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Women (and a Little Bit of Culture) in Simulation Gaming

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Gaming as a Cultural Commons

Part of the book series: Translational Systems Sciences ((TSS,volume 28))

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Abstract

The relation of gender as a cultural construct and games is a complicated one. Research addresses questions of gender representation, influence of gender on game design and development, facilitation, and game preferences. Market research shows that female game developers are still underrepresented in a booming industry. Research into game play and learning by gaming draws conflicting pictures—from competitive male players to female gamers with steep learning curves. In this contribution, we discuss four perspectives through which gender and simulation games are connected, namely, the player as a woman, the female game character, the developer of the game as a woman, and the female facilitator. We refer to related work and our own experiences. However, we aim at initiating a discourse on this topic with our questions rather than providing answers. We hope that readers will develop their own perspective on the relation between gender and simulation gaming and how more diversity would contribute to this field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Heide K. Lukosch

  2. Cenandu Learning Agency, Antweiler, Germany

    Claudia Schmitz

  3. Institute of Anthropology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

    Olga Bostan

Authors
  1. Heide K. Lukosch
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  2. Claudia Schmitz
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  3. Olga Bostan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heide K. Lukosch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Toshiko Kikkawa

  2. Department of Management and Business Administration, FHV University of Vorarlberg, Dornbirn, Austria

    Willy Christian Kriz

  3. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Junkichi Sugiura

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Lukosch, H.K., Schmitz, C., Bostan, O. (2022). Women (and a Little Bit of Culture) in Simulation Gaming. In: Kikkawa, T., Kriz, W.C., Sugiura, J. (eds) Gaming as a Cultural Commons. Translational Systems Sciences, vol 28. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0348-9_4

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