Kathy Gibson reports from Ericsson Business Innovation Forum in Stockholm – Gamers want an immersive experience, but there is no one-size-fits-all in the gaming world.
Rebecka Cedering Angstrom, acting head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, points out that just about anyone can be a gamer.
“It’s not the lonely young guy in front of the PC,” she says. “In fact, 71% of US consumers say they play a digital game at least weekly, with that number at 58% globally.”
Surprisingly, only one-third of gamers are under the age of 29, with one-third being between 40 and 59. And there is a 50:50 gender split.
In South Africa, 48% of people play games from any kind of location or device, Angstrom says.
Although tablet penetration in the country is low at only 5,5%, 52% of these users play games on the devices.
Smartphone users are more prevalent at 56,5%, but a big percentage of these users play games, at 67%.
Mobile gaming is growing rapidly, and there is a big overlap between PC and mobile gamers.
ConsumerLab set out to find out why people play games. The three main reasons are:
* Game immersion – it’s a way of experiencing pleasant stimuli;
* Rewards – they are a means to reach an aim or achieve a goal; and
* Social drivers – a means of interacting with other people, either in the game or outside of the game.
Angstrom adds that immersion and social drivers both enhance the rewards element of the game.
Gamers feel that in their ideal gaming session, players must be comfortable, have no interruptions and have the time to concentrate.
“They want to be in control,” says Angstrom.
The main pain point occurs when there is an interruption of the seamless experience. This could be from technology, from bad response from controls, because of a poorly designed game, advertising in the game, or poor connectivity.
These interruptions could also be from things not connected to the game: a phone call, people interrupting, trolls within the game and more.
“However, none of these pain points will make people stop playing games,” Angstrom says.
Looking to the future, people say they want more immersive gaming that might include 4D screens, augmented reality and tactile responses. They also want more advanced mobile games, with smartphones or wearables or sensors developing further to make the game more pervasive.
“They are also hoping that social gaming will become more developed,” Angstrom says.
Importantly, gamers wish these new experiences to complement the games they are playing today.
Per Stromback, spokesman of the Swedish Games Industry, points out that the local industry has enjoyed artistic success as well as commercial success – and 700-million players around the world play Swedish games.
However, the industry faces three main challenges: competence, capital and competition.
“All companies are trying to hire,” Stromback says. “There isn’t much talent available so we are branching out to other countries for skills. We also need better access to finance and risk capital
“In terms of competition, if you sell anything on a digital market, it is like the wild west. There will always be cowboys and rip-off games – this is a big challenge for anyone trying to sell anything in the digital world.”
Gamification of enterprise processes or applications is a trend that started to take off some years ago, but has fallen off the radar recently.
Angstrom believes it will still happen, but it may take some years before it becomes mainstream
“I think gamification today is where mobile gaming was about six or seven years ago. Currently, it only focuses on the rewards; but when you see it addressing the other things that get people to play games, then it will take off.”