About one out of three men prefer playing female characters. Rethinking the importance of female protagonists in video games.
quanticfoundry.com
Survey data on player gender and character gender preference.

Well, as a guy, I’ve been asked multiple times why I systematically play games female characters in video games, to the point of skipping a game if I’m forced to pay a male one, with a few exceptions (I really liked Albus from Troubleshooters for example). Whenever there’s romance in a game, I’ll also take the F/F route. Yet, I don’t think I fetishize those in general. There’s a thing about not liking most M characters in games, but also something about playing someone really different from who I am. We’ve had an interesting conversation about this with my gf who always plays F characters and woyd never play M.

Although I’m a straight guy, I’ve always more identified to female friends and characters, although I have a few male friends too. So I’m wondering who else does that (playing a character not matching your gender), and if you found your own explanation.

Edit : It’s not really an oversexualization drive for me, I try to play a female character that looks like me, even though I’ve never thought about actually becoming a woman.

Edit 2 : So far, I think we have, hmm…

  1. Playing someone that differs from one’s irl identity
  2. Physical Attractivity
  3. Male character writing and design
  4. Lara Croft effect
  5. Lady Dwarf
  • @chronicledmonocleEnglish
    15•9 months ago

    I’m a cis guy and I play primarily female characters. I will play male characters, but I find it fascinating to roleplay as a female character. It’s something I’ll never experience in real life and I find female characters are often more interesting.

    IMHO if you’re going to pretend/imagine yourself as the character you’re playing, I feel you might as well do something that isn’t you for the experience. Otherwise, what’s the point of putting yourself in a characters shoes if you just make yourself in that world? I already know how I’d be in any situation…because I’m me. Hell, in RPG games I’ll even sometimes romance male characters, if thats an option(Playing Femshep in Mass Effect, I will often romance Garrus Vakarian, for example).

    Then again, I’ll also sometimes explore LGBTQ+ relationships, if they’re offered, playing as either male or female characters, even though I’m not interested in that in real life.

    Is it a little weird? Probably, but it also helps me understand what it might be like for other types of people and how to better understand and sympathize with their life struggles and experiences. RPG stands for Role Playing Game, after all.