Gamification a promising and untapped market: MDeC

• Great potential for companies to transform themselves, says MDeC
• Opportunity for ICT players to explore new markets and sources of income

THE Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) believes that gamification is a potentially disruptive technology that can help companies transform themselves, and urged Malaysian ICT companies to explore this relatively untapped market.
 
Gamification is essentially the use of game thinking and mechanics in areas outside of games. It is increasingly being touted as a method for promoting desired behaviour among customers and employees.
 
It’s enough of a thing that MDeC will be integrating gamification into its various programmes and funds, according to the national ICT custodian’s chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng, saying that it was being woven into MDeC’s DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
 
While MDeC doesn’t have any gamification-specific programmes, “we’re expanding our various programmes, funding options and market access platforms to include gamification.
 
“We’re helping companies identify markets, and will also connect local entrepreneurs and companies to experts in the field,” she told a recent media briefing at MDeC’s headquarters in Cyberjaya.
 
Ng noted that many of the accelerator programmes that MDeC supports also cater to gamification startups. These include BootstrapAccelerator Asia, its partnership with Silicon Valley-based the Founder Institute, and the MSC Malaysia Startup Accelerator Lite programme with Singapore’s JFDI.Asia.
 
She added that gamification companies can also qualify for MDeC’s MAC3 (Malaysia Animation Creative Content Centre) lab in Cyberjaya, which was formed to provide technology and resources and offer funding, to content developers.
 
There are compelling reasons for MDeC, which manages and oversees the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia) project that aims to boost the ICT industry in the nation, to explore gamification.
 
Ng cited US research and analyst firm Gartner Inc as reporting that by the end of 2014, more than 70% of Global 2000 organisations will have at least one gamified application.
 
M2 Research predicts that the size of the global gamification market, currently estimated at around US$100 million (RM318 million), will grow to more than US$2.8 billion (RM8.9 billion) by 2016.
 
“That’s huge, but the 70% use in organisations is more critical because it shows that more people will be using gamification,” she said.
 
Ng also cited the Gartner Gamification 2020 report which predicts that gamification, combined with other emerging trends and technologies, will have a significant impact on innovation; the design of employee performance; and the globalisation of higher education.
 
Gartner also believes that gamification will give rise to the emergence of new customer engagement platforms, and will play a great part in personal development.
 
“Malaysia is still in the very early stage, based on what MDeC has gathered after speaking to players on both the supply side and the potential demand side of the equation,” said Ng.
 
“We have a few companies at the forefront, including Nettium and Terato Tech, but let’s not forget that the more than 300 companies in the Creative Multimedia Cluster (CMC) [of MSC Malaysia] can also look into gamification.
 
“There is much opportunity for growth that these companies can tap into,” she said, adding that on the customer or demand side, gamification use is still “very training-centric.”
 
The MDeC briefing also saw presentations from the aforementioned companies already playing in the gamification space: Nettium, which has integrated gamification into its own operations; and Terato Tech, which has developed some gamified apps.
 
Ng argued that gamification can be important for Malaysia in more ways than one.
 
“It is a disruptive model. The companies in our CMC which are now doing game development, entertainment content, digital animation and so on, now have an opportunity to tap into new and bigger markets,” she said.
 
Gamification spells an opportunity for companies in the creative industry to diversify beyond entertainment and into new industries. The five that MDeC has identified as the most promising are: Education; healthcare; industrial; oil and gas; and banking and finance.
 
Gamification would thus enable MSC Malaysia companies to move up the value chain, Ng said. It would also make the ICT industry more robust and dynamic, “with more than one source of income.”
 
For its part, MDeC will use MSC Malaysia’s strong base in games development, animation and digital content creation to help companies in this space expand and diversify their offerings towards gamification, said Ng.
 
The agency will also work with subject matter experts to increase MSC Malaysia companies’ knowledge and awareness, and give them an international platform to showcase their offerings.
 
Finally, MDeC will look into garnering more support from the public and private sectors, and will work on getting them to explore adopting gamified solutions in their various fields.
 
Next Page: Gamification concepts and considerations in building gamified apps