Twitch has become one of the most popular live-streaming platforms ever. Although it was initially dominated by male influencers, now the number of female streamers has increased to an impressive 35%. And still grows!
Female streamers still do not have as massive an audience as their male counterparts. But they successfully gain loyal fans, and their popularity is advancing. Such a plot twist in the current approach to women in gaming brings many benefits and undeniably impacts the gaming industry.
In addition to playing all genres of video games, streamers share their insights about mental health, struggling with hate, and the situation of LGBTQ in today’s world. And that’s just the beginning of their positive contribution to the outdated understanding of gaming!
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Celeste | 2018-01-25 | Adventure | Matt Makes Games Inc. |
 | A Hat In Time | 2017-10-05 | Adventure | Gears for Breakfast |
 | Kirby And The Forgotten Land | 2022-03-25 | Adventure | HAL Laboratory |
 | Splatoon 2 | 2017-07-21 | Action | Nintendo |
 | Super Smash Bros Ultimate | 2018-12-07 | Fighting | Sora |
 | Stardew Valley | 2016-02-26 | Adventure | ConcernedApe |
 | Harvest Moon Light Of Hope Special Edition | 2017-11-14 | Adventure | Natsume |
 | Unpacking | 2021-11-02 | Piont-and-click | Witch Beam |
 | Okami Hd | 2012-10-30 | Adventure | Capcom |
 | The Legend Of Zelda Breath Of The Wild Nintendo Switch | 2017-03-03 | Adventure | Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 3 |
 | Portal 2 | 2011-04-18 | Adventure | Valve |
 | Journey | 2020-06-11 | Indie | ThatGameCompany |
 | What Remains Of Edith Finch | 2017-04-24 | Adventure | Giant Sparrow |
 | The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Special Edition | 2016-10-27 | Adventure | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | Life Is Strange Complete Season Episodes 1 5 | 2015-01-29 | Adventure | DONTNOD Entertainment |
 | Life Is Strange True Colors | 2021-09-09 | Adventure | Deck Nine |
 | Life Is Strange 2 Complete Season | 2018-09-27 | Adventure | DONTNOD Entertainment |
 | Dont Starve | 2013-04-19 | Adventure | Klei Entertainment |
 | Dont Starve Together | 2016-04-21 | Economy | Klei Entertainment |
 | Tomb Raider | 2013-03-05 | Adventure | SQUARE ENIX |
 | Rise Of The Tomb Raider 20 Years Celebration | 2016-02-09 | Adventure | Crystal Dynamics |
 | Shadow Of The Tomb Raider | 2018-09-14 | Adventure | SQUARE ENIX |
 | Dragon Age Origins | 2009-11-06 | Action & Shooter | BioWare |
 | Dragon Age Inquisition | 2014-11-20 | RPG | BioWare Edmonton |
 | Mass Effect Legendary Edition | 2021-05-14 | RPG | BioWare |
 | Mass Effect Andromeda | 2017-03-23 | Adventure | BioWare Montréal |
 | Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition | 2020-08-07 | Adventure | Guerrilla Games |
 | Uncharted Legacy Of Thieves Collection | 2022-10-19 | Adventure | Naughty Dog |
 | Nier Automata | 2017-03-17 | RPG | SQUARE ENIX |
 | The Walking Dead The Telltale Definitive Series | 2019-09-10 | Action | Skybound Games |
 | World Of Warcraft Dragonflight | 2022 | MMORPG | Blizzard Entertainment |
The Power of Representation
Reading a book or playing a game, it’s hard to relate with a character who doesn’t share common traits with the recipient. That’s why having more women involved in the design and development of video games can tremendously push the entire gaming industry forward.
Women form almost half of the humanity playing video games, want to pay for a quality product, and enjoy the gameplay that is not limited to addressing the male imagination. Around 23% of developers are women with passionate leaders like Debbie Bestwick from Team17 or Kim Swift from Valve.
Such changes in the gaming industry encourage women to play games and become interested in streaming. Female streamers are a significant source of feedback for game developers, an excellent marketing medium for a wider audience, and an inspiration for many girls seeing their future in esports or game development. Among the popular streamers, the most influential are Pokimane, LilyPichu, and LoserFruit.
Challenging Stereotypes
Women have boobs, and (apparently) this is the gravest threat to male streamers and their audience. Ever since girls play games on Twitch, they’ve encountered regular harassment, hate, objectification, and sexualization. Regardless of what they look like and what they play, for some, girls are not “real” gamers because of their gender.
Female streamers fight such attacks by moderating chats, charging bans, and ignoring the most aggressive comments. But they also make their audience aware of how to deal with such situations, maintain mental balance, and just be yourself. Because even wearing a sweater up to the neck, every streamer will eventually see a comment that she is too fat, thin, white, black, or desperate for male attention. By revealing the sad behind-the-scenes of gaming, female streamers inspire more women to join the community by proving that girls fight together.
Conclusion
Being a female gamer can be frustrating. Whether you want to spend an evening playing Call of Duty or streaming an epic Minecraft base building, sooner or later you’ll earn the hate. But the numbers don’t lie and prove that more and more women want to have fun with games, make games and watch women play.
It’s an industry with enormous potential and a massive void that only women can fill with their innovative ideas for characters that everyone identifies with. It is why female streamers’ work may be one of the biggest game-changers in gaming history. By fighting the haters and creating supportive online communities, they proudly lead the way for the next generation of women in gaming. And while some gamers still perceive the presence of female streamers as an invasion of their male space, soon their favorite titles will be those made by women.