Updated
August 4, 2021
Written by
Stephanie Walker
The gaming industry offers an engaging diversion for people at home looking for social interaction. The said leisurely activity is defined as playing e-games conducted through multiple means, such as using computers, consoles, or mobile phones. Due to the COVID-1 pandemic, people mostly stay at home, which is why several people are turning to game platforms to pass the time.
According to Statista, in 2021, smartphone games are set to generate approximately 79 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenue. The impressive feat accounts for 52% of the global gamer market during the measured period. Indeed, the numbers are proof that the gaming industry has been a promising avenue for earning competitive income. It provides solid evidence that revenues for gaming companies and platforms have significantly increased during the pandemic.
Undeniably, a massive surge of new gamers has played a crucial part in the revenue.
The need for in-game support has also risen. The sheer number of different players worldwide alone led gaming companies to realize the importance of having online gaming customer support.
In that regard, whether you have just started in the gaming industry, or are on the verge of hiring customer support, then this article is perfect for you!
Gamers are one of the most stressful groups of customers. They play games 24/7 and expect customer support gaming to be available at any time, in their native language, and on the channel they want. Your initial reaction might be to feel exasperation over the unceasing demands of the said industry’s clutter of customers. However, the better and appropriate response should be to understand gamers the way gamers do. Check out the list below to break down why the importance of customer support agents in the gaming industry is highly recognized.
As there are various players around the world, you must be considering hiring a gaming support customer service. Hiring customer support agents to boost engagement is essential to your company.
Sure, it is easy to find out why players play games, and trying to understand them is perhaps the most nerve-racking thing to do. Still, we should understand what parts of that player experience make it engaging for them.
Why is it important?
Understanding your player is important because, essentially, we all have a stake in comprehending what our users gain from gameplay. It affects how we think, interpret, and design for their experience. Sometimes what we think are players’ motivations and deciding factors are not even close to what we have anticipated, and so addressing their individual concerns entails uncovering the key points that influence their choices and actions.
Troubleshooting a game problem can be annoying for players. They expect a quick fix to their issue. However, if they are forced to explain their problem to an agent who has zero background about their concerns, it can quickly add to their exasperation. Alternatively, if a highly skilled and knowledgeable agent handles the matter, it reduces the customer’s effort and helps create an enduring relationship.
Successful gaming companies are fully aware of how crucial it is to know the mindset of gamers to their future growth. In recent years, it has also become apparent that customer behavior is dynamic and their individual preferences are quite diverse.
In other words, you must view each customer or cluster of gamers uniquely.
Consider the following examples:
Consoles are easy to use, don't require upgrades and, generally cheap. They are the ones who seek customer support for guidance. It is tailored for simple multiplayer console-owning friends and uses wireless controllers that allow you to have a more active experience.
PC gamers need at least a minimum level of technical skills. They invest in maintaining a very high-tech computer, so they can run the newest game releases at the highest possible settings. Some choose to invest in a budget gaming PC and upgrade only when needed. These types of customers tend to do research to fix their problems through the internet.
While a good number of PC gamers are technically skilled and prefer fixing their problems themselves by seeking support on the developer’s website, console game players usually prefer quick and easy access to customer support for online gaming without leaving their games.
Real-time services coupled with multichannel assistance are essential to enhance gaming experience. Gaming firms have multichannel support that caters to the demands of their target audience across different communication platforms.
The strategies for multichannel support in gaming firms should go beyond live chat, voice, AI chatbots, and emails. What this means is it must include more industry-specific and interactive pathways such as in-game service options, active support on thriving gaming community forums, social media support to deliver exceptional player experiences. A dependable customer support agent for this type of market can connect, compete, collaborate, and chat online and in real-time.
Increasingly, publishers turn to customer-service software to keep their customers returning to them. If players don’t have a way to contact the game developer because they reach out beyond your company’s business hours, they may feel helpless and possibly frustrated to even push through with reporting an issue.
Game developers can benefit from working with a third-party provider. Game publishers hired third parties to do things like run e-games, tournaments, build multiplayer engines for their games, find streamers to promote new games, and much more.
Third-party developers have their own areas of expertise. Instead of working by themselves, hiring a customer service in the gaming industry is quick access, so they can focus on growing the company and monetize it the way that they know best
Ultimately, as third parties prove their value, developers will be more willing to work with them in the future. Developers that either help publishers grow their user and viewer bases will see the most benefit. One of the crucial factors to consider for selecting a third party vendor is to find out whether they can deliver high quality to match the brand image.
Presently, gamers are one of the most highly in-demand customers. Collecting their feedback continuously and developing your product based on their opinions is essential to your company. It helps delve deeper into each end-user experience and accurately meet their demands and needs.
Having support agents consistently listening to the voice of the players improves your target market. They search for opinions that end-users publish on social media along with reviews they provide on websites designed for gathering feedback, yet they also deliberately ask for feedback using different kinds of surveys. If you want to remain efficient, you have to make sure to listen to what customers have to say about your overall support and services, whether it be positive or negative comments.
