Online gaming is no longer the purview of hard core, up-all-night enthusiasts.  The newest games that are successful at broadening market adoption have lowered barriers to entry, incorporated motivational drivers for the larger audience (e.g. social elements), and improved their viral expansion loop.  Ensuring strong growth within the increasing revenue opportunities of these markets leads gaming companies to benchmark and evaluate their products.  AnswerLab is increasingly assisting clients to develop success metrics in gaming products, incorporating playability with a strong understanding of the roles that user experience research and usability have within the space.

Game success could be defined simply by player counts and revenue.  However, games with long-term success in mind are creating new development challenges, adding additional metrics of success to ensure continuous engagement and strategic expansion.  These success metrics are becoming increasingly important as competitors enter the space.   Success within these metrics shows how game design differs in some very important ways from application design.  For example:

• Challenges are key drivers of game engagement, yet detrimental within applications
• Sequential discovery of features and capabilities heightens engagement in gaming, which is not the typical effect in commercial applications
• Motivation for engagement is driven more from elicited emotions than perceived utility

Some success metrics apply across game and application design:

• Objectives & rules to complete the objectives must be easily understood
• Key elements to complete the objectives must be discoverable, usable, and comprehendible
• Contextual help and concise messaging is key
• Showcasing progress & highlighting success furthers engagement

These are critical factors for driving adoption and engagement of a game.  For game designers who can make use of these factors, and tailor them to the motivations of their target players, they will ensure successful experiences with their games.  But what motivates users to become players?  Through studies focused around gaming, AnswerLab researchers have grouped player motivations into BAGS.

Badgers: Collectors of feedback largely reflecting behavior outside of the game’s primary objective

Achievers: Those who showcase skill/expertise level at the game’s primary objective

Game Itself: Players who are primarily interested in the story, challenges and/or dynamics of the game

Social: Those who are drawn by the opportunity to interact and communicate with other players

Each of these motivational factors varies in intensity among different players, and there is a world of factors within the game itself that impacts engagement.  Understanding the most motivational factors of target players, while analyzing key metrics throughout game development, is a powerful approach to assessing and improving the player experience. Game designers and developers that keep in mind these essential building blocks will be well on their way to ensuring business success of fun & games.