Women make up close to half of all gamers but only a small share of the people who compete. In the Entertainment Software Association’s 2025 global survey, 48% of players identified as women. Yet women were only about a third of esports viewers in 2024, and Bryter’s research puts women at under 5% of professional players at world championships, with online harassment a documented reason many stop before they reach that level.

How many women and girls actually play games?

At the level of playing, participation is close to equal. The ESA’s 2025 Global Power of Play report, a survey of 24,216 players aged 16 and over across 21 countries, found a near-even split of 48% women and 51% men. The headline point is simple: gaming is not a niche men’s hobby, and it has not been for years.

Why does the number fall from playing to competing?

The gap opens once play turns into competition and spectatorship. Deloitte data reported by The National shows women were 46% of gamers but only 33% of esports viewers in 2024. At the top of the pyramid the drop is steeper. Bryter’s research placed women at fewer than 5% of professional players at world championships.

Prize money follows the same pattern. Esports Charts recorded female esports prize pools of just under $3 million in 2024, up from below $100,000 in 2018. That growth is real, but it sits far beneath the open circuit, where a single top event can offer more than the entire women’s field earns in a year.

How big a barrier is harassment?

Harassment is one of the clearest reasons the pipeline narrows. The Anti-Defamation League’s Hate is No Game 2023 study, a United States survey of players aged 10 to 45, found that 76% of adults experienced harassment in online multiplayer games. Women were the most affected group across every year the survey has run, and in 2023 48% of women were harassed because of their gender.

The effect shows up in how women read the wider scene. Bryter found that 54% of female gamers feel the esports community does not do enough to support women’s teams. When abuse is routine and support feels thin, fewer players stay long enough to reach the competitive tiers where careers are built.

What is being done to close the gap?

Structured programs are the main response so far. Riot Games’ VCT Game Changers, a Valorant circuit for women and other marginalized genders, drew over 464,500 peak viewers for its 2024 championship final. The rising prize pools noted above come largely from dedicated events like it, which give female players a competitive stage the open circuit has not.

On the safety side, the ADL’s 2023 report recommends that game companies expand trust and safety resources, improve reporting systems for targets of harassment, strengthen moderation of in-game voice chat, and publish regular transparency reports. Advocacy groups such as Women in Games press publishers along the same lines, arguing that pathways and protection have to move together.

What the numbers add up to

The pattern is consistent across every source here. There is near parity in who plays, a sharp fall in who competes and who is watched, and harassment as a repeated barrier along the way. For an organization working on inclusion and youth safety, the implication is direct. The challenge is less about persuading girls to start playing, since close to half already do, and more about keeping them safe and supported so the ones who want to compete are not driven out first.

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