Your Objective: Understanding the Video Games Business: What’s all the buzz about?

There are many reasons why people play video games. Here’s an article that lists up to 15 of those reasons (https://lnkd.in/gwZwpm_g). Some of the reasons I play is for Risk-Taking, especially thinking about having a “safe place to fail”, Relaxation, Escape, Excitement, Collecting, and just having fun! 🎉

“What does this have to do with understanding the business of games?” 🤔
“How does this help with my job search?” 🤷🏻‍♀️

📚 THE LEARNING

🤝🏼 Meeting Consumer Needs: By understanding the motivations and desires of gamers, businesses in the video games industry can develop products and services that align with those needs. This can lead to the creation of more engaging and enjoyable games that resonate with gamers, resulting in increased demand and customer satisfaction.

🪧 Targeted Marketing: Businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to effectively reach and engage with their target audience. If the target audience is motivated by competition, businesses can emphasize competitive features in their marketing campaigns. This enables businesses to craft targeted and compelling messages that resonate with their audience.

📈 Innovation and Business Growth: Understanding why people play video games can drive innovation in the industry. Businesses that can identify emerging trends and motivations can develop new products or services that cater to those needs.

👥 Loyalty and Retention: Businesses can create experiences that foster customer loyalty and retention. When they align their products and services with the motivations of their audience, they can create loyal and dedicated fan bases who continue to support their brand and products.

💡 Industry Insights and Decision Making: Understanding the audience means businesses can inform strategic decision-making, such as identifying opportunities, allocating resources, and adapting to changing consumer needs, which can ultimately impact the success and profitability of the business.

🎮 THE APPLICATION
When you take the time to understand motivations, especially specific audiences, and their needs, you begin to understand why businesses aka studios, conduct business the way they do. These are all strategies they think about and have to act on as they go about their day-to-day. This all contributes to how games are made as well. If you’re job seeking into the industry, how do you show up with these things in mind? How and what will you contribute? If you’re a gamer wanting to get into the industry, take your own player motivations and think about how that translates to the business context. Lastly, player motivation can help align you to what studio you want to work for as they could have value propositions that you align with.

What are the reasons you play games? What do you want to contribute to the industry?