Coined first in 2002 and then popularized in 2010, ‘gamification’ has been steadily on the rise ever since. Used to define the way developers were incorporating social and reward techniques from gaming into other types of software, it caught the eye of venture capitalists the world over and was reportedly mentioned in half of presentations by software application companies seeking funding. So, nearly a decade on, where are we now? Where has gamification taken us, and where will it go next? A short past One of the organizers of the first conference on gamification, Gabe Zichermann , predicted: ‘in a gamified future, I don’t think many companies, including the government, will be able to avoid becoming part of this trend. I think consumers will increasingly expect and demand that experiences become more fun and engaging. We can never ever go backward. People’s expectations have been reset. This will be the new normal.’ Gamification as a conscious technique has b