With more people looking at gaming as viable career opportunity, and willing to invest in gaming tech and gadgets, the gaming industry has continued to see an impressive jump in revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic. A research conducted by Hewlett-Packard (HP) has revealed some interesting trends, especially among women on how they see gaming impacting not only their personal lives but also emerging as a viable career option. Over 90 per cent of respondents said they considered the gaming industry to be a good career option. And 84 per cent of all women respondents said they wanted to pursue gaming as a career, followed by 80 per cent of male respondents, along with Gen X (91 per cent) and school students (88 per cent).
“It’s extremely heartening to see the increasing participation of women in gaming and it's making gaming more mainstream in India. The women in India are becoming increasingly financially and socially independent and pursuing their choices of career, entertainment, and socialising. We interpret the increased interest of women in gaming as the reflection of their desire to pursue their passions and gaming not only allows them to connect with their friends across the globe but also opens multiple career opportunities for them,” said Vickram Bedi, Senior Director, Personal Systems, HP India Market in an interview with a news agency. “Not only this, 43 per cent of women gamers are more inclined to spend more than ₹100,000 for a gaming PC, against 39 per cent of their male counterparts. We have also found similar trends in women considering gaming as a way to socialize as 91 per cent of women participants accepted that gaming helps them connect with their friends and families,” he further added.
The study further revealed that respondents from Tier 2 cities appeared more likely to choose a career in the gaming industry than those from metro cities. And not surprisingly, gaming, for most people, was a stress buster. Over 92 per cent of respondents agreed that gaming helped relieve work/study pressure while reducing stress and inducing positive feelings. Additionally, 91 per cent believed that gaming allowed them to socialise better and has helped them make new friends. Similarly, 91 per cent of respondents also believed that gaming helps boost attention and concentration levels.
For the HP India Gaming Landscape Report 2021, the company had 1,500 respondents complete a survey between March 2021 and April 2021. These respondents came from across 25 metro cities, Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities as well. Interviews were conducted with a mix of male and female respondents between the ages of 15 and 40 years. All the respondents were PC and/or mobile phone users and played either action and/or adventure games on their PCs and smartphones.