E-Games and Impacts on Banking

E-games will become a $106.5Bn industry this year as mobile overtakes consoles and PCs. According to Market research firm Newzoo, the global gaming market is expected to be worth $106.5 billion in 2017, 8.4 percent more compared to last year.

Almost all teens play games

Video gaming is pervasive in the lives of American teens. Girls, boys and teens across the age group, socioeconomic spectrum play games.

In a survey, it was found that:

97% of teen’s ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games.
50% of teens played games “yesterday.”
86% of teens play on a console like the Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii.
73% play games on a desktop or a laptop computer.
60% use a portable gaming device like a Sony PlayStation Portable, a Nintendo DS, or a Game Boy.
48% use a cell phone or handheld organizer to play games.
Today’s Teens will determine the future of banking. We have 15% teens in the world population of 7.6 Bn. In countries like India the percentage is higher at 40%, making it an attractive market for new products and services.

Source: Twitchcon 2017

E-gaming teens like rich graphical interface, rapid prototyping of software, fast deployments, rich content, biometrics and fast response times. Given this, they are not going to put up with a banking provider whose feature functionality on mobile and online don’t match the experience which they have grown up with. Pictured above are 75 gamers playing the game H1Z1 at Twitchcon 2017.

So what should banks learn from this and respond to this huge potential customer base?

Banks could launch a game that attracts teens to start early in the lifecycle, as early as primary or high school. For instance, say a mobile wallet for use at school, e.g. lunch money. The better the teen plays the game, the more he/she can earn social dollars to spend on teen stuff.

The future bank account needs to be an extension of this wallet and include small loans (not over $100 for pocket money). This can extend into college loans and mortgages in the coming years. Teens prefer to save and the game can teach them how to save and invest. This wallet could have tie-ups with malls, restaurants, froyo shops, etc.
There should be a lot of design into the personas - for instance, in e-gaming, the design of the persona is very artistic and can be changed at the click of a button depending on the mood of the teen at any point in time. As an example, Skins are the physical versions of social dollars. Each skin is unique and has a tradable value. Teens use skins as an investment for future purchases. Therefore, banks could learn from this social dollar adoption and respond.
Games are a celebration of an individual, and they are also a celebration of talent. They are very inclusive of all gender, all faiths, LGBT, and others. Banks, while they preach diversity, do have some challenges to do more and to truly embrace the world for what it is, rather than being an exclusive group of people who can look good in a suit.
Teens with talent and any interest gaming, art, music etc. are able to reach a large audience streaming on “Youtube, Twitch or Beam”. Real talent attracts REAL audience. The more real audience, the more teens rake in the money through adverts, sales commission, product placements, etc. Due to this unique opportunity, teens have become really good at handling gaming contracts. E-gaming contract negotiation is a specialized service of late. Banks can look at talent here for sponsorships, and also this behavior on social media should be an input into the credit score of individuals as it is one of the fastest growing business. Investments by Amazon in “Twitch” and Microsoft in “Beam” show the value of such.

Private Equity and VC are increasingly targeting investments in e-sports. The economic model is like any other software. Let us say it takes $200,000 to build a game. Typically this is done through friends and family (aside of big companies like). Developers build and test the software. There is an Alpha launch done within the game developers, then a Beta for a small group of gamers. Once all the bugs are identified and fixed using crowd sourcing, the release is done through select “gamers” and “streamers” who in turn attract their followers to a new game. Very quickly based on social media interaction and social media “twitch” marketing, a game gets popular and starts raking in $20 per download and $5 per month, and very soon recovers the $200,000 in 6 months. Whatever money is made over and above this is profit. It is not uncommon to see a $200,000 investment turn into a million dollars. Obviously this does not happen to everybody, but there is enough of success for the banking world to take note off and invest. Through a shared economy, program the “gamers” and “streamers” get financially rewarded, as do creators of skins. The richer the game in content and creativity, the more the money it makes, as the vast global audience is drawn into a parallel universe of happiness. Banks may target this group through “micro credit” and “financial inclusion credit programs”.

E-sport is a fast growing area with many colleges offering scholarships to the digitally deserving. Cable channels and Sports teams like some of the NHL and MLB teams are increasingly looking at e-sport leagues as an alternative, especially when new generation does not have the desire to play the real version of the game, and are worried about future audiences. This creates new areas for lending especially by the investment banks that have specialists who focus on Sports and manage the money of eminent sports personalities. In turn, colleges are giving out sports scholarships for the e-version of the game as a way to attract talent. Banks should look at college loans as a potential lending opportunity especially as kids coming out of this program are placed at $70,000 to $100,000 per month. Also these are new skills for the new economy and will not get obsolete soon.

E-games have their own terminology and banks should understand and relate to this terminology to embrace the teen market. Common e-gaming terms include:

Glitching: When the game does not behave the way it should and there is a QA glitch
FPS: First Person Shooter wherein you see everything through your character
DLC: Downloadable content
PVP: Player vs Player
NPC: Non-Player Character controlled through AI
MMORPG: Massively multiplayer Online role playing game
Noob: newbie players with little skill
FTW: For the win
Pwned: I think it means Pawned or a dominating move

In conclusion, there are a lot that financial services companies can learn and adapt to from the growth in e-sports and gaming. For companies in the technology industry, this creates new opportunities as they go about finding the next Activision, Electronic Arts, or Nvidia. The growth in attendance at “Dreamhacks” and “Twitchcons” is a tribute to this opportunity.