In October 2024, ZBD revealed its Gen Z report, highlighting the misunderstandings of the new generation and what they prefer from their interactions with payments, banking, and fintech providers.
To learn more about Gen Z’s behavior and expectations, we interviewed ZBD’s Chief Strategy Officer, Ben Cousens.
In 2024, ZBD commissioned two reports about Gen Z; what motivated you to do this and what’s the importance of understanding this generation?
Game developers, brands, and advertisers consistently fail to understand Gen Z, applying stereotypes instead of trying to dig deeper.
In the mobile games industry’s most important market, the US, Gen Z’s spending power is estimated to be upwards of $360bn. Yet The World Happiness Report ranks the US under-30s as 62nd in the world for happiness.
Gen Z is consistently misunderstood and engaged in the wrong way, so it’s crucial that we take steps to understand it. Our research aims to form part of this effort, which will, in turn, help us to help our partner games and apps unlock the economic potential of this vital generation.
In May 2024, you launched the Gen Z Gamer Study. What’s your biggest takeaway from this research?
The study sheds light on video gaming’s central role in the lives of 18-25-year-olds. 65% of Gen Z gamers play video games for more than 3 hours every day, and, as we know but are often overlooked outside the mobile games industry, they’re most likely to play casual mobile games!
43% of Gen Z agree that gaming is more about the social interactive experience than the game itself. What can this stat teach the industry?
Games aren’t just a place to play or relax but to socialize, compete, create, shop, engage with brands and influencers, and more. 72% of those in our survey said they can be their authentic selves while playing online, although a third (34%) say online gaming is too toxic for them.
Game developers need to create environments that are conducive to the many different ways players now like to engage with gaming content. The incoming wave of mobile-first social games and platforms like Nexus Station from Social First, Overdare from KRAFTON, and Hiber point to a growing awareness of this new reality.
Image Credit: Steam
In the research, ads in games was a key topic – what did you learn here?
Despite playing casual mobile games more than any other, Gen Z don’t really like ads in games. 43% say advertising in games is so disruptive it ruins the game experience.
But 74% of gamers from the generation noted they would be more receptive to the ads if they were rewarded with Bitcoin for their time. There has always been a value exchange in mobile game advertising, whether it’s keeping games free-to-play or granting in-game items in exchange for watching a rewarded ad.
What the research tells us is that to stand out in today’s market, games may need to sweeten the pot on their side of the value exchange with real-world rewards.
Despite being digital natives, 82% of Gen Z still value ownership of physical items. What factors do you think drive this desire for tangible possessions in an increasingly digital world?
With entertainment becoming increasingly subscription-based, physical items related to film, TV, music, and gaming have become more interesting again. Amongst these are vinyl records and Pokémon cards, which have been experiencing an increase in sales for the last few years.
In gaming, the fact that boxed games are almost extinct has created a new market for physical special editions. On a macro level, the challenging economy has put important life milestones like home ownership out of reach for many.
How can gaming and entertainment companies create reward systems that genuinely resonate with Gen Z consumers?
Our research shows that ‘traditional’ reward structures like in-game consumables, loyalty points, credit card points, air miles, and gift cards are running out of steam when it comes to Gen Z.
What they value is real money rewards, and they don’t want to save up to a minimum threshold to cash out. Instantly cashing out tiny amounts of currency hasn’t been possible until recently – but ZBD’s payments tech makes it so.
What trends or developments could reshape the payments sector as the industry adapts to Gen Z’s unique financial preferences?
As well as wanting their rewards in hand instantly, Gen Z has unique preferences on how they like to pay for things. Subscriptions, which many of us would see as relatively new, are already outdated to Gen Z.
In our payments survey, the Gen Zs we spoke to said they would prefer a pay-as-you-go model over subscriptions. Again, instantly paying for content on a per-minute basis has been out of reach, but it isn’t anymore!
Ben Cousens oversees Business Development, Brand & Marketing, Business Intelligence, and Strategic Initiatives at ZBD.
Cousens began his career as a video game developer before moving into Finance, advising and helping video game companies with fundraising and M&A activities.
Later, he transitioned into Venture Capital, where he led video games investing for Lakestar, making eight investments, including ZEBEDEE.
In May 2021, he joined ZBD full-time.
