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Women experience guilt, shame and exclusion in gaming culture, study finds

Published

3 months ago

August 29, 2025

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

A new study has found that women experience guilt and shame around playing games, and that this is related to feeling excluded from the traditionally male pastime.

The study surveyed 1,000 women of all ages across the UK who play mobile games – the most popular way for women to play – on how they felt about gaming.

The research was led by Dr Steph Rennick, Lecturer in Interactive Media at the University of Stirling, and Dr Seán Roberts, Lecturer in Communication at Cardiff University, in partnership with Swedish gaming studio Undone Games.

There is a growing number of women gamers, with 51% of women now gaming in some capacity compared to 53% of men, however women are still underrepresented in many game genres and in the content of games.

In the survey, 41% of women agreed that playing games is one of the things they most look forward to each day, but almost 60% felt that they do not play enough games to consider themselves a gamer, and more than 30% agreed that they would be embarrassed to call themselves one.

Dr Rennick said: “The study shows many women feel excluded from video game culture, with significant numbers of women feeling guilty about playing video games and worrying about what others think of them taking time to play games.

“Interestingly, feeling guilty or keeping secrets about gaming did not correlate with how much time women spent playing games. We expected a significant proportion of women to report feelings of guilt around playing video games and taking leisure time more generally. But while we thought feelings of guilt or shame would have a negative impact on the amount of time women spent playing games, we didn’t find such a connection. Those who feel guilty or keep secrets don’t play less, but they feel worse.”

Using machine learning techniques to identify connections in the data, the experts found some striking patterns. For example, younger players were more likely to feel guilty about playing video games, with those aged 16-24 being three times more likely to strongly agree that they feel guilty about taking time to play than those aged 55+.

Guilt also seemed to be related to whether women felt they fit into gaming culture, with 60% of women surveyed saying that they do not play enough games to consider themselves a gamer.

Women were twice as likely to feel guilty if they thought that gaming was mainly a male pastime (46% vs 23%) or if they said they would be embarrassed to call themselves a gamer (55% vs. 35%). In contrast, women who felt that occasionally playing any game made you a gamer were 42% less likely to feel guilty.

The survey also found that 75% of respondents classified themselves as casual gamers, but a quarter of these were also spending more than an hour per day playing video games on a PC or console.

Strikingly, even amongst women who spent more than five hours a day playing games on mobile, console or PC, only one in six identified as a hardcore gamer.

Dr Seán Roberts, who researches gaming at Cardiff University, said: “When I ask people if they play video games, women often say no. But if you ask about playing games on a mobile, many of them will suddenly say yes. It’s like they have an idea of what a real gamer is in their heads, and they feel like they don’t meet that ideal.”

There appears to be a link between shame and worrying what others think of you, with 16% keeping gaming a secret from friends and family for fear of judgement.

Women who reported feeling anxious or depressed when scrolling social media were twice as likely to keep gaming a secret compared to women who were not (31% vs 12%).

Furthermore, feeling and expressing pride in gaming as a woman is a difficult balancing act: women who felt very proud of their achievements in games were slightly more likely to keep it a secret than those who did not feel as proud (22% vs. 14%). In contrast, women who were motivated to play games to challenge themselves were half as likely to keep it a secret (11% vs 20%).

Dr Roberts added: “Women tend to spend less time playing if they feel they don’t fit into gaming culture – for example if they believe that gaming is a male pastime, or that they don’t play enough games to be a gamer, are embarrassed to call themselves a gamer, or think video games are too violent. In contrast, women spend more time playing if they are proud of their gaming achievements.

“This suggests that guilt and shame are just symptoms. While these are clearly negatively impacting women gamers, they may not be the root of the problem. Instead, removing barriers to play for women may require deeper changes such as reducing leisure inequality between men and women.”

The post Women experience guilt, shame and exclusion in gaming culture, study finds appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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ReferOn Unveils Model Context Protocol: The Next Step Toward True AI-Powered Affiliate Management

Published

3 days ago

November 26, 2025

Adrienn Sarkany

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

ReferOn, a next-gen affiliate management system, announces the development of Model Context Protocol (MCP), a groundbreaking foundation designed to kickstart the era of AI in affiliate marketing.

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that enables AI assistants to connect directly with ReferOn’s APIs, databases, and platform actions. Instead of adding cosmetic AI “innovations” on top of legacy systems, ReferOn is engineering the infrastructure that allows AI to operate where it delivers the most value and impact for users daily.

