Females Now Own More Than Half Of Nintendo Switch Consoles In The US, Research Says

Gaming was often considered a men’s only hobby despite the fact it was equally as popular in the other half of the population. Despite multiple reports suggesting otherwise, the majority of the community clung to that perception. Now a report by Circana, a research group formed by the union of Information Resources and the NPD Group, has put more weight has put more dents onto that argument.

The figures and statistics of the unpublished Circana research were published by Matt Piscatella, executive director at Circana. According to the figures tweeted by Matt, more than 47% of console players in the US were females, while the percentage was even higher on PC with 50% of players being females. The percentage of female gamers was the highest for mobile with 54% of mobile video game players being females. 

The Circana research also enlisted the percentage for the ownership of different consoles, including Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. The statistics tweeted by Matt Piscatella reveal that in the US 45% of all Xbox Series X|S consoles are owned by females. The female ownership percentage was a bit lower for PS5, but it was still significant and it stood at 41%. But the numbers were staggering for Nintendo Switch, with 52% of all Nintendo Switch consoles in the US belonging to females. 

41% of PS5s in the US are female owned
45% of Xbox Series consoles are female owned
52% of Swich consoles are female owned
50% of gaming PCs are female owned

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) June 9, 2023

According to Matt, Circana conducted the research under the name of PlayerPulse in which they collected monthly data starting from January 1 2017. In the research, they “sampled” over 10,000 households. He further explained,

Circana conducts a monthly survey of US active gamers over the age of 13. Surveys are fielded online, via PC and mobile devices, drawing from a nationally representative pool. Respondents qualify on the basis of having played games in the past month (30 days).”

The reactions of the gamers to the research were pretty mixed. Few called the research biased and questioned its authenticity. While others were open-minded and welcomed the research as a necessary means to end the prevalent perception that females don’t play games. This isn’t the first research of its kind either. In research organized to celebrate Women’s History Month, it was found that 74% of women are playing mobile games daily.