There once was a time in which, if you were a fan of a videogame, you might get asked which of said games in the series you had played. Now, I'm not saying we need to bring this era back—it was an obnoxious period full of gatekeepers—but Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi's recent words on the subject are a surprising sign of the times.
Speaking to Nikkei Gaming (thanks, IGN), Utsumi explains that (via machine translation): "For example, the 'Yakuza' series has been doing exceptionally well in merchandising, with 60-70% of its buyers being women. They've become fans of the 'Yakuza' world, story, and characters after watching our YouTube channel and popular YouTubers' streams. And among them are many people who have never actually played the game."
I'm assuming that Utsumi has stats to back that up, rather than just assuming that women don't play videogames (they do, I work with several...
English (US)