Creating a successful customer loyalty program can make the difference between an over-hyped game that fails to retain players and a highly profitable game with a dedicated fan base. In the world of gaming, keeping players engaged is crucial for long-term success. With so many competing games on the market, it’s important for game developers to focus on player retention and brand loyalty. This is where customer loyalty programs come in – offering exclusive benefits and rewards to players who continue to support and engage with a particular game.
In this article, we will explore the top 3 best customer loyalty programs for games. These programs have been selected based on their popularity, effectiveness in retaining players, and unique features that set them apart from other loyalty initiatives in the gaming industry.
3 Customer Loyalty Program Examples
There are a few different ways to implement an effective rewards program for loyal customers. By taking a look at tried and true methods that major gaming company have used, we can identify key features that make a loyalty program successful. Let’s take a look at some of the best customer loyalty programs in the gaming industry.
1. Xbox Live Rewards
Xbox Live Rewards is a loyalty program created by Microsoft for their Xbox gaming community. This program offers players exclusive rewards and discounts for purchasing games, as well as participating in game-related activities such as completing achievements and taking surveys. The program also features a monthly leaderboard, motivating players to explore new games and unlock achievements, adding an extra layer of excitement to the experience.
Additionally, Game Pass Ultimate members can earn Rewards points simply by playing games available in the Game Pass library. This influences customer behaviour by incentiving them to try out new games and stay engaged with their Xbox console. Imagine earning rewards while doing what you love – playing video games! That’s the genius behind Xbox Live Rewards. It masks the traditional “buy more to earn more” approach with a fun and interactive system that keeps players coming back for more.
2. Amazon Prime Gaming Rewards
Prime members can enjoy exclusive rewards from partnered games, including valuable in-game items and consumables. These rewards often feature character customization options and other exciting perks, adding more value to your gaming experience. With ambitions to step deeper into the Web3 space with their in-game NFTs, Amazon Prime Gaming shows the potential of blockchain technology’s ability to enhance the customer experience through loyalty rewards.
The popular NFT card-battling game Gods Unchained has also partnered with Amazon Prime Gaming to launch an exciting promotion back in early 2024. Prime members were able to claim free card packs, giving them a chance to enhance their gameplay and expand their collection. This partnership shows how an established subscriber base can be further rewarded through gaming NFTs. This was a great example of how-to use Web3 technologies to create exclusive access for repeat customers and ultimately drive customer loyalty.
3. Playstation Stars
In Playstation Stars, players can rack up points by engaging in a variety of activities, including playing games, unlocking trophies, and achieving top spots on leaderboards. These points can later be redeemed for exciting rewards in the PlayStation Store, offering even more value to your gaming experience.
Unlocking digital collectables is one of the programs’ main selling points. Although these digital rewards aren’t NFTs, we can imagine how effective NFTs could become for this platform. With added features like being able to trade and sell these digital assets through a blockchain technology, PlayStation Stars could become a hub for collectors looking for rare and valuable items.
Despite not integrating NFTs into their rewards program, Playstation Stars still serves as a great example of one of the best tiered loyalty programs. With four different levels based on different average order values, players can strive for higher tiers to gain more benefits and exclusive perks. This not only encourages players to keep engaging with the platform, but it also entices them to increase their spending to reach higher tiers.
How To Create a Well-Designed Loyalty Program For Your Game
Now that we’ve gone over some examples of customer loyalty programs within the gaming industry, let’s take a look at how you can implement similar strategies for your own game.
Firstly, think about the sense of exclusivity you can create with your loyalty program. Many of the examples we’ve discussed have different tiers or levels that players can strive for, offering a sense of achievement and status within the gaming community. With that being said, you may be thinking about a paid subscription model for your loyalty program to create more exclusivity. While this can certainly work, it’s important that a free program will encourage more players to join and participate.
Once you’ve decided on the structure of your loyalty program, consider what rewards you will offer. Offer rewards that are relevant and valuable to your players, such as in-game currency, exclusive items or discounts on future purchases. Remember to also make these rewards attainable and trackable for both you and the player.
