Gamer Girls

A 14-year-old girl named Lexi Peters is tired of looking like a boy. On video games that is.

The Buffalo teenager loves hockey and plays the NHL video game put out by Electronic Arts (EA) each year. EA games have long allowed players to create their own characters that can be customized by name and appearance. The thing that bothered Lexi is that created characters are always male.

Someone else to beat the Flyers. You go girl.

With the encouragement of her father, Lexi wrote a letter to EA executives explaining that a lot of women and girl hockey players around the world would enjoy being repped by the proper gender. Lexi was soon told sorry but nothing could be done, especially with the NHL in control of licensing. But the story didn’t end there.

According to Ben Maller of The Post Game where I discovered this story, lead producer David Littman of EA heard about Lexi’s letter and took action. He received approval from the company’s legal team and the NHL. Not only will NHL 12 include a female avatar but the company is even using Lexi’s likeness as the base template.

Girl gamers are a dominant force in the multi-billion (with a B) dollar industry and EA is finally catching on. According to a 2010 study by the Entertainment Software Association, women are more than casual participants in the world of gaming. Consider the following stats: