The term gamification can be used to define the practice, when the companies or developers use the game mechanics and experienced design to motivate people to achieve their goals, digitally. Their services are implemented in many different industries, such as businesses, online communities, workplaces, customers, and company websites. Game-like dynamic means that it involves competition, progress, collaboration, etc. The whole mechanics, including badges, levels, and many other elements make up the whole game.
The main aim of this service is to engage the customers, employees, and partners to encourage them to achieve their goals in different industries. Companies that have started incorporating elements of gaming into the way of its functioning and are implementing it as a service for their activities, it is called Gamification.
Numbers and Statistics
The gamification industry is very popular recently and the official numbers show the same tendency. The market size is reported to grow from $6.33 billion to $37 billion in an 8 year period. One of the main driving reasons for the industry to grow at such a high speed is the adoption of AI-based and cloud-based gamification solutions, mainly by Small and Medium Enterprises who are trying their best to boost their company’s activities and achieve the goals. A very good example, in this case, is Walmart, which used technological advancements, in this specific case VR gamification to train its employees. They are given real-time solutions to solve problems, starting with providing special customer services and maneuvering in the stores as efficiently as possible.
Gamified solutions are perceived to be the helper for the companies to recruit new employees, coach them as well as help them to get close to each other. This also helps the companies to save their funds and use more advanced technology. There were several types of research that were focusing on gamification and based on this research, it is vivid that it increases the productivity of employees at 90%, and more and more people are feeling more motivated and engaged with other employees after experiencing the Gamified solutions.
Other than the fact that gamification increases the productivity of the employees especially for the SMEs, it also allows them to spread their visions over many different directions and become more innovative. It directly affects customer trust and trustworthiness. However, there are also some important flaws and side effects that can be caused by the gamification process, as happened in the case of Robinhood.
We can also say that not only gamification is involved in the financial services but vice versa the financial sector has occupied an important role in the gaming industry, and most importantly due to the implementation of online payments. When the gamers want to buy or upgrade the version of their current game they use the payment system that is implemented in that certain game. Not only this but the financial services have made the betting on eSports games more efficient and simple, the same way as the betting on Mortal Kombat as an example. Appeared that the relations between gamification and the financial industry have a mutual interaction.
Real-time examples
One of the most popular stories recently was published about Samsung and its gamification program which was released to increase the engagement between the customers. The process resulted in an increased number of site visits by 66%, increased comments by 30% and the product reviews that were satisfied were increased by 500% which are quite impressive numbers.
Other than these successful examples, BBVA was the one that launched an app for its own banking system to increase the knowledge about its own services through videos, allowing the clients to earn points. Then these points were used to receive certain products and services.
In Australia, another interesting gamification case was implemented, when Commbank created the simulation for its own clients to buy and own a property. It helped them to practice the challenges of the upcoming event in their lives, such as paying taxes, applying for different types of mortgages, which helped them analyze what were the actions that they could do better.
Fintech & Gaming
The correlation between Fintech and the gaming industry is very interesting to observe. Firstly, it should be mentioned that fintech, which stands for financial technologies, is mainly used to reduce the time and energy we put into financial activities. Before the fintech innovations changed the reality and were spread over many different industries as well as gaming and entertainment, people were using traditional banking payments, accounts, and ATMs. After the development of fintech services, they are provided with the solution to process the payment more efficiently in a safe manner.
Some of you might think, why the payment system is affecting the gaming industry so much and why it makes so much difference, but a very good example, in this case, is Fortnite, and the rise of in-game payments. Even though the game is free, the ones that have bought subscriptions can have other advantages and run the same at optimal levels. Also, the implementations of cryptocurrencies in online casino games are receiving a lot of attention due to the fintech innovations and popularity of them due to the high speed of transactions and security increases even more.
Summing It Up
Finally, to sum up, the whole new gamification service is providing the businesses with the solutions to the problems or flaws that they are facing at that certain time. This might be about the efficiency, engagement of employees and clients, and the quality of work, that can be improved through the implementation of gaming applications that are oriented on the above-mentioned problems and solving them.