Gamification in gambling

Gamification has spread in a variety of different fields, online and offline. No matter how we approach it, people usually respond to similar catalysts and tend to display easily comparable behaviour patterns.

These are the patterns that analysts work to identify and develop. By borrowing one of the central features of gamification, websites from universities to social media and yacht clubs to online casinos can introduce an appealing community atmosphere, built to provoke user engagement.

All that by applying some kind of points or rewards system which is designed to increase a user’s reputation, fill an achievement bar, or just spend more time on the website. This can happen either by providing useful advice to other members, by completing previously defined tasks designed by an administrator or moderator, or by taking part in what is known as behavioural momentum. This term describes an observed esoteric tendency to fluidity, as people are inclined to keep performing in an anticipated way, for which rewards can be tailored in advance.

This is particularly true when it comes to gambling. Each niche has its own rules and gambling is no different. In order to develop our skills to compete in our preferred game more effectively, we might do so by learning in a mock online scenario which borrows heavily from gamification in its method of regular encouragement and gradual teaching, or through seeking out hints and tips directly from other gamers, for example by watching let’s play videos.

So you are automatically engaged with a medium, either by manually searching for information or by provoking a subsequent conversation between the members of a relative community. It is the core of every gamification attempt to create an active and loyal player rbase.

These users can then be relied on to provide advice and guidance to new members. The next step is to develop a community by ensuring that recent additions are enticed to remain, with a view to themselves contributing more and nurturing new additions. Extra members and increased activity lead to extending a user’s on-site presence over time, a process described as “acquiring, retaining and converting”.

The future of online gambling

An increase in members, the rate of community collaboration, and the number of available resources to both new and old users bring value and relevance to a platform. Adopting gamification components to reward and incentivise a membership is an essential tool in doing so.

A range of loyalty points that can be exchanged for free spins, cash rewards and casino promotions, access to otherwise restricted promotional offers once a specific level of loyalty has been attained, and other preferential treatment initiatives are among the more favoured examples used by the operations’ customer relations management.

A sense of interactivity—or the definition of engagement, on the part of members, is essential not just in encouraging their participation in a gambling community, but also in how traditional games (such as slots) are able to integrate this trend more deeply into their latest versions. Thus they will appeal to a new generation of gamers for whom gamification is the norm.

It’s inevitable that online gambling must mimic eGaming as much as possible if it is to stay current and afloat. It is equally inevitable that it must assimilate gamification into its own games if it wants to succeed.

According to news network CNBC, boutique market research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, which focuses exclusively on the global gaming industry, has forecasted that esports fans will be betting close to $5 billion a year on its games in the near future, with operators generating more than $2 billion in revenues.

These same operators must, however, be mindful of findings included in Badgeville’s report, as it cites research from the National Institute of Mental Health, which demonstrates that people care more about social status, prestige and reputation than money or prizes.

Clearly then, the emotional rewards inherent in gamification are not to be downplayed, as these are strong factors in adding to a user’s sense of self and their subsequent belonging within a community. So while eGaming has learned and borrowed from the online gambling industry, the latter must show its own flexibility by incorporating both the financial and emotional benefits of gamification into its own products and services.

Doing so will show that operators treat users as fully developed people with disparate needs and concerns to be catered to, rather than singular commodities with a sole motivation.

Users of new casino sites and forums generally are, much like the workforces of our clients, keen to advance their personal attributes and social development, whether by improving their gambling performance or increasing their standing in an online community. Gamification has been key in this respect, as it coaxes from its user base incremental behavioural and technical changes aimed at ultimately achieving a defined goal while rewarding steady and measurable progression accordingly.