The Playful Nation: Games in the UK
The Future Foundation’s Richard Nicholls on gamification…
In this article we focus on the shape of gaming habits in Britain today, before considering how digital play will evolve in the decade ahead.
How big has the UK’s “gamer” population become? How will games be monetised in the years to come?
And how are brands “gamifying” their products and campaigns in a bid to attract consumer attention and engagement?
Video games vs. other entertainment media
Released in November 2011, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 became the fastest-selling global entertainment product of all time, reaching sales of $1 billion (£642 million) only 16 days after its global release and one day faster than previous record holder, 3D film Avatar (2009). Several high-profile events marked the title’s launch and on a scale traditionally reserved for film premieres.
A significant proportion of GB respondents, one in five, agree that they would “prefer to play a computer game than watch a DVD” when relaxing alone (rising to over a third of those aged 16-24), revealing of the extent to which gaming has become a viable and appealing alternative to more passive forms of entertainment.
According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, games made in UK studios generate global sales of around £1.7 billion each year and contribute £400 million per annum to UK GDP.
Who plays? Challenging the traditional stereotype
A growing proportion of British consumers claim to own video games consoles at home – rising from around 30% in 2007, to 40% in 2009 to a near-majority of our face-to-face sample in 2011. While age is a strong predictor of ownership – over two-thirds of 16-24 year-olds have a console in their household in contrast to only one in 10 respondents aged 65 and over – gender and social grade are not.
nVision Research suggests there is much to challenge the traditional perception that gaming is the preserve of adolescent young men. Gaming has become a regular pastime for young and old, male and female alike, partly a result of efforts by the games industry to attract not only “hardcore gamers” but “casual gamers” with more accessible titles and new peripherals designed to facilitate play in social situations.
Around four in 10 consumers claim to play computer/video games on a weekly basis, with young males the most regular players (with three-quarters claiming to play at least once a week). The gender divide actually narrows with age and in the 55-64 age group women are more likely than men to report playing on a regular basis.
Evolving forms of monetisation
With the arrival of digital distribution channels and new forms of online gaming, gaming revenue options have expanded dramatically above and beyond the traditional option of simply purchasing a game in-store or online.
Under the freemium model, consumers are offered access to “trial” or incomplete versions of games free of charge; full versions must be purchased. For example, a limited trial of first-person-shooter Killzone 3 was available as a free download on the PlayStation Network in March 2012; however, the trial only allowed gamers to proceed to a certain level in the game, with further content behind a paywall.
In another variation of the model, titles (particularly in the social and app game categories) are free-to-play (and typically ad-supported) yet give gamers the option of making in-game or in-app purchases: trading real-world money for in-game currency that can be used to, for example, “level up” characters or to unlock unique items. Games such as Farmville or Words With Friends invite gamers to buy credits to spend on items to improve the gaming experience. Increasingly so, branded items are beginning to appear in such gaming environments.
The “gamification” of consumer engagement and future gaming experiences
As digital play is firmly embraced by British consumers in the years ahead, it is likely that brands and companies will look to better engage and entertain consumers by integrating gaming mechanics into products, campaigns and promotions.
For example: efforts by brands to enliven the process of delivering price promotions to consumers by creating offers that are only unlocked once the consumer has playfully engaged with the brand in some form. While innovative new forms of engagement, we suspect that consumers will soon tire of “gamified” offers that become overly repetitive or do not sufficiently reward engagement.
Location-based app SCVNGR has partnered with several brands to create real-world challenges which, if successfully completed, are rewarded with price discounts and entry into competitions.
By April 2012, Chevrolet, Neiman Marcus, Coca-Cola and Topshop had used the platform to create playful challenges, such as taking a photo of your favourite outfit while in-store or following clues on the app to complete tasks around a city.
The Nissan Leaf is one of the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicles. Its “Eco-Driving ranking” feature invites owners to monitor their driving efficiency and compare it with other owners via a dashboard display that visualises comparative performance and implicitly encourages owners to drive in a more environmentally-friendly and less wasteful manner.
We are likely to see more and more products and services incorporate playful features designed not only to entertain consumers but to educate them and motivate them to behave in a particular way – to eat more healthily and become more physically active, to pass exams, to consume energy more efficiently, etc.
As we collect more real-time data about our everyday lives, our actions will become more analysable in the decade ahead and we will become increasingly able to monitor personal behaviour and pinpoint inefficiencies in everyday life: inefficiencies that play-infused tools (incorporated into products) will help us to minimise.
For more, please contact: Richard Nicholls – 020 3008 6103 / richardn@futurefoundation.net.