54 Gamification Statistics You Must Know: 2024 Market Share Analysis & Data

Points, badges, levels, and rewards—these are some of the components of gamification widely used nowadays by organizations. Integrating game mechanics into business processes, marketing campaigns, websites, applications, online communities, or school classes and college courses have proven to be an effective and fun way of encouraging the participation of target audiences. How successful are they? This collection of gamification statistics will help us determine the answer.

There are many gamification software offered in the market that provide platforms for progress management, achievements, competition, and collaboration, but in this article, we’ll be focusing on gamification statistics. We’ve gathered gamification research data and insights so you’ll be able to determine your need for gamification tools or, if you already utilize them, to further optimize these solutions to improve your business.

Gamification Market Statistics

Our gamification market research reveals a high growth segment propelled by the increasing use of mobile devices and the expansion in the traditional method of gamification beyond marketing and education. If you use SaaS tools for small business, you’ll notice that gamification features are often included in many of these systems.

In help desk solutions, for example, they help improve customer support staff operation. The truth is that you can “gamify” or place game principles in just about any business function for any type of business to get the desired results as long as the mechanics are correctly designed and implemented.

• The gamification market size in 2020 had a global value of $9.1 billion and is predicted to register an impressive growth rate of 27.4%, reaching $30.7 billion by 2025 (MarketsandMarkets, 2020).
• However, according to a report by Research and Markets, a more modest but still significant growth rate will be experienced by the gamification market, with a CAGR of 24.2% from 2020 until 2030 (Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, 2020).
• The Human Resource sector is expected to register the highest growth rate in the gamification market, having a CAGR of 27.8% (Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, 2020).
• What are organizations looking to buy? This can be gleaned from the projected growth rates of three major game-based products and services—custom development services (47.5%), authoring tools and platforms (39.3%), and packaged retail games (31.7%) (Metaari, 2019).
• The biggest user of game-based learning solutions is the corporate sector, posting an astounding growth rate of 47.5% (Metaari, 2019).
• In a 2019 to 2024 forecast of game-based learning growth rates for seven regions, Western Europe emerged with the highest growth rate of 47.2%, Eastern Europe followed at 42.2%, Africa 41.3%, the Middle East 36.2%, North America 35.2%, Latin America 30.1%, and the Asia-Pacific 27% (Metaari, 2019).
• Game-based learning and education will generate a revenue of more than $24 million by 2024 (eSchool News, 2019).

Gamification Industry & Work Statistics

Our gamification market analysis reveals that disengaged employees cost US companies more than half a trillion dollars every year. That is a huge toll for employers when workers are not focused on the job.

Gamification adoption statistics show that organizations are using gamification not only to strengthen employee work engagement but also to maximize sales. The increase in the number of companies that achieved high ROIs due to gamification is proof of its positive impact on business.

Let’s take a look at gamification industry statistics and how it is influencing work, customers, and business.

Gamification in Training

• 33% of employees prefer to have game-like effects in their training platforms (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 83% of employees who undergo gamified training are more motivated at work (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 61% of employees receive gamified training (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 49% of employees tend to get bored with non-gamified training (TalentLMS, 2019).
• Knowledge retention increases by 30% if an oral and/or text-based presentation is accompanied by images, infographics, and other types of visuals (eLearning Learning, 2019).
• 12% of employees who receive non-gamified training are unproductive, higher than those who receive gamified training (3%) (TalentLMS, 2019).
• The types of training employees would love to receive gamification are corporate compliance training (30%), products and services training (18%), and skills development training (16%) (TalentLMS, 2019).

Gamification in Operations

• 89% of employees think they would be more productive at work if it were more game-like (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 88% of respondents say that gamification makes them happier at work (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 78% of respondents think that companies would be more desirable if their recruitment process is gamified (TalentLMS, 2019).
• Game elements at work make 87% of employees feel more socially connected (TalentLMS, 2019).
• The most common gamification elements employees encounter are badges (71%), an app or software that scores their performance (59%), virtual or physical rewards (56%), and leaderboards (51%) (TalentLMS, 2019).
• The work apps or processes that employees would love to become gamified are training software (33%), communication software (30%), contact software (15%), project management software (12%), and document software (10%) (TalentLMS, 2019).
• 72% of employees said that gamification motivates them to work harder (Review 42, 2021).
• The conversion rates of websites with interactive content are nearly six times higher than those without it (Ceros, 2019).
• Gamification can increase company productivity by up to 50% and employee engagement by 60% (eLearning Learning, 2019).
• 86% of young job applicants think that gamification at work is fun and enjoyable (ResearchGate, 2019)
• 71% of employees believe that gamification leads to an increase in energy levels (eLearning Industry, 2020).
• 66% of employees say that gamification at work reduced their stress levels (eLearning Industry, 2020).

