Dear Reader:
Do girl gamers eat up Ubisoft's Petz and Imagine titles because they're told to like the content?
“Almost every single game in our lineup is a result of a ranking system that we put in front of these girls, (asking) ‘What’s interesting to you?’ These girls love customization, they love the creative aspects of ‘Fashion Designer,’ and the social aspects of showing your friends what you’ve created. Whereas boys are the opposite — they’re very interested in action. You can’t sell the same game to both of them, as a rule.” - Ubisoft senior vice president Tony Key
“Girls want this because they’re told to want this, because they think they should, and that’s what their friends are getting. We gender-label things,” she says. “I’m a girl so I should enjoy shopping and cooking and getting a manicure and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with a guy enjoying that, either.” - Karen Shanor, a neuropsychologist based in Washington D.C.
It’s a really interesting topic, and one that we don’t see discussed all that often. Has Ubisoft managed to find a line of games that really interests young girls, or are young girls sucked into the idea of these games because Ubisoft’s marketing tells them to like it?