The gaming environment has changed, wildly, from even just five years ago. Mobile devices were only just beginning, really, and the field was mainly split between console and PC gaming. But now, with the rise of the indie gaming market and the casual gaming market as represented by mobile devices, the field has changed, and is changing. What's more, the demographics of gaming is also changing, and a whole new development is fundamentally reshaping gaming.

Perhaps one of the biggest such changes is the increase of women involved in gaming. This particular point has caused its share of controversy, particularly when it comes to character design and the like. But a new study from Flurry, a mobile advertising platform, offers new insight on just how far this all goes, discovering that, when it comes to mobile gaming, women are now the most loyal mobile gamers. An examination of games with more than 1.1 million players revealed that women spend, on average, more time and money on the mobile gaming platforms than men do.

The numbers make things even more interesting; women outmass men by 31 percent when it comes to making in-app transactions, and women spend 35 percent more time on games besides. What's more, once the female audience is sufficiently appealed to, that audience responds with great loyalty. Female players are 42 percent more likely to play a game seven days after installing it than the male counterpart audience is.The ladies enjoy simulation games and management games, along with certain card games and slot machine simulators, while men stick with card battle games and strategy titles.

This actually suggests a clear path of action for mobile game producers: make more simulation and management games, because these are more likely to find an impact among potential players. When it comes to mobile gaming, addressing topics that the ladies might prefer is targeting a game squarely into an audience that's proving itself not only loyal but also eager to spend. While there's still value in the male market—and some simulation and management games draw interest from the gents as well—bringing out more titles with the ladies in mind should be a high priority, at least for mobile developers.

What would really be exciting, though, is to see this study applied to console gaming. Sure, the ladies are well-represented in the casual field, but how are they doing in the harder-core varieties of gaming? With information like this in mind, well, that would likely settle more than a few discussions about the role of women in gaming. But without that information, we'll be left to supposition and speculation, which means more doubt, more discussion, and little in the way of definitive action to take.