Gamification in Education Statistics

For educational institutions, gamification is meant to encourage excellence among students. One of the biggest developments in e-learning is gamification. You’ll find gamification features integrated or offered as add-ons to leading learning management system (LMS), whether for corporate training or educational use. In this section, let’s see some gamification in education statistics.

• Game-based learning in higher education will experience growth of 15.4% from 2019 to 2024 (Metaari, 2019).
• Challenge-based gamification in education leads to an increase of 34.75% in student performance (ScienceDirect, 2020).
• Furthermore, students who were educated with challenge-based gamification raised their performance by up to 89.45% compared to those who only received lectures (ScienceDirect, 2020).
• 67% of students found gamified learning more motivating and engaging than traditional courses (Intuition, 2019).
• Gamification is one of the top 10 must-have features of a learning management system (ProProfs, 2021).

Most Popular Gamification Software

1. Tango Card. An all-in-one gamification platform that helps organizations deliver incentives to customers, employees, suppliers, and partners. Our Tango Card review offers a detailed walkthrough of the product’s capability.
2. Influitive. A customer-centric gamification solution designed to help businesses reward their loyal customers. This Influitive review offers a comprehensive tour of the product features.
3. Badgeville. A reliable gamification software that bundles a customer loyalty program and employee incentive system into a single platform. Our Badgeville review will help you learn all about this powerful solution.
4. Hoopla. A powerful incentive platform that leverages live game mechanics to invigorate burnt-out employees working in fast-paced environments like telemarketing and call centers. This Hoopla review details its full capability.
5. GetBadges. A reliable gamification software designed to help software development teams incentivize teams during product development stages. This GetBadges review will walk you through the product’s features.

Gamification Trends Statistics

The widespread availability of gamification software solutions and the robust adoption and usage of gamification across government, corporate, and academic sectors are helping raise gamification to unprecedented levels. Gamification learning statistics show positive developments now and in the future in many areas where game elements are implemented. Here are some forecasts.

• Game-based learning for kids is predicted to be among the leading revenue opportunities for developers from 2019 until 2024, registering a growth of 21.4% (Metaari, 2019).
• The revenues of learning games for young kids are projected to increase by nearly three times by 2024 (Metaari, 2019).
• The use of technology in schools around the world will continue to grow. Currently, 55% of students use smartphones in classrooms, 64% use smartphones for their homework, and 65% use laptop computers to do their homework. (EdTech, 2019).
• In addition, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 93% of households with kids in the US say that the students residing with them are engaged in distance learning, signaling the need for EdTech such as LMS and gamification. (US Census Bureau, 2021)
• Virtual reality-based learning games have the highest growth rate among all educational game types through 2024 at 51.9%, followed by evaluation and assessment games at 46.2%, and language learning games at 41.8% (Metaari, 2019)

Gamification Use Cases Statistics

Practice makes perfect, and it’s even more effective when people enjoy doing it. Gamification has become a successful learning tool because it allows people to do things without worrying about making mistakes in the real world. Here are some key use cases statistics in enterprise-level, sales function, product reviews, etc.:

Organization-wide gamification

• Foursquare, when it incorporated gamification in its mobile application, grew 10 times its size in five years (Scavify, 2020).
• After launching its Roblox Education program in 2018, Roblox had more than 90 million active users in the following year, reaching more than 650,000 worldwide (Metaari, 2019).
• Kahoot!, a game-based learning supplier from Norway, quickly breached the 90 million user mark and has a 75% growth rate to become one of the fastest-growing learning brands in the world (Metaari, 2019).
• Duolingo, which leverages gamification in teaching languages to users for free via mobile, has grown its user base to over 300 million (Citrusbits, 2020).
• Microsoft’s gamified operations have led to 3.5 times more engaged employees who used updated product information for selling (Datanyze, 2020).

