Gamification around the world

You may have heard the cool entrepreneurs and tech gurus talking about gamification, but where did it come from? It’s increasingly cited as a key element of marketing, as this sector was so public in its recognition of the power of games to get people excited about products, brands, and services. However, games were being used in corporate and military training in the latter half of the 20th century, and in schools as part of the learning process for education. The term gamification hadn’t been coined yet, but in a way, that’s illustrative of what a primal and ingrained method of enhancing concentration and user engagement it is.

Consider that gravity is a force. It’s existed since time began, but in our timeline, Newton discovered it. Neptune has existed for longer than mankind, but as far as our history books go, it was discovered by French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier. In a similar way, considering that games have been played for practical purposes since ancient times, you could argue that gamification was discovered rather than invented.

In this article, we’ll go over the history of gamification around the world, but for those who are not familiar with the concept, we’ll start by defining it.

What is gamification?

Gamification is the use of game mechanics, particularly video game mechanics, in environments other than those of a playful nature. Gamification strategies can be developed for marketing, research, internal processes to the functioning of a company like training and recruitment, as well as for events, or even for learning and other educational purposes.

In short, gamification consists of incorporating game elements, such as levels, progress bars, and leaderboards, into areas where motivation can typically be lacking. It’s making something into a game to bring out the best performance in participants. Think about it this way, anything people typically don’t want to do, if you make it a game, or can inject some fun into it, you can motivate and engage them in the task for better results. Nobody needs to be persuaded to have fun or play a game – seeking diversion through play is almost a person’s default.

In modern parlance, gamification is a digital engagement tool which can be applied to anything. You’ll see it everywhere from medical training and “fem-tech,” to promoting tourist cities to drive footfall. Whether or not you knew about it before reading this article, unless you were raised by wolves or you’ve lived most of your life on an island untouched by modern civilization, you’ll have been the target audience of gamified content at multiple points in your life. Maybe it was when you were learning a new skill, maybe it was a gamified form of market research, or it might have been as part of a recruitment campaign – the odds that you won’t have participated in a gamified experience aren’t worth calculating as it’s so unlikely.

The gamification phenomenon around the world

Now that the definition is clear to everyone, let’s talk a little history. While the current term “gamification” is relatively modern, as previously mentioned, it is actually an idea that dates back to earlier times.

The history of early games and gamification contexts

Herodotus, one of the first Greek historians, tells the story of the Lydian people, who he believes were the originators of the world’s first games over 2,000 years ago. Thanks to his testimony, we know that this Indo-European civilization created and used different games not primarily for leisure, but to survive a great famine and boost the morale of the people during a difficult period. Their games were essentially used as a distraction technique.

Furthermore, there is evidence of early board games, precursors to chess, being used to grasp principles of battle strategy, and evidence of more practical war games being used by soldiers in the 1800s.

The beginning in the 1980s and 1990s

Jumping forward to 1978, Richard Bartle revealed his research on video game players and their behavioural patterns, publishing his taxonomy of game player types. His research would later have a considerable impact on the concept of gamification and the design of online games, particularly massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

In the 1980s, the first airline loyalty programmes were born, whose aim was to reward customers with points earned that could be exchanged for free flights and other discounts. These programmes also laid the foundations for modern gamification, as the points and rewards accumulation systems incorporate the fundamentals of traditional gaming with the customer experience.

With the popularisation of video games and the arrival of the internet, the new generations grew up essentially prepped to be engaged by gamified concepts. New technology, particularly high speed internet, and an emerging market of consumers who were predisposed to enjoy video game play, would allow companies to gamify more and more easily, and to quickly reach all types of users and audiences.

The advent of gamification in the 2000s

The advent of the social and open web in the 2000s created a battleground perfectly primed for gamification. Thanks to Nick Pelling, a British programmer and writer who coined the term in 2002, and the American game designers and creators Jane McGonigal and Jesse Schell and their work on gamification, the phenomenon took on worldwide importance. In France, we can also cite the work of Julian Alvarez on the use of games, and especially serious games (games with primary purposes other than entertainment) in the learning experience.

Yu-kai Chou, a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur and author, is also a major contributor to the development and globalisation of gamification. His Octalysis Framework model, among other things, highlights how to understand the different motivational levers that can be manipulated through gamification to make any experience more fun for users, and as such, increase motivation and engagement to achieve desired outcomes.

Gamification becomes a phenomenon

The term “gamification” finally began to gain popularity in the 2010s to refer to the use of game mechanics in areas that were originally less playful, sometimes referred to as non-gaming contexts. It had become a real phenomenon, with a first gamification world summit taking place in San Francisco in 2011.

In the following years, the recognition of the potential of gamification and its use in many fields became more widely known. The greater accessibility of modern mobile devices, like smartphones and tablet computers, meant gamified content could be built mobile first, for a more agile and innovative tool for user engagement across different audiences.

The future is now: gamification is in the toolkit of businesses large and small alike

The use of game mechanics for practical purposes has existed for thousands of years, and with today’s modern technology, the true possibilities of gamification are only just becoming known to us. The use of gamification is growing worldwide, and new opportunities, through more accessible virtual and augmented reality, among other developments in technology, mean exciting things are on the horizon.

Gamification has already been made easy and accessible for businesses through game creation platforms with agency services like Drimify, where pre-existing game engines can be customised and fully tailored to their branding, design, copy, and messaging. This is at a point where any business is able to achieve improved results over traditional marketing and training materials and approaches, and is only set to improve over time.

If you’re interested in using gamification to help your business, head over to our website and play through some of our demos, and check out some of our case studies for inspiration.

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