Description

A recent study made by Fondazione Symbola states that in Italy the video game industry is experiencing a constantly growing situation, with an audience of over 25 million players, that is 50.2% of the population over 14 years. The video gaming industry's turnover in Italy has exceeded one billion euro in 2016 (1,029,928,287 euro), an increase of 8.2% compared to 2015. In terms of sales volume Italy ranks fourth in Europe after Great Britain, Germany and France. The software has the greatest weight on this turnover with 61.8% (636.908.554 euros), up to 11.9% compared to the previous year. The software, including video games for consoles and PCs sold in stores, has reported sales of 346,222,859 euros. A great result is recorded for the digital software that includes the download of digital games, subscriptions to online games on PCs and consoles, prepaid cards, micro transactions, expansions of digital game and game apps: altogether has a turnover of 290,685,694 euros (+32.8% compared to 2015).

However, developing a successful game today is very challenging. Thousands of titles are created and published each month, and each competes for a share of the attention and time of the players. There are certainly more good games on the market than successful games. The distribution and marketing of the video gaming industry are characterized by two closely related challenges. On the one hand, discoverability, the crowding of digital marketplaces (e.g. app stores) in a context of the brick-and-mortar market (box retail). Important investments in marketing (user acquisition) suit to obtain visibility on digital "shelves". On the other hand, it is necessary to adapt to new platforms and to increase the use of content via mobile platforms (tablets, smartphones etc.).

Target

From a social phenomenon to a new frontier in education and information. The picture standing out from the video game industry in 2017 is the one of a leading part for the economy, which has crossed its borders to swarm every aspect of our life. The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) recently highlighted a fairly reasonable division of consumers in the video game industry. In fact, 56% of players are male while 44% are female. This is interesting because we tend to believe that gamers are almost all male. The ESA survey also points out that among video game users, people aged between 18 and 35 (30% of consumers) rank first, followed by those over 50 (27%). Only at third place places under 18, that represent 26% of users. A more mature video gamer profile emerges, which on one hand is intrigued and attentive to the latest news that the market offers and, on the other hand, is willing to invest resources to customize its hardware.

Innovation

Innovative solutions are required to define marketing campaigns, focus on individual customer segments to guarantee higher conversion rates. For this purpose, the methods of interaction with the gaming community, how to purchase a product, signing up for a newsletter, filling out a form, requesting information can be exploited in an innovative way for example; or uploading a specific action on a page or site. Furthermore, innovative ideas should be developed to maximize returns and minimize the risks associated with managing gaming platforms. In this regard, the construction of multi-platform skills and the acquisition of profiles in line with the technological evolution of the market would be rewarding.