Skill-Based Games Witness Phenomenal Surge in Player Engagement

Be it socialising, challenging your skills, or getting entertained, gaming gets better with more engagement. Gaming platforms recognise the importance of meaningful engagement with gamers. This two-way interaction has helped in the development of a tightly-knit gaming community in India, the fastest-growing of its kind in the world. Be it showcasing the lesser-known rummy rules or analysing masterful bluffs in poker, more and more skill-based gamers are opening up to online engagements. 

As poker and rummy game apps are downloaded by millions in India, the number of gamers engaging across different gaming forums is increasing astronomically, too. Gaming platforms are also leaving no stone unturned to raise the level of engagement. Gamers are mixing up the anonymity of playing on an online platform by seeking a social experience through gaming and getting it.

Why is Player Engagement the Holy Grail in Gaming?

Indians spend 11% of their smartphone time gaming. While casual gamers spend around 3.5 hours a week, active gamers spend 6.5 hours, which is 8 hours in the case of professional gamers. Time and data consumption on gaming in India is on the rise and now exceeds even OTT and music as options for entertainment.

The gaming industry sees community formalisation and localisation as key areas of innovation in gaming. These areas have the potential to create the next big disruption in the industry, and gaming companies are all too aware of it.

Gaming communities have offered exclusivity to gamers along with a personal experience. For companies, it has helped in player retention across all demographics. Player engagement also prolongs the game's lifespan and leads to faster game discoveries. This is because engagements are an excellent marketing tool. Recommendations emanating out of player engagements have led to 64% of game discoveries. 

Gaming companies have also observed that the more engaged players are 60% more likely to make an in-app purchase and remain active on the platform for multiple gaming sessions. They are also more likely to share their gaming experience on social media. It is reported that 38% of gamers who are part of gaming communities and engagements are vocal about their gaming preferences on social media.

All-Encompassing Increase in Player Engagement

Skill-based gaming platforms are investing heavily in game quality and graphics, sound and user experience to make the gaming experience more engaging. Increasing the engagement further are incentivised features like rewards, tournaments, challenges and other achievement-based gameplay. This may also include tangible benefits like in-game currencies that add to the game's accomplishments. For instance, Playship, India’s leading rummy game app, offers Discount Credits on buy-ins and withdrawals. 

Skill-based games are multiplayer games by nature. The competitive spirit of the multiplayer format, leaderboards and tournament prize money also act as engagement tools that create a lively gaming experience. Multiplayer skill games provide leaderboards that highlight different tournaments and competitions, show player rankings, their locations, and various other features to make them more interactive. Gaming platforms further enhance the competitive spirit with intelligent matchmaking. This calls for the setting up of players with similar skills so that the playing experience is balanced. 

Event-based player engagement is vital for skill-based game platforms. Rummy game platforms like Playship are adept at hosting high-profile tournaments that draw massive footfall. Apart from the in-game entertainment, these events are an opportunity for gaming companies to engage beyond the platform. Promotional content on social media pages, websites, emails, community pages, etc., expands the reach of the event and the game as well.

Data is Elevating Player Engagement

Different techniques are applied to achieve effective player engagement in gameplay. However, applying these techniques is, in turn, dependent on one vital factor: real-time data availability. 

Without real-time data, time-sensitive player engagement activities may fall flat and run into latencies. This can adversely affect the gaming experience and the game’s brand reputation. Take matchmaking, for instance. You wouldn’t like to wait in the lobbies for too long as the platform sets you up in the ideal rummy table. However, ineffective databases and poor processing efficiency can cause such situations.

Real-time data processing in gameplay is impossible without the use of cutting-edge technology. The technology ensures the availability of a real-time database, which provides all the technical requirements used in in-game features. Skill-based games are expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% in the next 12 years. This growth is fuelled by the transformative changes brought about by these games in the interactive entertainment landscape. The widespread adoption of skill-based games was kickstarted by the offline popularity of the games. However, the accelerated growth in downloads is largely due to the engaging nature of these games in their online avatar. 

Staying Engaged

Gaming companies across the world consider player engagement as the heartbeat of their game. The eventual lifespan and success of the game, its reach among the gaming community, and its relationship tenure with the gamers are dictated by the success of their engagement with their gaming audience. With new tech adoptions, skill-based game platforms will continue to enrich player engagement in new and innovative ways.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)