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Gamification is a set of activities and processes which deals with the addition of game mechanics into different non-game environments, such as website, learning management system, online community, and  business intranet to increase participation. The primary aim of gamification is to interact with employees, consumers, and partners to inspire collaboration and interaction. Some common game elements are timers, badges, points, and leaderboards. In the upcoming years, gamification is projected to be a strategic management tool instead of a simple solution of game-like design features. Furthermore, a surge in technical innovation is expected to result in an increase in new gamification forms..

In the recent times, businesses across the globe are applying gamification to employee training, evaluation, recruitment, and organizational productivity. It has helped organizations to achieve indirect and direct business objectives by connecting the games to clear business goals. Further, it enables establishing a learning culture; find and fix knowledge gaps; energizes boring training programs; streamlines training processes; creates effective employee onboarding processes; keeps employees up to date on company policies, software, and products; trains staff on new technology; connects with employees & promotes team building; and updates & improves compliance policies.

Different market players are introducing gamification solutions to streamline and enhance their client’s business process tailored for meeting their business needs. For instance, Henesys Studio has been working with clients in education, healthcare, design, training, gallery, publishing, and more industries to develop advanced gamification solutions. Furthermore, the company delivers gamification solutions such as 3D & VR training programs, 360 tour solutions, educational games, and gamified book reading experiences for educational, professional, and training purposes.

Impact of COVID-19 on Several Industries in Context with Gamification Industry

To ensure business continuity throughout the pandemic, governments and businesses are demanding workers to work from home or delegating tasks to staff in less affected areas.. However, the situation has accelerated the adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and virtualization to control costs while improving the customer experience.  Moreover, the pandemic has introduced considerable challenges for companies which are trying to execute key processes, report accurately with data spread over multiple locations, operate complex systems, and efficiently communicate with teammates; particularly when they do not have the infrastructure for such processes.

The pandemic has also led to the increase in  usage of gamification solutions. More number of organizations are integrating gamification solutions to increase productivity of their employees. For instance, the current turmoil has made employees feel stressed; however, gamification has become fun element and a great stress buster. This is attributed to the fact that gamification leverages human need of wanting to compete and facilitate the release of dopamine to increase engagement, loyalty, and participation. For instance, recently, SAP, the technology giant used Roadwarrior, a gamification app as the company wanted to motivate their sales professionals and increase their productivity.

On the other hand, the pandemic has enforced a shutdown of educational institutions of all levels across the globe and has forced institutions and educators to adapt innovative teaching strategies. This has led to emergence of use of gamification-based teaching. The students are finding gamification as an engaging, innovative, and efficient strategy to deliver curriculum material. Also, it is being perceived as a fun activity.

Global Gamification Market, 2020 ($BILLION)

Source: Primary & Secondary Research and AMR Analysis

Expectations from the Gamification Market

The gamification term has distinctively continued to grow since it was first coined in 2003. It has evolved to a phase where it is much easier to create an interactive online design on people’s competitive instincts. For instance, currently, a greater number of companies are incorporating the usage of rewards to drive action, including virtual rewards such as points, ranks, badges, and status indicators like a top fan, leader boards, progress bars, achievement data, professional profile, and the ability to level up.

The increase in demand for customer & employee engagement, and user experience enrichment are the major factors driving the growth of the gamification market. However, the market faces limitations due to factors such as inappropriate game designs and lack of awareness regarding gamification advantages. On the contrary, the market can sense opportunities due to explosion of information in digital world and increasing adoption of BYOD by companies.

Furthermore, retail gamification has become an emerging e-commerce trend that is increasing at a rapid pace. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the online retailers across the globe are looking for the solutions to continue creating interactive experiences for their customers and drive higher sales growth in the stores. The number of gamification apps are helping to improve sales along with the number of retailers. Moreover, it drives both existing and new consumers to a store while also providing insights into how people interact with a brand.

Post COVID-19 scenario

Although, the COVID-19 does not have major negative impact on the growth of the gamification market, the outbreak of COVID-19 provides with numerous opportunities for the gamification market to grow post COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the impact of COVID-19 on Learning Survey compiled by findcourses.co.uk, 49.2% of workers in the UK are expected to learn more in near future for upskilling. Also, the study has indicated that more than 80% of all learning is online. This factor is anticipated to be significantly fueling demand for gamification-based teaching and learning.

On the other hand, smart learning is rapidly being adopted in developing as well as developed nations to provide effective learning experiences and enable the students to deepen the levels of motivation, engagement, and involvement in the learning process. For this purpose, a number of educational institutes have introduced gamification in education systems, creating significant opportunities for growth of the gamification market post-pandemic. For instance, in January 2021, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), the first smart university in the United Arab Emirates introduced the concept of EduGame, a new gamification system to integrate games into learning. This solution is aimed at making the learning experience more skill based, futuristic, and fun.

Furthermore, gamification has seen significant growth in integration in the healthcare industry. For instance, one of the popular examples of gamification in the healthcare industry is activity trackers. These devices enable user to set daily fitness goals, get an instant feedback on progress towards your goals, and can  earn cash rewards. While on the other hand, healthcare companies have rapidly increased the usage of gamification to improve relationships with patients by using games to encourage disease management. This factor is projected to be opportunistic for growth of the market post pandemic.

Developments in the Gamification Industry During the Pandemic

The number of healthcare companies have observed that the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged people to exercise at home. Hence, during the COVID-19 pandemic, gamification market has experienced a significant growth in integration across the healthcare industry. For instance, in July 2021, Taiwan-based companies First Life Insurance and TPIsoftware, the fintech-focused software provider collaborated to launch new mobile health and fitness app that features gamified exercises.

On the other hand, in July 2020, Brainlab, the digital health company acquired Level Ex, the clinician-training video game company. The Brainlab creates software-driven medical products that automate, digitize, and optimize clinical workflows in a number of therapeutic areas; hence, the integration of Level Ex’s portfolio is projected to drive value creation across the health data economy for Brainlab.

Furthermore, the significant rise in investment in the gamification sector has experienced growth during the pandemic. For instance, in October 2021, Ambition, a gamified sales management platform and one of the major industry players based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, announced that it has closed a $15.5 million series B funding round which was led by investment firm Primus Capital.

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