48% of women say the gaming community and culture do not welcome or represent them

Almost half of the women we surveyed as part of research we conducted for our brand new G+RLS podcast said that gaming communities and culture doesn't welcome or represent them.

That's 48% of women playing PC and console games that we spoke to across the US and UK who don't feel accepted as part of gaming communities. That figure actually rises to 53% for console players specifically, and rises yet again to 56% for women who play competitive shooters.

It's a sentiment that a lot of the women in the GamesRadar+ team have shared as part of our G+RLS chats, and it's a huge part of why we started the podcast in the first place.

Our research that we conducted in partnership with YouGov also looked at how gamers - not just women - behave online: 19% use gender-neutral avatars in online spaces, 22% use voice chat only with pre-made groups of trusted friends, and 19% avoid voice chat entirely.

It just shows that we still need to create safe spaces in gaming communities, because it's not just women who feel like they sometimes need to mask their identity online.

This is one of the many reasons why G+RLS exists, to explore games specifically through women's perspectives, both of those women on the GamesRadar+ team, but also creators, developers, voice actors, and more women invested in this creative space.

The research also interestingly highlights that of all the gamers we spoke to only 46% would actually call themselves a 'gamer', but 60% would openly talk about the fact that they play video games to friends, colleagues, and even new acquaintances.

There's still such stigma around and a reluctance to use the word gamer, as we discussed in G+RLS episode 1, but I'm certainly encouraged that there's much more acceptance of gaming as a viable hobby.

New episodes of G+RLS are available every fortnight, and you can listen right now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and right here on GamesRadar+.