Next, think about personalization. To foster customer loyalty, respecting individualism while inviting a sense of community is key. Allow players to customize their experience by choosing which rewards they would like to work towards, and offer personalized communication and offers based on their preferences and past engagement with your game. Point-based loyalty programs often let repeat customer choose which rewards they would like to redeem with their accumulated points, giving them a sense of control and personalization in their loyalty experience.
The need for status and the ability to show it off is a huge motivating factor in loyalty programs. Consider incorporating leaderboards or exclusive in-game features for top tier members to showcase their status and achievements. This not only drives competition within your game, but also encourages players to strive for higher tiers. Tier-based programs with exclusive perks for higher levels can also create a sense of exclusivity and prestige, enticing players to stay loyal and climb the ranks.
Finally, consider creating an omnichannel loyalty program. To use a case study as an example, Legends of Venari partnered with us at Helika to fix their problem of a fragmented engagement across multiple platforms. Managing quests across multiple platforms created confusion and disrupted the overall user experience.
Helika collaborated with LoV to create a fully tailored engagement platform that seamlessly integrates all engagement activities in one place. This streamlined solution eliminates the need for players to juggle multiple growth and community platforms, offering a more cohesive and efficient experience. When building your loyalty program, think about how you can provide a seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints to keep your players engaged and coming back for more.
4 Different Benefits of Loyalty Programs For Gamers
It shouldn’t be too difficult to see why a game studio would want to implement a loyalty program. From the perspective of the player, however, there are several benefits that make these programs worthwhile.
1. Increased Rewards
One of the main draws for players to join a loyalty program is the promise of increased rewards and exclusive perks. As they progress through tiers and levels, they can unlock special bonuses, in-game items, or access to unique areas within the game. This not only enhances their gameplay experience but also gives them a sense of accomplishment and status among their peers.
As a game developer, failure to live up to the promised rewards can result in a loss of trust and loyalty from your players. Make sure to keep your promises and regularly review and update the rewards offered to keep your players engaged.
2. Continued Engagement and Motivation
It’s no secret that loyal customers are key to a successful business. In the gaming world, this translates to players who continually engage with your game and show their support through microtransactions or subscriptions. Loyalty programs give players an added incentive to remain engaged and motivated to keep playing. It confirms their dedication to the game and creates a sense of belonging within the gaming community.
To help invite them further into the community, consider offering special events or challenges exclusive to loyalty program members. This can foster a sense of camaraderie and encourage players to interact with each other.
3. Sense of Prestige Over Peers
As we alluded to earlier, loyalty programs can offer players a sense of status and prestige among their peers. This is especially true for competitive games where players can showcase their achievements and exclusive rewards in-game. It creates a desire to continually progress through the program and reach higher levels or tiers.
To capitalize on this aspect, make sure to design your loyalty program with clear goals and milestones that players can strive to achieve. This will not only keep them engaged and motivated, but also create a sense of friendly competition among players. Have a clear display of who’s at the top of the program, and you may just find players pushing themselves to reach that coveted spot.
4. Gives Them Conversation Starters
Many loyalty programs also include some sort of referral aspect, where players can earn rewards for inviting their friends to join the program. This not only helps increase your player base, but also gives players something to talk about with their friends – a common interest or goal within the game.
Encourage players to share their progress and achievements with others, and offer special rewards for those who successfully bring in new members. By giving a reason for players to invite their friends into their favorite games, loyalty programs can be a natural way to fulfull our social need for connection and belonging.
Final Thoughts
Value-based loyalty programs are a great way to increase repeat purchases and intices new customers to begin making repeat purchases. With the best loyalty programs in place, you can increase your repeat customer base, ultimately leading to a more sustainable and profitable gaming business.
Remember, it’s not just about providing free products or exclusive offers, but also creating an emotional connection with your customers to keep them coming back. Offering exclusive products, tiered programs, and personalized rewards can also help to strengthen this emotional connection.
There are many types of loyalty programs and customer preferences may differ depending on your target audience. As a final piece of advice, look to your competitors’ online forum and see what their player base dislikes about their current loyalty program. Use this information to improve your own program and stand out from the competition.
Specific actions during your game’s development can also help increase the success of your loyalty program. By creating a seamless and enjoyable gameplay experience, players are more likely to become loyal customers and advocates for your game. In order to effectively understand your players and their preferences, consider contacting us here at Helika for analytics and custom solutions.
