That is, the focus here is on game sales as the outcome variable, with depiction of female and male characters as the antecedent variables.Īt a simplistic level it might be assumed that sexualized representations of women are used in video games because such depictions increase game sales. This study uses a different tactic, assessing which depictions of video game characters are associated with higher game sales, under the assumption that only best-selling games have much impact on general culture. To date, research has focused on describing depictions of women and men in all video games, not how these depictions influence sales and, in turn, audience exposure to particular depictions ( Williams et al., 2009). These depictions in video games potentially influence the socialization of young people, who make up a large part of their audience, and thus may transform or reproduce gender representations in the general culture ( Downs & Smith, 2010). Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame, to use an obvious example, may be an active protagonist and capable adventurer and gunslinger, but she also exhibits the oversized breasts and unusually thin build of a Barbie doll rather than the muscular physique an equivalent male character would have ( Jansz & Martis, 2007). Studies completed on video games sold in the US have shown that female characters are not given representation equal to male characters in video games and are often created from a male perspective that is less than “realistic,” exaggerating their sexual or feminine traits (e.g., Beasley & Collins Standley, 2002 Burgess, Stermer & Burgess, 2007 Downs & Smith, 2010 Martins, Williams, Harrison & Ratan, 2009 Williams, Martins, Consalvo & Ivory, 2009). Video games have often drawn criticism for stereotypical depictions of women as passive partners for the (male) protagonist in such situations as the cliché “save the princess” scenario or as sex objects present primarily for the gratification of a male audience (e.g., Provenzo, 1991). These findings suggest there is an economic motive for the marginalization and sexualization of women in video game box art, and that there is greater audience exposure to these stereotypical depictions than to alternative depictions because of their positive relationship to sales. In contrast, sales were negatively related to the presence of any central female characters (sexualized or non-sexualized) or the presence of female characters without male characters present. Using a sample of 399 box art cases from games with ESRB ratings of Teen or Mature released in the US during the period of 2005 through 2010, this study shows that sales were positively related to sexualization of non-central female characters among cases with women present. Box art adorning the front of video game boxes is a form of advertising seen by most game customers prior to purchase and should therefore predict sales if indeed particular depictions of female and male characters influence sales. In order to assess the cultural influence of video games on players, it is important to weight differently those games seen by the majority of players (in the millions), rather than a random sample of all games, many of which are seen by only a few thousand people. However, the relationship between portrayal of female characters and videogame sales has not previously been studied. Content analysis of video games has consistently shown that women are portrayed much less frequently than men and in subordinate roles, often in “hypersexualized” ways.

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