How MCP Enhances AI Integration in Affiliate Marketing

The development of MCP opens the door to freeing up affiliate managers to focus on strategy, relationship-building, and growth, instead of dealing with mundane and repetitive tasks. Imagine AI agents that will be able to create tracking links in seconds, set up reward plans on the fly, and detect anomalies in traffic data instantly. This is what “AI-ready” means — real groundwork being set up, not just hype.

The first step in this direction is ReferOn’s Global Search (Beta), a feature that creates a single entry point for data, actions, and insights. While it may look like a simple search bar, it bridges ReferOn’s core layer, raw data, and intelligent AI agents.

Real Impact of AI-Powered Affiliate Management

Alex Bukin, ReferOn’s General Manager, commented, “Strategy and real impact come before hype. MCP isn’t about chasing a wave, it’s about creating a foundation that keeps affiliate managers and operators ahead of the curve. By focusing on building the groundwork to support structured data and open standards, we’re making sure AI has real use cases, not just cosmetic add-ons. Our goal is to set the benchmark for innovation and lead the affiliate management ecosystem by shaping its future.”

About ReferOn

ReferOn is the state-of-the-art affiliate management system, tailored specifically to the needs of the gaming affiliate industry. Launched in February 2023, ReferOn offers a comprehensive suite

of tools and services designed to streamline and enhance the affiliate marketing experience, featuring transparent data reports and a range of management and reporting functionalities.

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SimplePlay Announces Strategic Partnership with Timeless Tech

Published

3 days ago

November 26, 2025

Adrienn Sarkany

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SimplePlay is delighted to announce its recent partnership with Timeless Tech, a leading game aggregator. This alliance will integrate SimplePlay’s suite of games and services into Timeless Tech’s powerful platform, significantly expanding the provider’s reach in key international markets.

As SimplePlay continues to establish itself as a comprehensive game provider, this collaboration will enhance its rich portfolio of premium games through Timeless Tech’s Game Aggregator API. This partnership aims to strengthen SimplePlay’s position and expand its reach in markets like Europe and Latin America.

“We’re delighted to welcome SimplePlay to our aggregator – a provider that represents creativity, reliability, and depth. Their combination of slots, crash, table, and fishing games perfectly complements our goal to deliver diverse, high-performing content to operators worldwide. This partnership highlights what Timeless Tech stands for: building meaningful alliances that empower growth, quality, and innovation.” –– Nicola Cainero, Chief Operating Officer, Timeless Tech

“The new partnership with Timeless Tech is definitely a win-win agreement that fosters mutual growth for both sides,” said Osman Walker, CSO of SimplePlay. “We look forward to bringing our premium gaming content to even more operators and players through Timeless Tech’s extensive network.”

With SimplePlay’s games and Timeless Tech’s distribution network, these two industry powerhouses are set to deliver top-tier game content to players around the world, driving mutual growth and success.

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Lottomart to Welcome NetGaming’s Standout Slot Portfolio

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2025

Adrienn Sarkany

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Lottomart has announced that they are partnering with NetGaming, bringing their fresh mix of creative, modern, and feature-rich slot content to their growing games catalogue.

Known for bold themes and polished presentation, NetGaming offers an exciting blend of classic concepts and inventive bonus mechanics.

As part of the upcoming rollout at Lottomart, players can look forward to a selection of NetGaming’s standout titles – including the mythological power of Zeus’s Thunderbolt 10000, the lively Irish-themed Shamrock Trio – Hold & Respin, the vibrant 3 Wild Jokers Carnival, the adventurous Pirate’s Fortune Gold – Hold & Respin, and the fiery island energy of Fireball Inferno Tiki. Together, these games highlight the studio’s range, from playful bonus rounds to high-impact visual designs.

Chris Ruddock, Commercial Director at Lottomart, commented: “NetGaming brings a distinctive visual style and a playful approach to game design that really stands out. Their content offers variety, strong themes, and accessible mechanics that fit well with what our players enjoy. We’re looking forward to seeing how their titles perform!”

Alfred Ballester, Business Development Director at NetGaming, said: “We at NetGaming are absolutely thrilled to be going live with Lottomart! Working with the Lottomart team throughout the integration has been an absolute pleasure. We’re super excited to launch our games with such an important and respected UK brand, and we honestly can’t wait to see Lottomart players diving into and enjoying the full NetGaming Games Catalogue!”

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