Does Platform Matter? A Game Design Analysis of Female Engagement in MOBA Games

Abstract

Previous research shows that female players participate less in competitive games than male players. However, it is reported that there are more female players are than male players in King of Glory (KoG), one of the most popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games on the mobile platform in China. This study aims to investigate how can KoG capture the interest of female players. We compared the game design of KoG with League of Legends (LoL), one of the most popular MOBA games on the PC platform. We followed up with a semi-structured interview study with 20 participants about their gameplay experiences on the two different platforms. Our analysis indicates that mobility, sociability, and lower barrier to entry are the main factors that drove female players to participate in KoG.