Why Gamers Game

“Gamers” are the sum of lots of little niche groups. Every game has a community of fans comprised of different segments and subsegments, and it’s easy to alienate one by appealing to the other, especially for games with multiple generations of players such as World of Warcraft, the Baldur’s Gate series, League of Legends, or even games as recent as Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Call of Duty Warzone. Trying to stay up to date with and understand these ever-growing groups of gamers can be overwhelming, but regardless of how many different kinds of “gamers” there are, there are only really five key motivations for playing games.

Identity

Games give people the ability to play as whatever gender, race, color, class, or role they want, and the anonymity to be judged by the game’s community based on that identity, rather than who they are IRL. Identity is why not providing the ability to play as a female character, or in third-person, is a deal-breaker for some players. Identity motivates things like character customization, class choice (such as the beloved sniper/ranger,) the esports team a player supports, character appearance, class progression, and faction choice.

Escapism

Especially popular among gamers experiencing big life changes (such as a pandemic) who use gaming as a way to escape reality to a world that provides a sense of security, and where they can make a difference. Escapism motivates building, crafting, exploration, relationships, and role playing.

Community

Some titles are more than just games, they’re sub-cultures in and of their own that give players a sense of belonging. Community motivates multiplayer, co-op, trade, chat, gifting, and overlaps with Identity when manifesting as faction choice or tribalism.

Story

One of the earliest human motivations, and still one of the most important features gamers look for in new games. Video games are without a doubt the most important storytelling device since motion picture, and the written word before that. A great story always transcends genre and attracts attention. 

Competition

For those who play to win, and/or want to be the best. Competition motivates PVP players, PVP or PVE skill progression, and watching esports to gain a competitive edge by learning from the best.

These motivations are based on years of combined research and experience from working in the industry as a marketing strategist, and from personal experience as a lifelong gamer myself. I’ve seen some organizations reduce these motivations to just three based on nothing more than observation, and others conduct extensive research into the subject specifically, only to reject that research and expand to over twelve by separating behaviors such as character progression, and building, from their underlying motivations. No matter your approach, the point is this: there are many different kinds of gamer, but only a handful of motivations.