The online gaming industry is ever-growing and evolving. Its expansion has become so massive that the global industry’s revenue is expected to reach $29.5 billion by the end of 2025 and is predicted to further reach $33.7 billion by 2029.
As the industry continues to grow and expand, this has led to the saturation of the market. An influx of new entrants, gaming platforms, and new technologies intensified the competition, providing gamers with a lot more options than they can possibly think of.
While having a lot of options might be a good thing, there is also a downside to it. The overwhelming abundance of choices can lead to indecision and might even plant a seed of distrust. Gamers may even begin to question the quality and authenticity of the games offered on certain gaming platforms.
Below, let us explore how game platforms cultivate trust and safety with gamers and how new technologies help in reinforcing that trust in an increasingly saturated market.
Trust and Safety Building in Digital Gaming
Trust is a multi-faceted concept representing the confidence an individual has over something that they consistently interact with. In the context of gaming, trust encompasses a wide spectrum of factors that include the reliability of the platform, the integrity of the game mechanics, the safety of personal data, and many others.
With the various risks and the anonymity on the Internet, many are actually hesitant to put their trust in a certain platform, especially gaming platforms. As such, it is understandable that it is a difficult process to gain the trust and confidence from gamers. With this, many platforms and operators have put in the time and effort to build trust among returning gamers and newbies.
Given the rapidly growing digital gaming space, building trust and providing safety to gamers has become the paramount necessity for platforms and operators, seen as an important factor to sustainable engagement and further community growth.
As risks abound in digital gaming, such as privacy and data breaches and online harassment, it is crucial for developers and operators to prioritize every gamer’s safety and well-being.
With this need for trust and safety, gaming platforms now incorporate advanced technologies to appease gamers’ worries and ensure a secure environment for multiplayer interactions. A great example would be adopting crypto in real money casino platforms as a form of payment option that not only enhances security but also provides anonymity for players. This has been a trend, especially on online gaming platforms in digitally advanced countries like Australia. For context, in recent years, nearly 18% of Aussies now own at least one cryptocurrency, which they use not only to pay for daily necessities but also for entertainment.
How Do Emerging Technologies Improve Trust Building in Gaming?
With the growing abundance of privacy and safety risks, gaming platforms have slowly adopted emerging technologies to mitigate a wide range of risks, aiming to protect both the players and the game itself. Here are some of the advanced technologies that shape gaming today, contributing to building trust among gamers:
Realistic and Immersive Gaming Environments
Before gamers can fully trust a particular gaming platform, it needs to exude an air of reliability and integrity. One of the greatest things platforms did to exude this air of reliability and integrity, they adopt powerful graphics engines to enable developers to create stunningly realistic environments and characters.
To achieve those realistic environments, gaming platforms adopt AR and VR technologies to further provide immersion in game narratives to transport players to different exciting fantasy worlds. A great example of these games is Pokémon Go, providing gamers with a unique gaming experience and challenging the conventional gaming norms.
Secure and Efficient Payment Options
Aside from powerful graphics engines, ensuring that in-game purchases and other payment-related processes are tastefully done is crucial for maintaining player engagement and satisfaction.
To do so, gaming platforms have adopted blockchain technology to offer decentralization and security in any payment-related transactions conducted within the platform. Blockchain enhances the trust players have in the platform because, by adopting it, platforms get to maintain a transparent record of ownership and transaction history.
With blockchain technology, players can buy in-game merchandise, trade items, and even deposit and withdraw their winnings without fearing of delays or loss.
Accessible and Convenient Gaming
Lastly, gaming platforms have also adopted cloud gaming.
Cloud gaming allows gaming platforms to foster trust through inclusivity. By adopting this type of technology it allows platforms to conveniently access high-quality games regardless of their device, promoting an equitable gaming environment.
Final Thoughts
With a lot of risks that abound in digital gaming, it is inevitable that gamers hesitate and deliberate on the platforms they engage in.
As such, it is the responsibility of gaming platforms to utilize emerging technologies to improve trust and transparency among players. As developers continue to innovate, their commitment to quality, security, and transparency will be crucial in fostering and building trust. They can do so by embracing technologies and using them to ensure sustainable growth while creating a community where players feel valued and secure.
