Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
“Women love video games,” Dressmaker dev says, there just aren’t enough games for them
Dressmaker, a dressmaking simulation game by independent developer Cozy Lives, has become a major hit on Steam. Co-founder Sabrina Becker says the team designed it with women in mind, arguing that many women enjoy games but have too few titles centred on the kinds of play they want; the response suggests there is a substantial audience for those games.
About a month after release, Dressmaker had 17,530 Steam user reviews, 98% of them positive, and more than 15,000 average concurrent players, placing it among Steam’s top 100. Becker’s own experience sewing and pursuing costume design, before illness linked to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome disrupted her career, helped shape the project. Players have also described the game as a way to reconnect with sewing and share an interest in dressmaking with family.
In short
- Dressmaker has drawn a large audience on Steam.
- 98% of 17,530 reviews were positive.
- Its developer says women are an underserved gaming audience.
Explained simply
Steam is a major online shop and community for PC games, where players can buy titles and post reviews. Many games focus on action, competition or combat, while dressmaking games let players create clothes and explore fashion as part of play.
Dressmaker was made by Cozy Lives, an independent game studio, with co-founder Sabrina Becker drawing on her experience of sewing and costume design. The game’s reception has drawn attention to whether women are being served by a wide enough range of games, and to the audience for stories and activities that are less common in mainstream releases.