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A study by Springer Link projects the growth of the global gaming market to grow by more than $180.1 billion in 2021. Being one of the fastest-growing industries, an increasing number of game developers are looking towards artificial intelligence (AI) and game engines augmenting AI and analytics to reinvent the gaming models and game creation process.
Moreover, a study by Statista found that there were an estimated 2.7 billion gamers worldwide in 2020. As the numbers continue to grow rampantly because of the lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic, it highlights the need to have a proper player support framework to deliver a better customer experience.
How AI/ML-powered Automation and Analytics are Revamping Gaming Experience
Gaming is one of the key areas that has seen the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the technological advancements, today’s software games last longer and come with better quality than in the past.
Moreover, video games today are not restricted to a young audience. According to another Statista survey, 38% of US video game players are from the 18 to 34 age group, while 65 years and older constitute 6% of users. Besides the US, countries like France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea, and the UK also have a great number of game users.
Meanwhile, 72% of global active mobile gamers in 2020 are millennials between ages 23 and 38, while 68% of gamers are Gen X between ages 39 – 50.
Today, many companies use AI and analytics to create a more seamless and realistic experience and a unique gaming environment that demonstrates human behavior and intelligence.
The Need for Technical Support and Guidance
What gaming companies fail to realize is it does not end at developing advanced games, but improving the gaming experience is equally important. Game developers need to keep pace with their digitally empowered customers by providing them with an integrated, intuitive, and automated omnichannel service model to offer a unified experience in their service journey.
Users or players find it challenging to deal with spamming, software or hardware update leading to game lag, troubleshooting methods, etc., even though the players may have the best network access or system requirement.
When technical issues disrupt a game, gamers will most likely contact customer support to get a quick resolution.
When the gamers call the company to report an issue, they expect a quick response, so that the flow of the game isn’t hampered. This is where customer service becomes imperative to address the challenges faced by gamers and strengthen customer retention, and improve customer loyalty.
Using a combination of smart agents, smart analytics, and smart automation to address technical issues or respond to feedback in real-time is key to enhancing customer support and experience.
As most gaming firms focus more on their design, development, and promotion, it becomes imperative for them to outsource their player support.
Omnichannel Player Support
An in-depth understanding of the gaming world helps companies achieve excellent player satisfaction from inception. Leveraging the power of digital, IGT provides omnichannel player support across multiple channels such as voice, chat, social media, and email, to enable seamless digital engagement.
AI/ML-Powered Chatbots
Players can enjoy gameplay support with AI and ML-powered chatbots to get instant query responses. In case of complicated queries, the chatbot transfers the question to a human agent. The AI/ML-enabled chatbots also hold the capability to manage a surge in demand during new releases or updates.
Player Sentiment Analysis (analytics)
AI-powered gaming analytics can help detect issues in real-time and provide unique insights based on players’ analytics. These assist support teams to quickly review critical metrics by analyzing and categorizing breakdowns based on the app, platform and location. Such automation can help engineering teams fix bugs or crashes before they impact the gameplay.
Sources: Springer, Statista