Ecosystems of Engagement:
Understanding modern gamer experience
Kevin Deng
UX Designer, ArenaNet
linkedin.com/in/kevindeng
Remember the "good old days?"
Gaming in 2000's
So what does 'gaming' look like now?
Esports!
League of Legends
27 Million Viewers
288 Million overall
179 hours of esports
Dota 2
$10M prizepool, $5M 1st place
20 Million Viewers
ESPN3
Conventions!
E3 2014
48,900 attendees
49+ Billion impressions
PAX
70,000 attendees
Mobile Gaming
American Mobile users spend 3.6 hours each day on their phones
77% of users play mobile
126M Americans play mobile games
Social Games
Big Data + Games
Data driven design
A/B testing
Monetization
Twitch
43% of all live video-streaming traffic
4th in peak internet traffic in US (Netflix, Apple, Google, Twitch, Hulu) 1.8% of all internet traffic
Top Streamers make upwards to $100,000
15.8M US and 60.3M Uniques Global
Content Creators
'minecraft' is the 2nd most searched on Youtube
20 of Top 100 are gaming channels
'PewDiePie' has 32M subscribers and $4M in profit annually
6 of Top 10 Channels are gaming
Gaming is no longer "niche."
Gaming has completely evolved in the past 3 years
- Gaming reaching critical mass
- Increased choice and Free 2 Play
- Content is incredibly deep
- Dynamic Development
- Mobile and Persistent Access
- Passive Consumption and Viewership
- Increasingly social
Critical Mass & Pop Culture
59% of Americans play Video Games
Free to Play & Choice
- Economic shift from earning player's wallets to time
- All about Engagement and Retention
- Gamer's have an incredible amount of choice
- App store, Steam, Free to Play
- Earn players loyalty and User Acquisition
Content is incredibly deep
- Overcoming the Knowledge Barrier
- UX Design of Onboarding
- NUX
- Tutorial
Easy to pick up, Difficult to Master
Dynamic Development
- Games as a service
- Live events
- Kickstarter makes Users the publisher
- Users affect a games direction more than ever
Mobile and always connected
- Mobile addiction in gaming
- Gaming fills in the gaps
- Users get access on demand
- Notifications alert Users on demand
Content Creators & Viewership
- Twitch
- Youtube
- Play with an audience
- Spawning an entire new industry
Increasingly social
- All about community
- Social networks are driving factors
- Gaming is a form of socialization
- Common Shared Experience
Gaming is no longer just 'play'
- Research and Strategy
- Creating Content
- Passive Participation
- Financially viable
- Gaming Communities
User behavior is moving towards Meta Experiences
-
Hours spent engaged grown exponentially
-
Users flow seamlessly multi-tasking between several types of experiences
-
Engagement vs Immersion
User Segmentation
Casual gamers entertain themselves with games when time presents itself.
Quick simple gameplay
Short learning curve
Casual
Arrange gaming around their daily schedules.
Highly competitive and collaborative.
Invest time improving skills
Mid-core
Completely immersed
Arrange schedules around gaming and are part of a gaming community.
Objective is rank, achievement, and virtual reputation
Hardcore
A gamer that plays everywhere, all the time, across multiple genres. Play all genres and fit all segmentation profiles.
Ever-gamer
User Journeys
Current assumptions of Gamer Behavior
Actual day for a gamer
Actual day for me...during LCS
Game Experience Now
Game Experience League
Mapping Mindstates & Mediums
Gaming Mindstates
Entertained
Being Inspired
Learning
Having Fun
No specific intent
Observing
Researching Game
Seeking specific knowledge
Narrowing choices
Understanding & Progression
Preparing
Actively Engaged in Play
Experiencing the game
Playing
Experience Mediums
Physical: Tangible - A place or object that the player experiences.
Out of Game: Digital Experiences out of game
In Game: Experience within the game and universe.
P
O
I
Ecosystem Matrix
Example: League of Legends
Example: Puzzle & Dragons
Challenge: Analyze & Design
- Get into groups of 5
- Break down a game's engagement ecosystem and present their strengths and weaknesses.
- Design a proposal for a new form of engagement or a feature to improve their current engagement
- Feel free to use the UX Tools we talked about to help map and present your ideas.
Infogamers UX Talk: Ecosystems of Engagement
By Kevin Deng
Infogamers UX Talk: Ecosystems of Engagement
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