While there are many articles about how and when gamification has been first introduced or coined, there are fewer resources on why gamification actually exists in the first place.
During my research, I have learned several justifications for why gamification exists. Here is what I found:
Gamification exists because researchers have noticed that making a task seem more game-like and fun, can increase a person’s motivation- and engagement level immensely. This is based on researchers analyzing the past and defining the term gamification to engage people using game elements.
While this was the immensly short answer for why gamification even exists, I did elaborate a little bit more on that topic down below.
In addition, I added my take on why it could be quite beneficial and lucrative to get into the gamification businesses right now as well.
Especially if you’re looking for a way to stand out in your organization.
The reason for gamification to exist in the first place
Before the term gamification has been coined back in 2002 by Nick Pelling, researchers have been studying the principles of it before and found some interesting points.
The concept of applying game elements to everyday tasks or non-game related environments has been around for quite some time.
One really fun example illustrating that gamification has always had a place in our society can actually be seen at the Boy Scouts of America in 1908.
At that time the Boy Scouts started using badges to illustrate how much progress the Boy Scout has made on developing a skill until mastery.
One badge would and sill is received for a number of action items which need to be accomplished in order to get a badge.
For example, in order to receive the computer badge a Boy Scout needs to complete the following steps:
- Discuss with your counselor the tips for online safety.
- Give a short history of the computer. Explain how the invention of the computer has affected society, science, and technology.
This is just a short example, to recieve the badge you would need to complete nine different action items in total, with again different sub-items and such. And only if you have mastered all the action items you’d receive the badge.
These badges are collected over the life time of a Boy Scout and are generally highly valued and recognized even outside the organization.
It is probably understandable that the impact of such motivation and engagement which is shown by members of the Boy Scouts community had to be analyzed.
Which then led over many other different bumps to an actual research stream. Gamification reached the media and has gotten quite massive publicity and has been described as a way to increase user engagement and motivation.
Unfortunately, 80% of the projects from 2010 – 2015, where gamification had its moments of fame, failed horribly. But some however succeded and were able to receive some interesting benefits.
McDonalds for example is one such company that uses gamification in it’s famous McDonalds Monopoly game which takes place entirely offline but still manages to get millions of people to buy more products simply because of the chance of winning something.
In 2010 McDonald’s has seen an increase in sales by 5.6% in the US alone. And that doesn’t even factor in the free marketing this initiative provides, by the constant chatter in your friend’s group about exchanging streets and such.
I remember that I even had a section in my wallet dedicated to simply collecting the streets I received from McDonald’s, just to not lose them and eventually win… which I didn’t … :(.
If you simply google McDonalds Monopoly then you’ll find entire wiki how to’s and guides about winning the Monopoly game.
All because they included some gamification ideas. This proves again that gamification certainly has a valid reason to exist.
Another reason why gamification exists today is because the gaming industry is incredibly successful. This study here found that 65% of Americans in 2019 play some form of video games.
Looking at the history of game-designers, these guys have perfectionated over the course of several decades, the way in which they motivate and engage their users to keep playing their game.
With the discovery of Nick Pelling in 2002 and his definition of gamification, a substantial number of people wanted to have a piece of the pie.
Especially since the gaming industry is already immensly successful with a market value of USD 151.06 billion in 2019.
To give you an example comparison, the market value of the global film industry was estimated to be around 50 billion US dollars.
So you see why gamification certainly has a reason to exist and it is definitely here to stay. Let me tell you why gamification will stay, and why you should consider learning more about gamification going forward.
Why gamification it is here to stay
Today, gamification is estimated to have a market potential of USD 9.1 billion in 2020 according to market analysts.
Especially sincevarious companies have implemented successful projects using gamification, which increased the engagement numbers of their audience.
Especially interesting is the research directed to gamification in the education segment which has shown some promising results.
Especially when it comes to the retention rate which shows how likely it is that a student would engage with the content versus leaving the learning material behind to do something else.
This number has been significantly hire using game-based learning and gamification concepts when comparing to tradtional textbook reading for example.
Especially since it allows for a much more personalized experience for a student, depending on his level and progress on the particular subject.
The combination of teaching for individual experiences and teaching a subject to mastery, in combination with gamification elements has shown immensly powerful.
Simply thinking of taking multiple attempts to solve an issue or problem in a fun and encouraging way makes a student more likely to remember what works and what doesn’t.
For more info check out the youtube video below about a pretty fun and engaging way to learn a subject – oh and it’s for free.
Another factor to consider is the incredible increase of the smartphone usage across the globe.
Which is an incredible boost and opportunity to employ gamification concepts in everyday life.
Simply thinking of GPS apps such as Waze, which is competing against a number of other navigation systems.
But managed to claw their way into the market with a fun design and engaging story, where you fight a monster called “traffic” and help other drivers to “beat” the traffic by sending in information.
Especially the sense for social calling, helping others, was immensely powerful for Waze to make it in the market.
As a side note, Waze has been purchased by Google in 2013 for $966 billion. Every employee received on average around $1.2 million dollars as a payout. Google was particularly interested in all the accumulated social data.
Why it is smart to learn more about gamification now
Based on my own opinion there is an amazing opportunity to get into the gamification market.
Even though the hype about it is gone, researchers have come up with more and more theories to support the impact of gamification, and market research has shown that the gamification market is projected to increase from $9.1 billion dollars in 2019 to $30.7 billion dollars in 2025.
And business start to employ more and more people who bring gamification skills with them.
What’s particularly interesting is that since there isn’t a massive number of actual gamification experts out there, people who go into this area will therefore have an edge due to the rarity of their skills.
Especially since gamification can be applied in a big number of different areas ranging from sales to marketing over to education, even politics.
So I can highly recommend learning more about this, I have seen how having a bit of knowledge about the topic and you suggesting some principles to managers on how to improve everyday life in the organization, can improve your standing within organizations.