International Geek Day: Fighting game players are the first victims of sexist comments in France

(ETX Daily Up) – Stereotypes have hard teeth in the gaming world in France. Women still too often suffer sexist remarks, insults and even threats of sexual violence. Among the victims, fighting game players appear to be the most affected, according to a study by the IFOP.

In celebration of International Geek Day, which celebrates the release of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” on May 25, 1977, the report is sad. 66% of fighting game enthusiasts said they have already been victims of sexism in various forms compared to 40% of all female players, according to an Ifop survey, carried out at the request of the specialized site Gamertop.fr and the agency specialized in data Flashes.

The fairer sex represents a significant percentage of video game players. According to the study, 62% of French women are active gamers against 66% of the French. And the percentage is higher among women aged 15 to 24, reaching 84% against 88% among men.

Differences between games

And yet, if women are indeed part of the “game”, they remain the target of sexist comments, insults and insults. Some categories of players are even more affected than others by this reprehensible behavior. Line of Sight: Fighting game players. They experience more physical remarks, obscene remarks or comments with a sexual connotation (49%), sexist remarks, insults and insults (48%) and threats of sexual assault (37%).

In comparison, 24% of all female gamers say they have been subjected to comments about their appearance, 23% to lewd comments or comments with sexual connotations, 22% to sexist comments, insults and insults, and 15% to threats of sexual assault. Solo RPG players were declared 60% victims of comments on the physique, 61% of obscene or sexually connoted comments, 62% of sexist comments, insults and insults, and 46% of threats of sexual assault.

This damning observation doesn’t improve when we focus on the treatment female video game players experience because of their gender. While an average of 38% say they have already faced sexist criticism about their level of play, the percentage rises to 65% among female fighting game players. The latter are also more numerous than the average, 58% against 34%, having to deal with a paternalistic and condescending attitude. 48% of female fighting game players have been refused to talk to or play with a player because of his gender.

Profiles more affected than others

Gamers aged 25-34 are the most numerous, with 61%, having been victims or witnesses of at least one form of sexism, and 60% among those aged 15-24, against an average of 53%. Gamers aged 15-24 are 50% more likely to experience at least one form of sexism compared to 45% among 25-34 year olds and an average of 40%.

We observe a higher victim rate among non-heterosexual women, 55% versus 38% for heterosexual women, and more importantly among victims or witnesses of at least one form of sexism, 73% versus 52%.

The strategies adopted

Outcome of the races: To avoid being attacked, players change their habits. This is how some refuse to participate in a voice chat (13%) or avoid playing an online game (10%), while others choose to leave a group or game (12%).

In total, 40% of players surveyed said they use an avoidance strategy. Again, current fighting game players are the most numerous: 66% versus 62% of MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) players.

This study was conducted by Ifop for GamerTop via an online self-administered questionnaire, from 17 to 29 March 2023, with a nationally representative sample of 5009 people, representative of the French population aged 15 and over. Within this sample, 4,018 video game players (current or past) were surveyed, including 3,251 active gamers in the past three months.