Videogames-as-a-service: How does in-game value co-creation enhance premium gaming co-creation experience for players?

• Published in: Journal of retailing and consumer services Vol. 70; p. 103128
• Main Authors: Hussain, Ali, Abid, Muhammad Farrukh, Shamim, Amjad, Ting, Ding Hooi, Toha, Md Abu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Co-creation experience; Premium gaming services; S-D logic; Value co-creation; Video games; Video games; Premium gaming services; Value co-creation; Co-creation experience; S-D logic
• ISSN: 0969-6989; 1873-1384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103128

The games as a service model have enabled game developers to reach worldwide audiences and regard games as services rather than products, opening up new avenues to establish value propositions. Freemium–premium gaming models of value co-creation have been studied in the past. Fostering the conversion of free users to premium subscribers and retaining those premium users are critical objectives for premium service providers. It is critical to effectively enable value co-creation through appropriate value propositions when the logic shifts from products to services such as depicted in the service-dominant logic. Since value propositions are the cornerstone of value, they must include insights about the customer's preferences, capabilities, and expectations, which can be gathered through the customer's value co-creation activities. Furthermore, little is known about the value realization that is assessed after using premium gaming services. The current study, which builds on the conceptual foundations of S-D logic, intends to investigate the gaming players' in-game co-creation experiences in the premium gaming setting through value co-creation activities. The model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM)-based partial least based on survey data collected from 346 online gamers who used in-game premium services. The findings indicate that superior functionality, competition, sociability, personalization, and self-indulgence all have a substantial impact on players' desire to co-create with gaming service providers. Furthermore, the data revealed a significant outcome of value realization, which is appraised based on the premium gaming players' co-creation experience aspects. The findings of study 1 were further validated through qualitative intuitions to ensure the robustness of the valuable key insights, which confirms that different premium gaming motivations are necessary to enhance the value co-creation ties and gamer's overall co-creation experience positively. To improve premium players' co-creation experiences, online game service providers should route co-creation media into premium gaming settings. •Online games are goal and experience-driven services where each player is subject to achieving some milestones.•Value co-creation is an important consideration for the game development firms to engage the gaming customers for the customized offerings.•Therefore, both theory and practice recommend collaborating with customers for the co-creation of premium in-game services to enhance the customer's in-game co-creation experience.