Seizing the Opportunity: How Companies Can Capitalize on Online Gaming to their Advantage
Companies can reach a diverse audience through online gaming by marketing their products or services within the games. In-game advertising could be targeted to a specific population. It can provide a more seamless and engaging experience for users than standard advertising methods.
In-Game Purchases: Several online games offer players the option to make purchases in the game which includes virtual items or currency, to improve their gaming experience. This provides companies with an opportunity to generate revenue through the sale of these items. This can prove to be highly lucrative for the companies.
Gamification: Companies are using gamification to engage with customers and drive desired behavior, like completing a survey or sharing content on social media. It can also be used to give incentives to employees, enhancing engagement and productivity.
Sponsorships: Companies are interested to sponsor online gaming events and tournaments more than ever. This is providing exposure to a large audience of habitual gamers. This is proving to be an effective way to build brand awareness and generate sales leads, especially in the tech and gaming industries.
Research and Development: Online gaming allows companies to get valuable insights into consumer preferences and behavior. By monitoring player data and behavior, companies can get insights into user preferences, popular trends and develop new products and services that cater to the needs of their target audience.
Some new trends prevalent in the online gaming industry are:
Cross-platform gaming: The ability to play games across multiple devices and platforms including PCs, consoles, and mobile devices is a rising trend in the arena of online gaming. With rising prevalence of cloud gaming and streaming services, cross-platform gaming is becoming increasingly popular and is expected to continue to grow in the near future.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)gaming: VR and AR technologies are getting more advanced and accessible, These technologies are being incorporated into online games to provide a seamless and interactive gaming experience. This trend is projected to continue as the technology becomes more affordable and easily accessible.
Conclusion:
Online gaming is creating new opportunities for companies to connect with consumers and generate revenue, while also offering insights into consumer behavior and choices. With the rising popularity of online gaming, companies are likely to find more ways to leverage this trend to their advantage.
Online Gaming: Mental Illness or Evolutionary Advantage?
Internet providers, across the globe, are scrambling to provide top-notch networks as the global population struggles to stay indoors. Verizon report an unprecedented spike in gaming traffic of about 75% in the first two week of lockdown. Social distancing has led to a meteoric rise in the number of subscribers in March alone. Cancellation of events from football to MotoGP has prompted the world to useonline gaming for positive diversion.
Online Gaming Companies Change Strategies to Accommodate User Safety
Amid the ongoing pandemic gaming companies are changing their strategies to ensure social distancing is maintained for safety purposes. For instance, Pokémon Go, a 2016 rage, tweaked itself to interest players to stay indoors. Niantic promised to release the game with changes to the game to ensure safety of the players. The game is now focussing on making the experience more individual-centric than encouraging players to step out.
Lecturer of media studies at RMIT University, Australia, Christian McCrea said that the online gaming habits are expected to undergo a massive transformation in the coming months. With parents out of work and children stranded at home, gaming will be a spotlight of many to engage in.
Will Online Gaming be the Next Coping Mechanism?
What is rather interesting to note is that World Health Organization classified gaming addiction as an illness in 2018. In the same year, China vehemently campaigned against the industry out of concern for its young generation that was spending time online. Taking a hard look at this suggests that gaming may as well be an evolutionary advantage. In the coming months, it is rather evident that online sale of sophisticated, multiplayer games and consoles will spike as lockdown is projected to continue.
The market for online gaming will not be restricted to specific geographies anymore. It will be a global market, luring in increasing number of consumers by the day as the pandemic intensifies with each growing admission and worse, death. To cater to the need of the surging demand gaming companies are working tremendously hard to fulfil promises. For instance, Rockstar Games, publisher of Red Dead Redemption, has ensured smooth operations of its online servers with a global workforce that’s working from home. The success of the online gaming industry in not caving in to the financial pressure of the current times will also set an example for workplaces to transform themselves, creating a more sustainable work-from-home environment.
A lot depends on the online gaming industry at the moment. From entertainment to empirical evidence of changing work culture, the world relies on the success of online games we will play with each other.
