Kevin Werbach, Legal Studies Department, The Wharton School, and Ethan Mollick, Management Department, The Wharton School
“Gamification and the Enterprise” in The Gameful World (MIT Press, January 2015).
Abstract: What if our whole life were turned into a game? What sounds like the premise of a science fiction novel is today becoming reality as “gamification.” As more and more organizations, practices, products, and services are infused with elements from games and play to make them more engaging, we are witnessing a veritable ludification of culture.
Yet while some celebrate gamification as a possible answer to mankind’s toughest challenges and others condemn it as a marketing ruse, the question remains: what are the ramifications of this “gameful world”? Can game design energize society and individuals, or will algorithmic incentive systems become our new robot overlords?