Fandom, the world’s largest fan platform, unveiled its 2022 State of Gaming report, diving into two of the hottest topics, trends and issues facing the gaming industry — NFTs and the Metaverse.
Forming part of Val Morgan Digital’s suite of properties in Australia, Fandom delivers 18 million Australian sessions across 17 million pages of content within over 100,000 gaming communities.
By coupling Fandom’s robust, proprietary data with a custom global study, Fandom puts the biggest topics in the gaming industry to the test by examining real consumer behaviours and the true fan POV.
Key findings in the study reveal that gaming consumers have a negative perception and distrust of NFTs, with only 7% thinking it’s an important part of the gaming landscape. There is an industry misconception about gamers and the metaverse. Brands need to meet fans where they are – on specific games and platforms like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox and create smart branded environments that add to the fan’s experience in a meaningful way.
Fandom’s State of Gaming: NFTs uncovers a considerable disconnect between what the industry, brands and marketers think is important to gaming fans concerning NFTs – and what consumers really want.
Stephanie Fried, CMO of Fandom, said that consumers respond to narrow use cases for NFTs that have dominated headlines.
When presented with benefits without the NFT label surrounding them, opinions were far more positive – suggesting that with education (and perhaps some rebranding), NFTs can deliver value to gamers.
- Key Findings:
• Overall, NFTs have an overwhelmingly unpopular perception among gamers, with the vast majority finding them unnecessary. In fact, only 7% of consumers think NFTs are an important part of the gaming landscape. - The majority (72%) have a very negative perception of NFTs because they are: Unwise investments monetarily (46%), Unknown risks (i.e. long-term value, buying/selling potential, unverified assets etc.) (40%) Still too new of a concept (35%)
- There’s also a significant knowledge gap – only 67% of consumers have either a basic or no understanding of NFTs, and only 9% of gamers own NFTs.
- • But – once users were presented with the potential benefits of NFTs in the gaming space without the NFT label associated with them, perception shifted. Fans told us they are most interested in the following opportunities that NFTs in gaming could provide:
o Players being able to create their own items accessible to all players in-game (47%)
o Being able to earn unique items that you can use in-game (37%)
o Having items transferable in between games (32%)
Fandom uncovered several misconceptions of the metaverse, as well as a fundamental misunderstanding of how advertisers and brands have traditionally played in this space versus how consumers really want them to show up.
The metaverse allows fans to socialise, compete and explore a world that is different from their own. While players have adopted the concept, it doesn’t mean that all brands should start greenlighting metaverse solutions.
Anthony Iaffaldano, VP of sales marketing & insights, said, “Rather than focusing broadly on a “metaverse strategy,” brands need to meet fans where they are – on specific games and platforms like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox – and create smart branded environments that add to the fan’s experience in a meaningful way. “
