Is it worthwhile for the gaming industry to use their time and money for this kind of research? Why or why not? Use examples from the text to support your answer. read the text first then write at least a 3-4 paragraph essay

How long will you keep playing? The game knows
We all like to think we are different. We also believe that what we do is unpredictable. But digital game research suggests that this is not true. This research shows that people who behave the same way can be put in groups and that our future actions can be predicted.

How you play a game shows what you will do next in the game and how long you will stay interested in it. This means that games can now change direction when you are playing them to make them more interesting so you will keep playing.

When we play games, we create patterns of data that show how we play. With nearly two billion gamers in the world, this gives researchers a huge amount of data about the way humans behave.

For the last few years, researchers have been studying this data about how people play games. Experts have been looking at how a person’s playing behavior matches with their character and personality qualities, what we find fun, and what it tells us about the way we will act in the future.

This information can also help the gaming industry to make their games better.

Machine learning
Researchers use what are called “machine learning” techniques to train computer models to focus on a person’s playing style, predict what the person will do in the future, and understand the kinds of problems that may stop the person from enjoying the game. Machine learning means that the computer program is able to change when it gets new data. Results show that there are definite patterns of behavior. This means that the way you play a game will tell how long you’ll keep playing it before you get bored. Machine learning trained models can predict if a player will make a purchase, what keeps them interested in the game, what frustrates them, and how to change the game to keep the player interested.

Even very complicated games like Destiny, which cost $500 million to make (which it earned back in 24 hours), may be able to change based on player behavior. Basic information about how often you play Destiny can predict how long you will keep playing.

Game researchers have also been collecting information about differences in how PC and console games are played:

On average, most games are played from 2 to 30 hours.
Most games are played for less than eight hours.
Few games are played for more than 35 hours.
Not everyone who starts a game finishes it. Some games are played for hundreds of millions of hours. Mobile games are played a lot less. Most people spend less than two minutes trying out a new game. Only a small number of people are still playing after the first week. Because games cost so much to make, the huge dropout rate is one of the biggest problems that the gaming industry faces.

Prediction models can help with this problem. If we know who will stick around, we can change the game to keep them interested and make sure they have a positive gaming experience.

Sticking around
So, what makes you stick around a game? The simple answer is that the game needs to hook you in and keep you hooked in. To do that, game makers are spending a lot of money testing games and studying behavior. By using large-scale analysis, they can look at the problem on a population level.
One conclusion that researchers have come to is that the social connections that people make when playing games are very important. If your friends play the same game, or if you make friends through the game, you will probably stick around for longer. This is one reason why multiplayer games, like World of Warcraft, are so popular.

The idea that human behavior follows patterns doesn’t just apply to games. Using data to predict future behavior is also used with search engines, criminal activity, online social media, education, physical movement patterns, and many other areas. These all show that our behavior can be predicted.

In the future, we will see such things as entertainment, data-driven services, healthcare, and traffic being able to predict what we will do and provide a much more personalized service. Games will know when you want to keep on playing or be able to tell if you are getting stressed and just want to relax, then make the changes so you can do that. Maybe they will even know for how long you should be playing before you need to get back to your school work!