Confirmed: Many, Many Female Gamers Exist. 50% of All Gamers, in Fact.

We’ve long heard tales about the fabled female gamer, but feared she was as mythical as Santa Claus. Come on: ladies?? Gaming?? But two new studies prove that women make up nearly half of today’s gamers. D-U-H.

45% of gamers are women and they make up 46% of the most habitual video game purchasers, according to a new study by the Entertainment Software Association. The study, “2013 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry,” found that adult women represent 31% of the video game population and boys 17 and under make up only 19% of gamers. Imagine that!

Another recent study from Magid Advisors found that 70% of women between the ages of 12 and 24 play video games, as do 61% of women between the ages of 45 and 64, compared to 57% of men in the latter age group.

Note the use of the word “essential” in the first study — will this study radicalize misogynist gaming culture? Judging by the dicks who tweeted at Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency after she wondered why there were no new female protagonists unveiled during the rape joke-fueled Microsoft’s Xbox One E3 press conference (sample response: “shut the fuck up cunt”), we’re not optimistic.