Emergence of gamified commerce: Turning Virtual to Real

This paper, published in large part in Ciaramitaro’s (2011) Virtual Worlds and E-Commerce, reflects how gaming and virtual worlds have impacted on ecommerce in recent years. A dynamic commercial environment with massive growth in user numbers and an overspill into real worlds through gamification, virtual worlds have contributed new language, new ways of engaging customers in branded virtual experiences and new business models. Co-creation and co-production remain central themes within this environment. Convergence between online and offline proceeds apace, facilitated by ever more accessible technological interfaces such as mobile and tablets but also now micro-projection technologies that enable new ways of sharing and engaging. The paper reviews the convergence context and concludes with a discussion of how relationships between customers and businesses have changed, economies have emerged and boundaries between virtual and real have become blurred to form gamified commercial experiences.