During the Women in Games International conference held recently in San Francisco, Lisa Sikora, of the Casual Games division at Microsoft, reported that 70 percent of their players are women, writes Wired News (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The Entertainment Software Association found that 44 percent of online gamers are female, who spend 57 percent of their total playtime on casual games. A popular discussion at the show was how to encourage women to play videogames. One side argued for casual games like Bejewled and Tetris that offer brain-twisting challenges in a short time period. The other side defended action games and team-based shooters.

Sikora argued, "violence, the use of force as a primary game mechanic, is an excellent way to keep women from playing your game." However, Morgan Romine, captain of the Frag Dolls, a group of competitive female gamers, said, "There are exceptions to every generalization. I've seen the whole spectrum, every color of the rainbow. There are girls who love big guns and bloody creatures."

In-game advertising is expected to $562 million in 2009, and is one of the fastest-growing marketing segments according to Michael Goodman, a Yankee Group videogame analyst.