Editing Gamer (section)

===Demographics===
Games are stereotypically associated with young males, but the diversity of the audience has been steadily increasing over time.<ref name="bizNotGender">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-10-30-platform-not-gender-drives-gamer-differences-eedar|last=Nofziger|first=Heather|title=Platform, not gender, drives gamer differences|date=October 30, 2014 |access-date=2015-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222140357/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-10-30-platform-not-gender-drives-gamer-differences-eedar|archive-date=2015-12-22|url-status=live}}</ref> This stereotype exists even among a majority of women who play video games regularly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/public-debates-about-gaming-and-gamers/|title=2. Public debates about gaming and gamers|last=Duggan|first=Maeve|date=2015-12-15|website=Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech|access-date=2016-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703000939/http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/public-debates-about-gaming-and-gamers/|archive-date=2016-07-03|url-status=live}}</ref> Among players using the same category of device (e.g., console or phone), patterns of play are largely the same between men and women. Diversity is driven in part by new hardware platforms.<ref name="bizNotGender"/> Expansion of the audience was catalyzed by [[Nintendo marketing#Demographic shifts|Nintendo's efforts to reach new demographics]].<ref name="inaCasualization"/> Market penetration of [[smartphones]] with gaming capabilities further expanded the audience,<ref name="inaCasualization"/> since in contrast to consoles or high-end PCs, mobile phone gaming requires only devices that non-gamers are likely to already own.<ref name="bizNotGender"/>

While 48% of women in the United States report having played a video game, only 6% identify as gamers, compared to 15% of men who identify as gamers.<ref name="pewGamer2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/attitudes-about-video-games/|last=Duggan|first=Maeve|publisher=Pew Research Center|title=Gaming and Gamers|date=2015-12-15|access-date=2015-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219073925/http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/attitudes-about-video-games/|archive-date=2015-12-19|url-status=live}}</ref> This rises to 9% among women aged 18–29, compared to 33% of men in that age group. Half of female [[Pc game|PC gamers]] in the U.S. consider themselves to be core or hardcore gamers.<ref name="pcgamerFemale">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-find-that-female-pc-gamers-outnumber-males/|title=Researchers find that female PC gamers outnumber males|newspaper=PC Gamer|date=2014-10-29|access-date=2015-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218143012/http://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-find-that-female-pc-gamers-outnumber-males/|archive-date=2015-12-18|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="superdataWhyAll">{{cite web|url=https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/why-all-gamers-matter/|title=Why ALL gamers matter – my view as a female games analyst|date=October 28, 2014|access-date=2015-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224230547/https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/why-all-gamers-matter/|archive-date=2015-12-24|url-status=live}}</ref> Connotations of "gamer" with sexism on the fringe of gaming culture has caused women to be less willing to adopt the label.<ref name="nytimesShunLabel">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/technology/personaltech/women-who-play-games-shun-gamer-label.html|last=McPhate|first=Mike|work=The New York Times|title=Women Who Play Games Shun 'Gamer' Label|date=2015-12-16|access-date=2017-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708010149/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/technology/personaltech/women-who-play-games-shun-gamer-label.html|archive-date=2017-07-08|url-status=live}}</ref>

Racial minorities responding to Pew Research were more likely to describe themselves as gamers, with 19% of [[Hispanics]] identifying as gamers, compared to 11% of [[African-Americans]] and 7% of [[whites]].<ref name="pewGamer2015"/> The competitive [[fighting game]] scene is noted as particularly racially diverse and tolerant.<ref name="polygonFightingGame">{{cite web|url=http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/2/6/5361004/fighting-game-diversity|last=Bowman|first=Rich|work=Polygon|title=Why the Fighting Game Community is Color Blind|date=2014-02-06|access-date=2015-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222112413/http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/2/6/5361004/fighting-game-diversity|archive-date=2015-12-22|url-status=live}}</ref> This is attributed to its origin in arcades, where competitors met face to face and the barrier to entry was merely a [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarter]].<ref name="polygonFightingGame"/> Only 4% of those aged 50 and over identified as gamers.<ref name="pewGamer2015"/>