Five Crucial Elements to Prioritize When Optimizing Player Experience

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When gamers turn on their consoles or PC, the only thing they want is to have a good time. According to the Entertainment Software Association, “90% of the gamers in the U.S. claim that they get joy when playing games.”

In fact, gaming companies dedicate entire teams to every aspect of the game to ensure this is possible. Just imagine how complex it is for gaming companies to optimize the player experience. It usually requires various years to develop a game and thousands of hours of testing before and after a game is launched.

After examining the variables involved, here are the five main elements to prioritize when optimizing player experience:

Making games usable and easy to understand

Usability testing refers to assigning tasks to potential users to evaluate what they and other players struggle with, like, and dislike within a game. For example, users should feel comfortable with their onboarding and want to play more when downloading the game. The barrier to entry to a game should as low as possible, since games that are confusing to play from the start may detract players from continuing to play. Once familiarized with the game, players should have a feeling of control. They should understand the actions available and the objectives they should be working towards to stay engaged and play for the long term.

Balancing game dynamics

Imagine how boring it is if a game is extremely easy. On the other hand, what if it becomes terribly difficult to level up or defeat a character? In both cases, you would be discouraged to continue playing. Setting the right balance is very important, yet not easy to anticipate. Once millions of players and variables interact simultaneously, there may be many edge cases where the game dynamics need to be improved. Thus, gaming firms must perform iterative prototyping and lots of testing to align the game’s dynamics with the plot, leading to a satisfying playing experience.

Facilitating in-game transactions

There should be as little friction as possible in all payment processes to deliver a seamless player experience. Avoiding “technical churn” is also critical, which means to avoid times when a recurring payment fails or the player is not charged and the subscription lapses. All these points are very relevant considering that in-game transactions will make up 77% of the total of +$200 billion in global game revenue by 2023, as reported by Newzoo.

Integrating seamless payment processors, adapting to crypto payments, and minimizing the steps required to make a purchase will incentivize players to invest more time and resources in the game.

Motivating players through rewards

Players must constantly be motivated and stimulated to play, whether it’s through gaining points and ranking up, assigning new badges, or unlocking avatars, quests, and maps. Rewards become increasingly crucial in the long term, but they can quickly become tedious and unfulfilling as the player gets used to receiving them. Hence, diversifying, and layering rewards can persuade players to stay hooked for long engagements.

Incorporating the proper design elements

The game design comprises all the elements that encourage players to feel great. The sounds, visuals, artwork, player mechanics, and controller vibrations are some of the things that give the “feeling” that a game is excellent. Incorporating and testing all design elements together in a cohesive way that aligns with the goal and overall story is crucial to deliver a smooth experience.

In short, players want to have fun. Since the average gamer spends 8 hours and 27 minutes per week playing games, gaming companies need to focus on enhancing the correct elements for players to stay engaged. The game’s usability and design, ease of play, rewards over time, and having frictionless payments are all crucial elements that must be optimized to ensure an exceptional player experience.