Sales gamification

• Texas bank Extraco tested a gamified process that taught clients about its offers and benefits, which led to a rise in conversion rate, from 2% to 14%, and raised customer acquisitions by 700% (TotalRetail, 2020; Mordor Intelligence, 2021).
• Software company Autodesk, upon leveraging gamification, lifted its trail usage rate by 40% and conversion rates by 15% (Mordor Intelligence, 2021).
• KFC Japan, with the help of gamification group Gamify, created gaming content that led to a 106% increase in store sales (Gamify, 2021).
• M&M’s created a gaming app, Eye Spy Pretzel, which helped the brand rack up 25,000 new Facebook likes and 6,000 shares (Gamify, 2021).
• Clothing company Moosejaw implemented a gamified system that increased sales by 76%, made its social media impressions skyrocket to 240,000, and generated an ROI of 560% (eBridge Connections, 2019).
• Upon the deployment of the Starbucks Rewards app, Starbucks posted a revenue increase of $2.65 billion while its membership program drew in 25% more loyal customers (Gamify, 2021).
• After implementing a sales gamification tool, Kenco experienced a 45% increase in bottom-line sales margin (Datanyze, 2020).

Product gamification

• British luxury fragrance brand Molton Brown had its Christmas film, as part of its digital campaign, gamified through the app Finding Poppy, which resulted in 47,685 new raffle draw entries, 32,367 new users, 21,967 referrals, and 18,983 new additions to its mailing list (SMACK, 2021).
• Target created an app through which users can create Christmas wish lists, which generated 75,000 initial downloads. During the holiday season, the app amassed over 100,000 wish lists, 1.7 million entered items, and potential sales of $92.3 million (Ohio University, 2020).
• After gamifying its store, floral wire service Teleflora gained a 105% increase in Facebook referrals and an impressive conversion rate of 92% (TotalRetail, 2020).
• Microsoft licensed Minecraft: Education Edition to 2 million users in 2017. Two years after, its user base soared to more than 5 million (Metaari, 2019).

Lifestyle & Health gamification

• Through the use of badges and a point system on its website, Verizon Wireless managed to increase the browsing time of visitors by 30% (Optinmonster, 2020).
• LivingSocial decided to turn its annual reviews into gamified experiences, which resulted in more than 90% voluntarily participating (Mordor Intelligence, 2021).

Gamification Implementation Challenges

While gamification offers many benefits, its implementation comes with challenges that organizations must address:

• Technological Limitations: Integrating gamification into existing systems can be difficult, especially for smaller companies lacking advanced technology. Compatibility with current platforms is crucial for success.
• Employee Resistance: Some employees may view gamification as trivial or feel it undermines their work. Clear communication about the benefits and objectives is essential to overcome this resistance.
• Lack of Clear Objectives: Successful gamification requires well-defined goals. Without specific objectives, the initiative may fail to engage users or deliver results. Outlining clear aims is vital.
• Balancing Competition and Collaboration: Excessive competition can create unhealthy rivalries or disengagement. Promoting both competition and collaboration is important to foster a positive environment.
• Measuring Effectiveness: Determining the success of gamification efforts can be challenging. Establishing metrics and KPIs is necessary to evaluate engagement and performance effectively.
• Sustainability: Maintaining user interest over time can be challenging. Initial excitement may fade, so organizations should continuously innovate and update gamified elements.
• Cultural Fit: Not all organizations support gamification. Companies with traditional structures may struggle to adopt these strategies, making alignment with company culture essential.

Should You Implement Gamification in Your Organization?

There have been many documented cases where big and small corporations alike benefited from implementing gamification in their internal processes and sales and marketing efforts. The results include more engaged employees, more active and loyal customers, and increased revenues.

As can be gleaned from the market statistics in the first section of this article, the gamification industry is poised for phenomenal growth. You don’t want your business to be left behind just because you are not sold on what gamification can do. Our gamification data is clear – gamification works. You should use it to work for your business.

The good thing about gamification is that it’s easy to implement, especially with many gamification tools in the market, and it’s fun and exciting for your audience, be they your employees, customers, or students. After all, who doesn’t like playing games?

The compelling motivation to compete, win, level up, and be rewarded (without losing sleep if you fail because you can try again with more patience and perseverance next time) ensures the participation of everyone. Why don’t you leverage that and reap the benefits yourself?

