Playing video games is similar to going to a casino and gambling. The gaming industry makes a solid effort to entice and manipulate its clients in many ways. The fact that the gaming businesses keep a record of the data of gamers playing on various gaming platforms is also not concealed.
As a result, the gaming business creates games based on the interests of its consumers and promotes them to gamers to entice them to play those games, further manipulating them. In this article thus, we’ll look at how the gaming sector is considered among the most manipulative industries in the world.
The use of data by the industries
The collection of enormous volumes of player information is becoming highly relevant in video game development. This information is used by game creators to improve the design process and, maybe, more importantly, to monetize the games. Developers gathered this information on gamers’ activities and gameplay sessions either through product control assessment or by game creators scouring internet forums.
Data analytics is now relatively inexpensive, with technologies geared at both significant and minor individual programmers. Data analytics packages are a standard part of game creation tools offered by both big tech and independent analytics companies.
As the volume of downloads, primary data may be used in analytics, while more advanced data, including in-game activity, playing duration, and regularity of action, may be used. With the emergence of smartphones, however, collecting data on in-app purchases has become much more vital. This could contain information such as the players’ geolocation, phone, OS, and purchasing behavior.
These may appear to be a breach of privacy. Still, they aid game producers in determining which players are most willing to pay money when gaming and how to arrange the best in-game advertisements, which are a significant source of income in the gaming business.
Children are the most affected group
More than any other age group, children are more attracted to gaming and are more easily misled by the gaming industry. However, difficulties with how game firms promote in-game purchases should not be confused with gaming addiction. Game psychiatrists have used terms like detox and relapse to frame gaming. This strategy, which some refer to as “concept creep,” might lead to excessively characterizing children’s behavior.
Do you think you are being manipulated?
Without question, the gaming industry is highly manipulative. It aims at the gaming industry’s planned pricing practices, which can influence how consumers perceive in-game purchases. Other sectors, on the other hand, manipulate clients in a certain way. These may be enticing grocery offers or the aroma of popcorn in a movie theatre to entice more people to buy that flavorful and fragrant popcorn.
Though the gaming business is not the only one that manipulates its clients, one can claim that the gaming industry is one of the manipulative industries. This is because it asks for certain in-app purchases and invades the privacy of its customers while keeping a record of their information.