Player Types

Recent developments in game business practices have especially elevated the need for distinguishing between types of players and play styles. For example, the new business models related to selling virtual goods has multiplied the amount of sold products within one game product or service as opposed to the retail sale of games. With the new business
models game publishers subject the entire game and game design with its different value offerings to more accurate scrutiny in terms of marketing. Today, virtual items in games are no longer designed only to be an integral part of the finely tuned game balance. Instead, designers also have to think who would potentially be the customer for the virtual goods in question. These increasingly relevant questions that linger in the cross-roads of game design and marketing call for the use of marketing practices of segmentation and differentiation as a part of game design (Hamari & Lehdonvirta 2010; Hamari 2011; Hamari & Järvinen 2011). Another complementary development can be seen in the context of “gamification,”where game design is increasingly being applied towards the goals of marketing (Huotari & Hamari 2012; Hamari 2013). Hence, even in this context, understanding player types and motivations even becomes essential.