Motivations in Gaming
It seems to me that there is a lot of discussion about retention rates, conversion rates, growth, data, and design in gaming, although there is much less discussion about users’ motivations in gaming.
This is especially true when it comes to understanding the motivations of users in different countries. As the data shows that these motivations differ. We often highlight differences in the popularity of different gaming genres in different countries, forgetting that these differences are often the outcome of different motivations.
– For example, research on gaming in India has shown that Indian gamers see more value in gaming together (one player is quoted as saying, “I feel better when I play with others. It is a way to interact with people and it is better than playing alone. You learn from other players and you also can teach them something.”) So it is not surprising that multiplayer games are popular in that country.
– Other data has shown that many Indian users feel guilty playing games, as society there dictates that one should not waste time playing. (one player is quoted as saying: “Our society makes us believe that we are selfish if we are not constantly productive. We don’t live in a culture that allows us to chill after a hard day at work. We always feel that we will relax when we will get old.”). So it is not surprising that games that focus on progression and improving one’s abilities are popular in that country.
To shed even more light on this topic, I have included some interesting data from GWI (done on internet users in a few countries in 2023) showing how different motivations in gaming apply to different countries. You can see there that for example learning new skills via game is much more important in countries like: India, Philippines much less in countries like US, UK.
Why is this topic so important? Many games are trying to merge mechanics from different genres and/or make some games more popular in specific countries. It seems to me that there is a much higher potential for success if you spend some time thinking about whether these new mechanics are relevant to the motivations of specific groups of people (not just whether they play nicely with each other).
