Gaming has certainly evolved from what it used to be a few decades ago. About 10 years ago, user experience was the major thing that mattered to players, but a few years down the line, the issue of trust has become a focal point. A good example is how a myriad of things can go wrong if players’ information gets into the wrong hands. As a result, several factors are worth considering to build digital trust between players and platform developers. In this article, we will examine the player voice factor and how it affects gaming brands that incorporate or ignore it.
What Does Digital Trust Mean for Gamers?
Imagine a world where game developers or digital platforms establish trustworthiness when listening to and incorporating player feedback. The premise is that players develop greater trust in the digital ecosystem when they are heard and their input valued.
This could relate to several aspects, including:
- Community management.
- Game development processes.
- Content moderation.
- Data privacy and security.
- User experience design.
- Customer support systems.
When players place confidence in a game developer’s ability to protect their interests through ethical and transparent technologies and policies, the developer is said to have acquired the digital trust of players. Just like traditional trust, digital trust is also built. When gaming companies consistently show that they can provide security, privacy and reliable experiences for players, players tend to trust these companies more than their competitors.
In the gaming industry, digital trust is essential in several aspects, namely:
- Data privacy and security: Players have to submit their personal details and sometimes bank information when they register on most platforms. This data needs to be protected by the game provider.
- Fair monetization and gameplay mechanics: Players need to know that the outcomes of games are not manipulated from the back end and that cash rewards are fair and transparently distributed.
- Transparency in communicating bugs, attacks and updates: Bugs can show up anytime, and with higher internet speed, cybersecurity can be an issue. However, when players notice a lack of transparency in handling updates and bugs, they may lose digital trust in that provider.
Why are Player Voices Important?
Evolution is the key to continued relevance in life and business. Evolution is also key for companies playing the long-term game, such as online betting and casino entertainment. Evolution becomes even more critical and more efficient when influenced by player voices. In the betting world, players are the customers, and are the reason why the game provider is in business. It can only make sense that products are improved with insights from the market for which you are improving them.
Player voices can be obtained from game forums on community platforms such as Reddit and Discord. With over half of the world’s population on social media, it can also serve as a resourceful source for player feedback. Industry-specific sources such as casino review websites and game testing reports also play a role. There are detailed reviews of many casinos available on AskGamblers and other platforms. These community-backed reviews offer insights into everything from gameplay to payment speed, all of which help operators identify what’s working and what needs to evolve.
How does Incorporating Player Voices Build Digital Trust?
Here are a number of ways the inclusion of player voices builds digital trust:
- Responsiveness to complaints
Let’s face it, you won’t get everything right the first time, and this is true for game platforms too. When Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIV in 2010, it was met with so much criticism that many believed that the product was a total failure. Rather than abandon the project entirely, Square Enix went back to the drawing board, interacted with gamers, and incorporated the player insights into a relaunch three years later, which turned out to be successful.
Bungie was another developer to have benefited from building digital trust. When Destiny 2 was launched, players raised concerns over its microtransactions framework and its XP system’s opaqueness. Instead of releasing an explanatory statement meant to deflect the criticism, the platform made adjustments and earned its digital community’s goodwill.
- Involving players through collaboration
Most people feel emotionally connected to projects they are part of, which is one way to build digital trust from player opinions. This is one of the reasons games like Minecraft and Roblox are thriving; they fulfill the players’ desire to shape the content they consume. These platforms have communities that modify and share ideas about what needs to be retained or adjusted. This constant communication loop between developers and players creates an enjoyable product and allows players to trust these platforms.
- Safer community management
Beyond collaborations and responding to player insights, emotional safety has also become a means of building digital trust for players. According to the World Economic Forum, 28% of players stayed away from certain gaming platforms due to concerns of harassment. Players who understand that their safety matters to the game provider tend to develop digital trust for the platform.
How can Companies make Players Feel Heard?
As the gaming industry continues to grow, so will the expectation for companies to recognize player voices. This is because players are constantly shifting from just consumers to collaborators – a movement that forward-thinking companies have to jump on. Here are a few ways your company can obtain player voices and build digital trust:
- Have official feedback channels like social media pages, forums and surveys where you can get firsthand info from your end users.
- Transparently carry users along on platform updates, even on those deemed unimportant.
- Use effective community management to create a human connection between your platform and users.
- Openly acknowledge errors and update your community on plans to resolve the mistake.
Ignoring player voices comes with a number of risks, and real-life examples abound in the gaming world. For example, EA received even more criticism when it responded defensively to negative reviews of its Star Wars Battlefront II product. It even drew concern from government authorities who sought to understand the gambling techniques of the platform. Although EA later made adjustments, the damage had already been done, and public distrust was smeared on the brand.
Final Thoughts
Recognizing player voice is an unnegotiable aspect of building digital trust, especially for online gaming platforms. Players need to trust game providers in terms of player data protection, ethical use of player information, transparency in updates, bug reporting and fair gaming mechanics. However, to build this trust, game developers need to interact with player opinions through forums, beta reports and established feedback mechanisms. Failure to interact transparently with players can lead to public disfavor from players and consequent failure for the project.