Key Insights

• Rapid Market Growth: The global gamification market was valued at $9.1 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow to $30.7 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 27.4%. Research indicates a growth rate of 24.2% from 2020 to 2030 in the gamification market. The Human Resource sector is expected to register the highest growth rate in the gamification market, with a CAGR of 27.8%.
• Adoption Across Sectors: Gamification is increasingly being adopted in training, operations, and education to enhance engagement and productivity. 83% of employees feel more motivated at work with gamified training, and 72% say it motivates them to work harder. In education, gamified learning has shown a 34.75% increase in student performance.
• Employee Engagement and Productivity: Disengaged employees cost US companies over half a trillion dollars annually. 89% of employees believe they would be more productive if their work were more gamified. Gamification can increase company productivity by up to 50% and employee engagement by 60%.
• Positive Impact on Business Metrics: Organizations using gamification have seen substantial improvements in key business metrics, such as a 700% increase in customer acquisitions and a 45% increase in sales margins. Sales gamification tools have significantly improved conversion rates and customer engagement.
• Gamification in Education: Game-based learning in higher education is expected to grow by 15.4% from 2019 to 2024. 67% of students find gamified learning more motivating and engaging than traditional courses.

FAQ

1. What is gamification? Gamification involves integrating game mechanics into non-game environments, such as business processes, marketing campaigns, websites, applications, online communities, or educational courses, to enhance engagement and motivation.
2. How does gamification benefit businesses? Gamification can increase employee engagement, motivation, and productivity, leading to higher ROI. It can also enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction, resulting in improved sales and conversions.
3. What sectors are experiencing the highest growth in gamification? The Human Resource sector is expected to see the highest growth in gamification adoption, with a projected CAGR of 27.8%. Corporate training and education are also significant growth areas.
4. How does gamification improve employee training? Gamified training platforms make learning more engaging and motivating, leading to better knowledge retention and increased productivity. Employees prefer game-like effects in their training programs, which helps reduce boredom and increase participation.
5. What impact does gamification have on employee productivity? Gamification can boost employee productivity by up to 50% and increase engagement by 60%. Employees feel more socially connected and motivated to perform better when work includes game elements.
6. What are some examples of successful gamification in businesses?
   • Texas bank Extraco saw a 700% increase in customer acquisitions through a gamified process.
   • Autodesk increased trial usage rates by 40% and conversion rates by 15% using gamification.
   • KFC Japan experienced a 106% increase in store sales after incorporating gamified content.
7. How does gamification affect education? Gamification in education leads to higher student engagement and improved performance. Challenge-based gamification can increase student performance by 34.75% and overall engagement by 67%.
8. What are the most common gamification elements used in workplaces? The most common gamification elements include badges, performance scoring apps, virtual or physical rewards, and leaderboards. These elements motivate employees to achieve goals and improve their performance.
9. Is gamification effective for all types of businesses? Gamification can be effective for various types of businesses, from corporate environments to educational institutions. Its success depends on correctly designing and implementing game mechanics to align with business objectives and audience preferences.
10. How can I start implementing gamification in my organization? To start implementing gamification, identify the areas in your business where engagement and motivation are lacking. Choose appropriate gamification tools and design game mechanics that align with your goals. Monitor and optimize the process to ensure it meets your desired outcomes.

References: 

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3. Anderson, K. (2021, February 23). The 10 Must-Have LMS Software Features. ProProfs
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6. Bernstein, L. (2019, February 14). New Global Survey Offers Snapshot of Technology in the Classroom. EdTech
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8. Ceros (2019, March 9). Interactive Content Marketing: A Beginner’s Guide. Ceros
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10. Harville, B. (2020, January 3). How You Win Big With Gamification in Marketing. Optinmonster
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21. Prescient & Strategic Intelligence (2020, April). Gamification Market Research Report: By Solution, Deployment, Application, End User – Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030. Prescient & Strategic Intelligence
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25. SMACK (2021, February 23). Gamification examples. SMACK
26. US Census Bureau (2021, March 23). Measuring Household Experiences during the Coronavirus Pandemic. US Census Bureau

By Jenny Chang

Jenny Chang is a senior writer specializing in SaaS and B2B software solutions. Her decision to focus on these two industries was spurred by their explosive growth in the last decade, much of it she attributes to the emergence of disruptive technologies and the quick adoption by businesses that were quick to recognize their values to their organizations. She has covered all the major developments in SaaS and B2B software solutions, from the introduction of massive ERPs to small business platforms to help startups on their way to success.