Can you imagine a world without games? Who wouldn’t recognize some of the most iconic games such as Fenix the Hedgehog or Super Mario? What about those that are more widely accessible via small browser and console games such as Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds to massively multiplayer online role-playing games in the form of League of Legends or Mobile Legends?
Everything may seem perfect on the outside, the gaming industry is also facing certain challenges. Gamers tend to voice out their issue immediately on their social media platforms especially if you didn’t meet their expectations. As such, hiring customer support is the best option to be capable of facing such disputes.
Playing games on a PC is a lot more comfortable than doing it on a console. But because PCs are often more complex and lack standardized components like consoles, performance problems, glitches, and more complex technical issues are common. A reliable and a readily available team of representatives must always be on standby to help resolve and hurdles concerning a game’s software and/or hardware.
The rise of social media has a direct effect on the gaming industry, and there are certain situations in which social media both have a positive and negative impact on the gaming community.
Social media is used by millions of gamers to express their opinions. Unfortunately, several also choose to use that platform to vent their frustration. While much of the negative and unbecoming responses that comes from players stay contained within gaming community forums, there are instances in which it affects the industry as a whole, thereby causing serious and lasting damage.
No matter what platform a game surfaces on—from PCs to mobile phones to consoles such as the Xbox One—players demand quick, friendly customer service before, during, and after playing the game. Players want to reach developers and brands behind each game they patronize or try to address their issues, settle player bans, clarify any billing and subscription issues, or answer their questions about in-game transactions, to name a few.
In response, more companies in the gaming industry are providing customer service to ensure they’re providing gamers with all the tools they’ll need to make a good purchase. This is a smart strategy, considering that consumer word-of-mouth marketing generates twice more sales.
Here are some effective online gaming customer service tools you can use to empower your players and equip your services for future success:
One of the best customer service tools is live chat support. It is convenient for customer interactions as end-users get on-the-spot solutions instantly. As more gamers download a particular game, fulfill in-app purchases or subscribe for more exclusive features, they usually look for online support. Offering a live chat option encourages a positive online experience for your customers. Typically, the use of instant messaging on your website will not just be limited to answering customer service questions. There is also the opportunity to provide information that might stimulate a purchase decision.
A gaming business needs to offer its customers a real-time communication channel where they can receive instant help. AI and bots help gaming companies manage increase in traffic, scale support services to millions of active player users, and identify issues before they disrupt gameplay. Most games enable players to initiate an in-app messaging conversation with an agent without leaving the game. With bots, customers are granted with fully automated responses to their questions. They dramatically improve player satisfaction as chatbots are designed to provide instant solutions to FAQs and basic inquiries.
The majority of reputable companies today offer live chat customer support. Some emerging names include New Media Services, an outsourcing company that delivers real-time live chat services and agents available 24/7. Their assistance is tailored to every client’s particular needs and helps small to mid-sized businesses answer players' queries, settle disputes or problems involving their accounts and more.
People across the globe have a readily accessible email address, considering how a working email is required in most online registrations or app subscriptions. One of the most useful customer service tools is email automation. Consider email and AI as a real game-changer when it comes to marketing. Email enables game development companies to send email marketing campaigns to a broader audience. Whether it is a newsletter, exclusive promo offers, or monthly service and feature updates, these emails are planned in advance, then automated.
For example, when the players:
This support channel is also ideal if customers require more in-depth assistance.
Additionally, personalized email responses are a huge way to win email support. It is advisable to outsource your chat support services to enhance your email management.
Social media is one of the factors why the gaming industry has grown immensely over the years. Social media offers transparency for gaming studios that when one is not present on any social networking platform, end-users tend to be wary of them. The impact of integrating social media into gaming communities has helped make their responses and feedback highly relevant, and authentic end-user feedback is highly recognized in the gaming world.
Social media platforms are instrumental in forging relationships with the enormous gaming community, boosting UX for your games, listening to the distinct issues that players have, and nurturing their trust.
All of these tools will surely help modify your existing marketing and sales strategies.
Several gaming companies now know the importance of customer service in their business. As the gaming industry continues to grow, the need for customer support will also increase through a diverse selection of channels and services.
New Media Services offers a live chat outsourcing service that provides 24/7 player support. With our main goal being customer satisfaction, our agents are trained to answer all player queries, resolve technical problems and help players maximize the services and features you offer. We have the flexibility to match seasoned experts in the online or video gaming industry. Moreover, NMS ensures you have access to agents who possess hands-on experience with the games and devices, so they can connect with players better.
Reach out to our Customer Experience team, and we’ll be in touch with you today!
Help us devise custom-fit solutions specifically for your business needs and objectives! We help strengthen the grey areas on your customer support and content moderation practices.
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