Every platform is a games platform

The other day, my Wikipedia browsing was rudely interrupted by a full-screen popup “introducing Wikipedia games.” The game itself was fairly simple, asking which of two events came first, but I felt it broken the purity of Wikipedia as an information platform.

I see this as part of a bigger trend. Wikipedia has joined “information platforms” like the New York Times, LinkedIn, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and more who are investing more in gaming. Why?

  1. Games are much more monetizable than information is. Turning attention into money is always a challenge for these companies. Games give them a way to do this.
  2. Games drive retention. Daily games like Wordle keep people coming back day after day. Games are more consistently entertaining than information is.
  3. Games tie naturally to subscription models. Coming back to play a game every day makes your monthly subscription feel worth it.
  4. Games appeal to a younger audience. Old guard media organizations are trying to appeal to the youth and the youth love games.

When you think about it, these platforms are just lagging the largest companies in the world with their focus on gaming:

Sort of seems like if you are a big enough tech or information platform, gaming will come calling. If this is the case, the big next one to look out for is the AI providers. What will their version of games look like? Character.ai for all?