Get Ready to Play: How Gamification is Influencing the World

The gamification market is currently experiencing massive growth and for good reason – it works. In fact,experts predict that the gamification market will grow by 500% to roughly $11.10 billion by 2020.

This growth is largely due to the rise in mobile penetration across the world and gamification providers that have created mobile games to teach, interact, and influence mobile users. From employers to educators, gamification is a robust way of engaging groups of people and helping to drive knowledge sharing and retention.

For millennials, this implication is a positive one. Games are becoming more and more prevalent in the workplace – filling a much needed gap. Gallup’s 2011 workplace productivity survey found that 71% of workers are either not engaged or actively disengaged from their jobs and only 30% of all millennial workers are engaged. A lack of engagement leads to a lack of happiness in the workplace, and ultimately more job dissatisfaction across the board.

The Impact of Mobile Gamification Across Age Groups

At it’s core, gamification is the process of integrating game mechanics into a traditional medium, such as a website, training program, or product, to engage users to help solve or drive a business goal. The goals vary depending on the organization, but can all be “gamified”.

The flexibility of games offers a much needed chance to break up the work day. In this case, it is a win-win scenario if an employee can relax and learn at the same time. Jane McGonigal, author ofReality is Broken: How Games Make Us Better and Can Change The World, found that the average gamer is35 years oldand that61% of senior executives surveyed say they currently take daily game breaks at work.

Robert Zepeda, CEO of Asia-based gamification platformPlaybasis, explains, “Millennials have grown up with video games as a form of interactive media. But more than just entertainment, gaming can be a powerful tool to engage people and motivate them to achieve more.”

Playbasis has currently surpassed 10 million registered players, showing the strength of gamification in Asia and across the globe.

Are People Open to Trying and Adopting Games?

Statistics overwhelmingly support the idea of attributing game qualities to everyday activities. A recent survey found that 80% of learnerssay they would be more productive learning through a game.

When you think about real-life applications, you could study for your driver’s license exam with a mobile gamification app, prepare for an exam, learn a hobby, and even participate in friendly game of trivia.

Data has shown that elements of team-based games are also effective. A recent study found that over 60% of learners said they would be motivated if they had scores/points associated with leader boards/dashboards and if they could share it while competing with other people.

Beyond the consumer point of view, companies are seeking gamification apps to help drive product launches, train staff, and shake up traditional processes. As the world becomes more digital, expect to see more gamified uses in your life.