Customer Experience in Gaming and Gambling Industry

Customer Experience in Gaming and Gambling Industry

What are the challenges in the online gaming industry?

In the online gaming industry news and gambling industry statistics - Newzoo market research states that the gaming market is said to grow to a whopping $189.6 billion this year. The report also stated that mobile and console games contribute 80% of this revenue. SuperData market research found that the gaming industry made over $120 billion dollars last year. Gaming has become as easy and common as streaming a movie. In fact, multiple gamers are now shifting to professional gaming with China, U.S and Japan contributing the most, to this shift. With a market this big there are bound to be challenges.

Here are some of the major challenges faced by the gaming industry.

• Data security: as a leading digital entertainment provider, the gambling industry deals with an excessive amount of information about its customers, which runs in billions. Data security is a major concern for the gaming and gambling industry. There are constant issues of weak authentication (leading from users having multiple accounts with different passwords which are weak resulting in hacking), Phishing (from fake login pages and links), Child identity theft (the most frequent and common data security threat in the gambling industry). The gaming industry has gone the extra mile to avoid such situations by: educating the customer, allowing the guardians to limit access (for children), providing multifactor authentication (MFA), firewalls, password management, preventing account takeovers by using Risk-based Authentication (RBA), etc. Data provided is to be used effectively to map customer journey and provide customer satisfaction. The gaming industry and gambling company growth depends on how well the data of the customers can be used to provide a seamless experience while ensuring utmost security in handling the data.
• Infrastructure: finding automated failover systems and an expandable infrastructure that can manage surges is the next big challenge. If a game crashes it will ruin the pace of the gamer. This will most definitely result in the customer looking at better options among competitions in the same space.
• Fast responses: Gamers want fast responses. They do not want to wait for their queries to be solved or be misguided in the process. Gaming companies must be able to solve their customer’s issues fast and by using an omnichannel approach.
• Providing an experience instead of selling a product: gaming is an emotional experience, not a product. It is a difficult task to manage providing this emotional experience to customers instead of selling a product through customer experience strategies where gamers can connect with people from around the world. Gaming industry trends include investing in gaming bars or Esports cafes where guests can be hosted. Recent innovations in the gaming industry have found that gamers are open to paying more for a greater experience with better support and excellent security.
• Opinion exchange: gamers are active individuals. They are part of online forums where tips and tricks are shared. They also frequently discuss the best games on the market. This means that they are talking about you and the customer experience you provide. A bad experience can change the entire dynamic of a company.
• Gameplay: providing good gameplay to keep customers engaged throughout whether it entails a higher difficulty level, addictive elements like puzzles or other competitive factors is essential. Gameplay elements in the gaming and gambling industry ensure a good customer experience.
• Discrepancies, aesthetics and credibility: any type of audio-visual discrepancies that can ruin the experience hits the company at the base. Providing a credible world for the gamer is imperative, else, the customer journey can be disturbed leading to the customer heading straight to a competitor.
• Personalized customer experience: providing a personalized customer experience in the gaming industry through an excellent story that keeps the customer engaged is definitely a challenge that the industry is dealing with on a regular basis. Companies are investing in good story telling, dialogues, exciting developments and characters that keep the gamers motivated throughout and decrease any chances of them feeling that the game is monotonous.
• Analyzing customer behavior: analyzing customer behavior through valuable insights that can benefit the customer experience in the gaming industry is a challenge that the industry is taking up slowly. It is essential that each customer is analyzed and their individual game is worked upon. In fact, in the past game developers have developed one specific element in the game to please one specific customer, it may seem like a lot of effort but the end goal is achieved – a royal treatment for the customer and an excellent customer experience management which in turn leads to an increase in brand loyalty and reduces churn.

The future of the gaming industry depends upon how the gaming companies and gambling companies choose to interact and connect with their customers. The online gaming industry worth and online gaming industry growth has proved that customer experience trends can change the way the industry functions. The current challenges in the gambling industry can be eradicated with apt customer experience strategies and customer experience management through surveys, metrics and analysis for a seamless experience that keeps the customer coming back for more. As discussed above, the current issues in the gaming industry range from data security to engaging customers. Companies are investing in customer experience to solve a host of these challenges which can help retain consumers and reduce churn.