Activision can’t turn its back on violent games

Speaking to The Times, Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick has revealed that new social games have given rise to a huge increase in female gamers. The Times states that 40% of those who purchased Activision’s Guitar Hero game are women.

“There is a real demographic expansion which we had always hoped for,” said Kotick. “There’s now going to be a rivalry between feature films and computer games. We are not there yet, but it will happen – there will be a narrative.

“The physical appearance of the game has changed, which is attracting new people, and there is a real sense of a social game. With the internet, people on different sides of the world can play against each other. People who had never before played a video game are picking one up now.”

This demographic expansion has been partially attributed to the popularity of music-based games, including Activision’s Guitar Hero titles. However, Kotick believes the change in the gamer demographic doesn’t mean the company can choose to ignore the action-orientated and more violent video game market.

“I don’t think that you need to have gratuitously violent products,” he said. “But no company can afford to turn its back on a $45 billion section of the market. They are as important to the business as R-rated movies [restricted to 17 and older] are to films.”

Are you part of the new gamer demographic? Let us know in the comments section below.