an even rarer breed.

Imo, money up front is much bigger barrier of entry for new people then instalation ot other things you mentioned.

If you are know you liked games like that in the past (because they were gifted to you or because you tried them with friends), you are more willing to pay up front. If you have no idea about whether you will like it, then you have only curiosity to attract you, which is rarely something that makes people pay dozens of dollars.

Also, if the game is marketed "for guy" many girls will not try for the same reason why men avoid pink or cute games no matter what mechanics - it feels like there is something odd or weird about you when you do that.

>Imo, money up front is much bigger barrier of entry for new people then instalation ot other things you mentioned.

True, they properly are never going to spend money buying a game.

>Also, if the game is marketed "for guy" many girls will not try for the same reason why men avoid pink or cute games no matter what mechanics - it feels like there is something odd or weird about you when you do that.

I think part of that as well. There are now many Girls playing "Chicken Dinner" in Asia and live-streaming, it seems their circle has also caught on to this, as everyone in their circle are talking about it.

Girls i know that play it don't play on mobile, anecdotal i know but still.

There is quite some academic research on games and gender that, as a group, female gamers are more found on mobile than on console or pc.

But I also wonder: isn't it just age as well? I feel younger people (e.g. 15 to 20) nowadays are more into gaming in general compared to 30 year olds. The world is getting more digital and people are introduced to it in a much more rapid fashion (e.g. seeing an iPhone or iPad at the age of 4).

Anecdote, but I think it's mobile. My partner LOVES fortnite, and plays almost exclusively on the phone, sometimes on my PC.

Where would someone see this marketing imagery that they mention? I don't think I'm particularly living under a rock, but if I didn't follow Barstool Sports on Twitter, and thus see memes about guys ignoring their girlfriends to play Fortnite, I would have no idea that this game existed.

It's worth noting that this is definitely from Fortnite mobile, which is just a portion of the overall exposure to the game. I'd be willing to bet if you combined PC, Xbox, PS4 and mobile, it would be much heavier weighed towards male.

I'm afraid I can't provide better insight. However it does appear to be popular in the amateur porn scene.

Pure anecdotal speculation here - Fortnite lets you build stuff and customize appearances. In video games that have strong female followings (The Sims, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, etc.) both of these features are front and center. Couple that with strong social features (multiplayer + mobile phone) and "marketing buzz" and I can see why this is attractive to women.

I don't know if I buy that - Fortnite is still a shooter at its heart and anything you build is extremely short-lived.

Compared to Sims/Minecraft/Stardew Valley, where your creation lives on for the entirety of the time you spend with the game.

I agree, it is short lived, but I think it's more about the feedback loop of "collect/earn then build" that is attractive, not the permanence of the creation. Whereas shooters typically were about the adrenaline rush of the fire fight, Fortnite has more variety of gameplay.