13 Playful Gamification Statistics to Enjoy in 2023

Have you heard of gamification? Do you know what it means?

You are probably thinking it involves games, right?

Yes, but what else?

And to what end?

Gamification is a method used mostly in business and education to improve engagement and increase productivity.

How can playing games boost efficiency?

Monotony and overload lead to boredom, a creativity plateau, or even worse—stress and depression.

Enter gamification—it allows people to work and learn while playing.

Take a look at these gamification statistics below to see how effective and popular this method is.

Engrossing Gamification Stats (Editor’s Choice)

• The gamification market will reach around $30 billion by 2025.
• Game-based motivation boosts engagement by 48%.
• Challenge-based gamification in the field of education leads to a 34.75% increase in student performance.
• KFC Japan and Gamify developed gaming content which increased store sales by 106%.
• 83% of employees feel more motivated when training is gamified.
• Retail holds 28.6% of the global gamification sector.
• The US army implemented a gamified platform in its recruitment process.
• 87% of the respondents in a 2019 survey shared that gamification brings a sense of belonging and purpose in the workplace.
• 89% of people would spend extra time on an application if it includes game elements.

The Latest Gamification Statistics in 2022

How popular is gamification?

Fortunately, all of the major companies and corporations worldwide use this method. And it is starting to spread across smaller businesses too.

Let’s see some gamification stats about the spread and effectiveness of the method in different sectors.

1. The gamification market will surpass $30 billion by 2025.

The 2020 revenue of the gamification market was estimated at $9.1 billion.

What is more, predictions show a growth rate of 24.7%. This means by the end of 2025, it will reach $30.7 billion.

2. 83% of employees feel much more motivated when training is gamified.

Gamification is mostly used for motivating, engaging, and educating employees and to avoid boredom or stress.

A study on gamification revealed 83% of the respondents are more motivated when the training has gamified elements.

Boredom drops from 49% (non-gamified training) to only 10%. In comparison, training without gamification was motivating for only 28% of individuals. Plus, it led to 12% unproductivity.

Numbers speak for themselves. Gamified training has a positive impact on employees’ motivation, levels of boredom, and productivity.

3. A 2019 gamification survey shows 87% of the respondents report gamification brought a sense of belonging in the workplace.

Satisfied employees boost productivity and creativity. Just like the popular saying: “Happy wife, happy life,” except “wife” is the employees and “life”—the efficiency and annual revenue of a business.

What’s more, gamification statistics show that this methodology has a positive effect on employees’ personal experience, too.

A 2018 study shows that 81% of participants claimed gamification in the workplace made them feel socially connected.

In 2019, 87% felt a sense of belonging.

In addition, 79% of the participants in 2018 reported game elements bring purpose in their workplace. The following year, this number increased to 82%.

4. Nike Run Club is one of the most successful gamification examples.

Gamification is all about boosting motivation, right? And everyone could use some extra motivation when it comes to fitness and an active lifestyle, right? 

Every year we make New Year’s resolutions that we’ll eat healthy meals and hit the gym five times a week. Then a few days or weeks pass by, and our ambitious plan starts looking like a burden.

Gamification to the rescue! The multinational sportswear company Nike has realized the need to boost its customers’ motivation.

After all, if they train more, they will buy more training equipment. So what did the company do?

Nike created the Nike Run Club app combining gamification elements ready to boost people’s motivation.

Gamification Solutions

If you are even a tad familiar with the principles of gamification, you already know it applies psychological strategies to modify behavior.

But does gamification work? Is it as efficient as proclaimed?

Sometimes, numbers speak louder than words, so check out the gamification stats and see for yourself.

5. KFC Japan and Gamify collaborated to develop gaming content, which increased store sales by 106%.

KFC and Gamify are not the only companies using gamification. We have prepared a few interesting examples of world-known organizations.

We already mentioned Nike’s running app. Now, let’s see a less healthy example.

The company M&M developed an application with gamified elements called Eye Spy Pretzel. The result was 25,000 Facebook likes and 6,000 shares.

6. The method of gamification boosts engagement by 48%.

Most people are competitive by nature. Even if you are not one of them, you probably still like to be rewarded for your achievements. Who doesn’t? 

For that reason, commonly used gaming elements include badges, leaderboards, scores, levels, and challenges.

Good job doing better than your colleague Bob! Here is a badge for leveling up.

Sounds silly, but it’s effective.

Gamification stats reveal game-based motivation techniques can boost engagement by 48%.

7. The US army implemented a gamified platform in its recruitment process.

Gamification has spread to a variety of business sectors worldwide. Among the most notable ones is the military.

In 2002, the US Army created a platform with gamified elements used for cost-effective recruitment.

In this case, gamification assisted the recruiting process and reduced its price. Plus, it increased the positive impression of the US Army among Americans by 30%. 

8. 89% of people will spend extra time on an application if it includes game elements.

We discussed the impact of gamification on motivation and engagement with different activities.

But what about the game itself?

How much does gamification increase engagement with the gamified tool?

According to a 2018 survey, 85% of the respondents will spend more time on a given application if it includes gamification elements.

In 2019, this number increased to 89%.

Gamification Industry

How big is the gamification industry? Can new ideas be easily implemented?

There’s no simple answer to that question. However, below, we list some stats and facts that will give you useful insights.

9. The retail sector held 28.6% of the global gamification industry in 2019.

In 2019, the global gamification market was distributed between six main sectors.

The retail sector was the leading one, with a 28.6% market share. Next came the education and research sectors, then banking.

The other industries which have implemented the gamification principles include healthcare, government, and IT.

10. Gamification can help you track and improve your finances, sales, employee performance, and more.

Although its most-known uses are in education and business, the gamification methodology is also often applied in other areas.

Companies and individuals develop gamified apps for virtually any purpose.

Take, for example, Mint—one of the best gamification apps to manage your finances. It allows you to structure your budget with fun rewards, challenges, and points.

Gamification Trends

The popularity of gamification has been increasing across various industries.

What gamification trends should we pay attention to in order to keep up with the fast development?

11. Challenge-based gamification increases student performance by nearly 35%.

COVID-19 introduced a whole new era in education. Children, teenagers, and university students all switched to online education.

However, it’s hard enough to retain the attention of young adults in person, let alone online. So how can teachers do their job effectively?

You know the answer. Gamification.

Statistics about gamification in education reveal challenge-based elements lead to a 34.75% increase in student performance.

In fact, gamified methodologies are almost 90% more effective than lectures alone.

12. By 2024, gamification in education will increase by over 47% in the Western Europe region.

Next comes Eastern Europe with 42.2%. The third place is for Africa, with 41.3%.

The remaining four regions are the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific, with a 36%, 35%, 30%, and 27% growth rate, respectively.

Admittedly, the education sector is not the only area where the gamification market is expanding. Businesses, for example, implement gamification by using SaaS tools more and more often.

Still, education remains the leader in gamified tools usage.

13. Gamified learning will generate over $24 million in revenue by 2024.

Predictions are that by 2024, gamified learning in higher education will increase by 15.4%.

We can already see that gamification elements are among the top 10 features of every reputable learning platform.

Wrap Up

Gamification is gaining popularity across different industries. Major companies have already recognized the need for gamified elements in the workplace.

Will this trend continue in the future? In which industries is it most popular?

The gamification statistics above answer these and other questions.