From product to ecosystem: How gaming is rewriting the rules of consumer experience

Games are more than products – they are ecosystems, communities, and cultural events. Take Grand Theft Auto 6. The long-awaited release has generated an estimated $4 billion in pre-launch sales, with opening week sales forecast to hit $3-5 billion, far surpassing the opening week sales of some of the world’s highest grossing movies. Months before release, the game was already influencing what people watch, listen to, and talk about.

The success of high-profile games underscores four new rules of consumer experience: earn attention before the transaction, build experiences beyond the product, invite participation at different levels, and raise the standards for interaction. Together, these rules win continuous value – regardless of the sector.

Rule 1: Earn attention before the transaction

Game developers and marketers are masters of the attention economy. They create a buzz around products before launch, generating conversations and content that involves millions of people outside of the gamer community. For gamers, the experience is shaped by what happens before, during, and after gameplay, across channels and communities. Our research with global gamers shows how deeply gaming intersects with identity and relationships, especially for younger age groups – 66 percent of millennial and Gen Z gamers say gaming helps them express themselves, and are four times more likely than other age groups to say gaming helped their social life.

The lesson for every sector is to find ways to capture attention long before point of purchase, and create impactful experiences that inspire people to participate within one connected journey. Think stackable wearables in health and wellness, where multiple devices fit together in one holistic offer. These experiences can be enhanced by wrap-around services such as apps, virtual workouts, and physical studio classes.

Rule 2: View products as new experience platforms

The purchase of a game doesn’t stop at the game itself. It can trigger an entire chain of buying decisions: better internet, consoles, monitors, headsets, controllers, streaming equipment, and even furniture. The product is just a starting point for a wider ecosystem of value. When a product is designed to sit at the center of a holistic experience, it creates a wave of secondary demand. A connected home product, for example, is more valuable when it works naturally with related services and routines. A sports service grows when it connects participation, performance data, content, and fandom. A financial service becomes more useful when it supports customers across moments – not just transactions.

The commercial opportunity is unlocked by removing friction and deepening participation so that consumers can take ownership of their experience. The greater the customisation, the stronger the connection. For example, Lattice is a revolutionary hardware and software platform concept that redefines gaming peripherals through personal expression. Powered by a generative AI design interface and on-demand manufacturing, Lattice enables gamers to create unique gaming products – starting with controllers – tailored to their preferences. At the heart of the Lattice concept is a modular, repairable core that allows users to refresh or enhance components, reducing waste and increasing emotional attachment.

Rule 3: Design for participation, not just purchase

Players don’t just consume games. They discuss, stream, and modify them, creating ever-growing fandoms. Minecraft is a prime example of how communities can extend the relevance of games years after their original release. Importantly, not everyone needs to buy a game to participate in it. Some watch online gameplay, or listen to the soundtrack, or simply take part in the cultural conversation – including sharing memes and reels. The audience stretches beyond core participants to those on the periphery. Both groups create value, but want different levels and forms of involvement.

The lesson for brands is to design for participation, not just conversion – creating a network of consumers, creators, advocates, and observers who engage at a depth that suits them. Brands that enable contribution and connection, while allowing people to dial their involvement up or down, build value for a wider pool of potential participants.

Rule 4: Compete against the best experiences in people’s lives

Games once borrowed heavily from Hollywood. This trend is now reversing –The Last of Us, Fallout, and Minecraft all expanded from games into major screen franchises, while the visual language and broader influence of games appear in everyday life through fashion and social media. Frictionless gaming experiences shape expectations in other areas of people’s lives, particularly digital services. Personalisation in streaming has changed expectations of retail, while smooth digital experiences have reset the service people look for from their banking provider.

By getting closer to consumers and understanding what they truly want and expect, brands can turn deep human insight into better experiences. Working with Logitech – and Shroud, a gamer with over 11 million Twitch followers – we developed a high-performing gaming mouse for the Shroud and Logitech communities.

Maximize ecosystem value

Brands don’t need to become gaming companies – but they do need to understand how value is created across an ecosystem, and enable people to engage on their own terms. The implications differ by sector. In financial services, the opportunity might extend beyond the transaction to the life goal surrounding it. In retail, it might mean connecting products with content, services, loyalty, and community.

This is why games matter beyond gaming. They offer a blueprint for connecting technology, design, data, content, and community into experiences that build attention, participation, and, ultimately, value.