According to a new study, women make up 40% of the population of EverQuest II. So much for the fat, sweaty, basement-dweller fanboy stereotype. Scott Caplan, who led the research, explains:

What we think about men and women and videogames may have been true 10 or 15 years ago, when there were mainly console video games or single-player games.

But what were seeing now is that games become social, and as these online games become communities then the attraction for that kind of behaviour might increase for women.

The study goes on to say that while women gamers are becoming more attracted to gaming, some are put off by games that are viewed as "masculine." Those who reject these traditional gender roles are more likely to play games like EverQuest II.

In support of the argument, the study says they found "an unusually high level of bisexuality among the women who took part in the study - over five times higher than the general population."

Sorry for those looking to make friends with bisexual lady gamers, but the study also found that a high proportion of women play MMOs with their romantic partners, suggesting that women play for the social factor. Men, the study suggests, play to win.

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