Online gaming as an industry has been growing year on year into what is now by far the most dominant entertainment form on the planet, easily outstripping the movie and music industries combined. In part this is because people love to compete against one another and be in amongst the action rather than just sitting there and being lectured to.
The other reason that so many new players are drawn to online games is that online gaming providers have become adept at attracting customers to their various platforms. As we are about to show, this can be done in many different ways, from offering sign-up bonuses all the way through to making a title completely free to play. Here are all the ways that online gaming companies keep snapping up people hungry for entertainment, who then fire up their gaming laptops and start beavering away at conquering the gaming universe.
Esports players and online gamers have never had it so good, being offered deals from all quarters of the gaming industry as companies vie for market share
Sign-Up Bonuses Are All the Rage
One of the best ways to get any potential new customer revved up about beginning life on your gaming site or app is to give them something for free, and in that regard online gaming companies are well versed in all the ways to structure such deals.
Some companies such as Ubisoft give fans bonus discounts for pre-ordering games, so as to reward dedicated fans who trust that a game will be released on time. Other firms like PokerStars Casino offer sign-up bonuses that require no deposit from the player, meaning someone new to the site or app can test out all the games on the platform before they deposit money for real. Lastly there are streaming platforms that offer access to their vast libraries of games for a reduced fee if players sign up for a year rather than on a rolling monthly basis. A good example of this is Nvidia GeForce Now, which offers what is in effect a sign-up discount of £20 if a player commits to 12 months of gameplay access rather than taking things one month at a time.
The obvious benefit of this last approach is that a customer is encouraged to be loyal, rather than jumping around different platforms on the hunt for the best value deal.
Many of the internet’s most beloved online games have become household names precisely because they have used free-to-play business models
Free-To-Play Games Still Very Much in Vogue
At first glance the idea of giving a game away completely for free seems like a ridiculous thing to do, surely leading to your business hemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate despite you having thousands or millions of dedicated gamers onboard.
However, savvy video game company execs, such as those who developed smash hits like Fortnite and Apex Legends, know that making an initial loss while gaining millions of followers is a tactic that will pay major dividends down the line. The proof is in the pudding with the aforementioned battle royale games making billions for their respective handlers, who monetize their games by offering players in-game purchases and ad-ons but never require players to spend in order to compete on a level playing field. This technique operates much the same as a pay-what-you-like restaurant, whereby customers will ultimately give up their hard-earned cash if they are content with the product they are consuming.
Bundles Bring Players to Forgotten or Under-Rated Games
Another interesting means of offering new players excellent value for money is gaming companies giving the go-ahead for certain titles to be included in bundles, which are put together by companies like Humble Bundle and Best Buy.
These bundle making firms specialize in lumping together groups of games that may previously have flown under the radar but still offer lots of fun and frolics to players of certain gaming genres. This way a new player can get their mitts on 5 or 6 games all for the price of 1.