Quarterly Peek
April 14, 2023
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our very first Peek release, where we publish findings from our quarterly small-scale qualitative research study on the subject matter of our passion. This quarter, we picked electronic gaming (e-gaming) as the focus, specifically we talked to hardcore gamers in Singapore to understand their gaming culture.
So why did we pick e-gaming as the subject besides that it is one of our passions. Well, simply put, it is one of the biggest industries globally that is constantly growing and cannot be ignored. A simple Google search would reveal the following key industry statistics:
In 2020, there were approximately 2.69 billion active gamers in the world, and is projected to reach over 3 billion by 2023 (source: Newzoo 2020)
Of these, a staggering 1.45 billion active gamers reside in the Asia Pacific region with nearly half of them—665 million--from China alone (Source: Newzoo 2020, Statista)
The younger generations are the most involved and engaged in gaming—38% of active gamers are Millennials and Gen Z (source: ESA), playing over 7.5 hours weekly (source: Limelight 2020)
Besides mobile (40%), console (28%) and PC (21%) are amongst the top 3 platforms for gaming (source: Newzoo 2020, by share of market revenue)
Looking at the US alone, one can postulate that gaming is no longer a male-dominant activity globally, where 45% of active gamers in 2021 are females (source: Theesa)
SNAPSHOT OF METHODOLOGY
Before we dive into the findings, here is a snapshot of what we did for this round of Peek qualitative study:
N=8 x one hour in-depth one-to-one interview over Zoom
All with Millennial and Gen Z Singaporean hardcore console and PC gamers (game at least 15 hours a week)
The sample was skewed more to the male side (6 males and 2 females)
The discussions were focused on profiling these hardcore gamers, such as what they play, why they play it, and their behavior and culture around gaming. This way, different businesses can find this information useful.
So what did we find? Let’s start with the motivations behind gaming. Why do gamers game? What are they looking for in e-gaming?
TRIAD OF MOTIVATION
Three primary motivations were uncovered—dubbed the “Triad of Motivation”:
1) Connecting with the community
A particularly visible and strong motivation for all hardcore gamers, the drive to connect and bond with others in the community (whether it is with existing friends or making new friends). To them, e-gaming is about sharing moments of laughter with friends.
As one gamer said, “we are just in an open world, not doing any missions, but running around with each other and messing around, making jokes. That was the moment that I remember the most, but not the battles we had with other players.”.
2) Gaining a sense of achievement
E-gaming is also about gaining a sense of achievement through elevating their gaming skills, usually indicated by reaching a higher level in the game or outright beating other people online.
As one gamer said, “Whenever I reach a new level, I feel good about myself, that all the time I put in playing the game yielded something at the end.”
3) Feeling the thrill of competition
While most shy from extremely intense competition, these gamers do seek what is described to be a “balanced” and “appropriate” level of competition based on their skill level. After all, without some type of competition, there would be no sense of achievement.
As one gamer noted, “I don’t want to play a game that I lose all the time, I would want to play one that I have a chance to win, that being against players with similar skill level to me, so it is fair competition.”
And another gamer said, “I like to play team-based games, that me and my friends would form a team to compete with other teams. I don’t really like solo competition, it is too intense, and often times become toxic.”
This triad of motivation heavily influenced hardcore gamers' choices of games. In particular, games that embodied the following characteristics are popular amongst them:
Online multiplayer PVP (player vs. player)
Offer co-op team-based mode (team vs. team)
Has a large community of player base
Skill-based games such as FPS (first person shooter) and RPG/strategy games, that players can improve over time with practice
Offer a constantly updated visible level of achievements as players progress (e.g. going from level 1 to 100; or awarding certain badges as they achieve more, etc.)
Offer appropriate skill level matching of opponents (e.g. would not match you up with teams that are significantly better than you)
Consistently updated that keeps the game fresh
Games such as Call of Duty, Valorant, Counter-Strike, and League of Legends amongst others are prime examples of titles these hardcore gamers would choose.
THREE SUB-SEGMENTS OF HARDCORE GAMERS
Based on the triad of motivation, we observed three sub-segments within the hardcore gamer group, with each of the three e-gaming motivations playing different importance levels.
1) The Competitor
A minority segment that is male-oriented and leans more towards the Gen Z segment where they are still students.
This set of gamers aspires to become professional gamers one day.
They game frequently, and almost see it as training. They seek competition above all else when they game and do not mind the highest level of competition. Their goal is to improve their skill sets consistently.
They regularly seek out local tournaments to compete in.
They will watch e-game content creators and tournament plays (e.g. over Twitch) to dissect their strategy and learn from them.
2) The basic community member
A majority segment that is gender neutral and can be either Millennial or Gen Z.
This set of gamers just wants to belong and spend time with their friends playing e-games online. They do not dictate which game their group of friends play and will simply follow them into whatever games they play.
They do not like intense competition and prefer playing co-op with friends as the feel of competition is less intense than solo play.
3) The jack of all games
A minority segment that is male oriented and lean more towards the working Millennials.
As they begin their work career, they begin to lose both time and friends from the online game world, so they switched to more solo gaming (as opposed to team based games).
They like to try different types of games and game titles, be it PvP (players vs players) or PvE (players vs environment).
They pride themselves on being able to carry a conversation about any game with their vast knowledge in this area.
SO WHAT DO ALL THESE FINDINGS MEAN FOR YOU?
Whether you are a product manufacturer or a service provider, large corporations or small companies, if your target customers are Millennials and/or Gen Z, you should consider marketing your products or services to them through the e-gaming angle. E-gaming is after all a consistently growing sector that plays a huge role in their lives, as well as making up a big part of their identity.
With the vast e-gamer population, a marketing strategy on the population in general would be ineffective as it creates minimal relevance. Segmentation of the e-gamer population as we have done above is in order, allowing you to specifically pick a segment(s) that is most relevant to your product or services, and to properly target them.
Of the three sub-segments of hardcore gamers we identified, the “Competitor” is the one segment yields the most potential. While they are a minority segment, but they are leaders of hardcore gamers. If you can convince them to use your products or services, they will influence the rest of the hardcore gamer population to do the same.
So how do you target the “Competitor” segment? Let’s look at the following two scenarios:
Companies with deep marketing budget: A holistic campaign can be created starting with a product line that specifically caters to them, with marketing around the product line that speaks about the competitor’s mentality and culture. To further enhance brand relationships with the segment and subsequently brand loyalties, partnerships with game developers (of the games “Competitor” plays) should be created to allow for some in-game marketing opportunities and tournament sponsorship opportunities.
Companies with only a shoestring budget: Without much budget to work with, you can only try to find as many opportunities as you can to get in front of this segment to create brand relationships with them. That means sponsorships of streamers/content creators they watch, and tournaments and events they go to. In most cases, sponsorships of this type do not cost money (only free samples) but can be quite effective as it puts your products in front of them for them to use.
Well, that’s all I have to share for this week on Peek. Next week, I will have another thematic finding to release, so stay tuned. As usual, follow us on our LinkedIn page for more!
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