Sports gamification is one of the biggest up and coming trends in the industry at the moment.
Companies and Start-ups around the world are currently racing to achieve the best possible user experience through new features and ideas relating to sports gamification. Naturally, this is something that we at SPRT are also interested in and are currently researching how we can integrate some level of gamification in the most appropriate way to our platform to achieve the best, most exciting user experience possible. This week SPRT met with Dario, CEO of Survivor Challenge to talk all things product, development and gamification in the fitness market. Here’s what we got chatting about…
What is Survivor Challenge?
Well, it’s a game that brings together fitness, community and competition! The game is built on the premise of getting fit by having fun and is made to be accessible for anyone of any fitness level. Central to the game are challenge cards, each with a different exercise on them. Players choose a level of difficulty ranging from 1-4 and must compete against each other in terms of how long, and effectively, they can complete the shown exercise on the card. It’s simple and the idea came to Dario at a very young age, now 3 years since Dario started building his vision, the game is on the market.
Quickfire Questions with Survivor Challenge:
What have been the biggest successes and hurdles to overcome in the last year?
Dario: ‘The biggest hurdles were putting in the hours and effort besides working our regular jobs. Sticking to our vision every time we changed something about the game due to feedback until finally getting everything ready for the market launch was also challenging. The biggest success was turning something, that was once a funny idea, into something that is actually available and which we have had the chance to present on TV, entrepreneurship summits and several other occasions while receiving very good and supporting feedback. Those successes have been well worth the effort overcoming the hurdles we faced.’
What has been the biggest thing you have learnt in the past year when it comes to the fitness market or sports gamification?
Dario: ‘Sports gamification is a truly great way to empower people to stay motivated while doing sports. The biggest learning for us was how far people can push their limits when they have the right push to do so. Gamification is perfect for giving people something to stay focused on while trying to “win”.’
What is the next market you hope to break into and how do you hope to develop Survivor Challenge further?
Dario: ‘We have set our minds on expanding across Europe this year. We intend to develop Survivor Challenge further by developing a version of the game which is easy to use for other languages, this is now close to being finished!’
Why do you personally think gamification in sports is important?
Dario: ‘Especially when it comes to the fitness industry the potential of gamification is huge. A lot of other sports have leagues, games and trophies to keep athletes motivated while striving to achieve their long-term goals. The fitness industry can use gamification to support people keep their motivation up in the short-term while simultaneously working towards their long-term goal. That’s exactly the idea we used to create Survivor Challenge.’
SPRT’s sport gamification journey
So that’s Survivor Challenge, the new fitness game on the market designed to bring people together, motivate each other and achieve their goals in a fun and competitive way. We too at SPRT are intrigued how we can integrate aspects of gamification and develop user experience through the App, and so watch this space!
Whilst companies and start-ups everywhere are exploring engagement, user retention and figures through gamification it is important to remember that gamification essentially revolves around user experience. Finding the balance of gamification and other features on a platform such as SPRT is something which we are dedicated to developing in the coming months.
