An old idea at a new cost

In 1983 Kool-Aid Man brought a soft-drink mascot to the Atari 2600. In 2002 the US Army released America’s Army, a game for recruitment and training. In between, dozens of brands turned their products into games.

They all had one thing in common: large organisations behind them. A game took months of work, teams of programmers, artists and designers, and budgets that a small or mid-sized company could not afford. The value of games for marketing and training had long been clear; what was missing was access.

What AI really does in game production

AI does not “make the game on its own”. It speeds up many tasks that used to take days of manual work:

• Faster prototypes: the base code for a mechanic is written and tested in hours rather than weeks.
• Graphics and 3D worlds: environments, objects and variations are generated and refined far more quickly.
• Text and translations: dialogue, instructions and multi-language versions start from a solid draft.
• Testing and fixes: bugs and edge cases surface earlier.

The decisions that matter stay human: game design, creative direction, brand consistency, quality control. That is where you see the difference between a game made by AI and a game made well, with the help of AI.

The shift is industry-wide. According to research by Google Cloud and The Harris Poll among 615 developers, published in August 2025, 90% of game developers already integrate generative AI into their workflows.

Then and now, at a glance

The timelines are our production estimate: every project has its own.

A market that keeps growing

While production costs fall, the audience for games keeps widening:

• According to Newzoo, the global games market reached US$201.6 billion in 2025 (+9.1%), the first year above 200 billion, and is forecast at US$213.9 billion in 2026.
• Also according to Newzoo, there are 3.7 billion players worldwide in 2026, expected to reach 4.07 billion by 2029.
• In Italy, the IIDEA–Ipsos report on 2025 counts 14.2 million active players, playing almost 8 hours a week, in a market worth about €2.4 billion.

For a company this means something simple: customers and employees already speak the language of games. You don’t need to teach it, just use it well.

What changes for an SME

With lower costs and shorter timelines, a custom game becomes a practical tool for organisations that would never have considered one:

• a hotel that engages guests with branded games and leaderboards on their phones;
• a company at a trade fair that draws visitors to its stand and collects contacts;
• a training school that lets students practise real procedures;
• a museum or destination that tells its story through a game;
• a consumer brand that links its packaging to a game through a QR code.

Our portfolio has playable examples of each of these cases. OBRA Fighters, for instance, is a fighting game built in about a week: the same method produced nine games in nine different genres.

What AI does not do on its own

An effective business game still needs skills no tool replaces: understanding the business goal, choosing the right mechanic, keeping the brand consistent, checking rights, privacy and accessibility. That is why we work with a four-step method (goals, design, build, launch) and put a playable prototype in the client’s hands early, to improve together.

Frequently asked questions

Is a game made with AI lower quality?

No, if AI is used as a tool rather than a shortcut. Quality depends on game design, creative direction and final review, which remain human.

How long does a custom game take?

With an AI-accelerated method, a simple mini-game can be ready in a few days; a game with several levels, characters or a 3D world takes a few weeks.

Where do we start?

With a goal: more visibility, more contacts, more effective training. From there we choose the format and build a first prototype to try.

Who owns the rights to the game?

That must be agreed in the contract before work starts. It is one of the points we always clarify in our proposal.

Sources

• Newzoo, Global Games Market Report 2026, via GameDev Reports.
• IIDEA and Ipsos, I videogiochi in Italia nel 2025, via Teleborsa.
• Google Cloud and The Harris Poll, press release, 18 August 2025.

Read more in our business case or write to info@play2business.com to find out which game could work for your company.

What is a serious game?

The term became known through Clark C. Abt’s book Serious Games, published in 1970, which proposed using games for education and training. The best-known example is as old as computing: flight simulators, where pilots train for situations that would be too risky to practise for real.

A corporate serious game does the same on a smaller scale. It can simulate a hotel reception, a sales conversation, a safety procedure or a customer complaint. The goal is not to win: it is to leave the game able to do something better than before.

Serious games, gamification and e-learning: the differences

The three terms are often confused. Here is how to tell them apart:

They are not alternatives: an effective programme often combines them.

When a serious game really works

A serious game shines when the skill is learned by doing. In particular:

• Multi-step procedures, where order matters: check-in, safety, order handling.
• Decisions under pressure, when people must choose quickly between options.
• Rare or risky situations that cannot be practised in real life: an emergency, a very angry customer.
• Soft skills such as communication, priorities and teamwork, trained through scenarios and consequences.
• Onboarding, to introduce newcomers to the company, its departments and its ways of working.

When the goal is only to pass on simple information, a clear document or a short video remains the more efficient choice. A good partner will tell you so.

How to design an effective serious game

1. Observable goals. Not “know the procedure”, but “complete a check-in correctly, without missing mandatory steps”.
2. Real scenarios. Built with the company’s in-house experts and real procedures, not generic examples.
3. Immediate feedback. Every choice shows its consequence right away, so people understand why.
4. Progressive difficulty. Start simple and add variables, as in any good game.
5. Easy access. Join from a link or QR code, on phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install.
6. Data that helps training. Scores, recurring mistakes and times show where people need support.

An example: Grand Hotel Simulator

Grand Hotel Simulator, built by our creative director for hospitality and tourism schools, puts students in six roles: reception, restaurant, kitchen, bar, housekeeping and management. It is designed for people who may know neither the job nor video games: they join from a QR code in seconds and practise real procedures before making mistakes with a real guest. You can try it in our portfolio.

How to measure results

A serious game produces data that a traditional course cannot: how often someone repeated a scenario, where they go wrong most, how long they take, how they improve over time. Read together with the training manager, this data shows where to step in. It is good practice to collect it in aggregate form, in line with GDPR, and to agree with HR in advance which data is really needed.

Frequently asked questions

Does a serious game replace classroom training?

No, it complements it. It is especially useful for practising procedures and decisions, and it works alongside classroom sessions, e-learning and on-the-job coaching.

How long is a game session?

Usually a few minutes per scenario, so people can play during a break or on their phone. Several short scenarios work better than one long session.

Do people need to be gamers?

No, if the game is designed for everyone: simple controls, clear instructions and a first level that teaches how to play.

How much does a training serious game cost?

It depends on the number of scenarios, the roles involved and the languages. With an AI-accelerated method, timelines have shrunk considerably: a first prototype can be ready quickly, to test with a small group before rolling it out.

Want to turn a procedure or an onboarding path into a game? See our serious games or write to info@play2business.com.

What is an advergame?

The word combines advertising and game. The difference from a banner or a video ad is simple: in an advergame the brand is not a message to watch, it is the world you play in.

A good advergame has three traits:

• The brand is the game. The mascot is the character, the product is the object to collect, the venue is the level to explore.
• It has a business goal. Awareness, lead generation, sales, event participation: the goal is set before the game is designed.
• It is easy to reach. A link, a QR code on the pack or at the stand, a game that starts in seconds.

Not new: from 1983 to today

Brands have used video games since home consoles existed. In 1983 a soft-drink mascot, Kool-Aid Man, became an Atari 2600 game. In 1996 Chex Quest shipped on CD-ROM inside cereal boxes. In 1999 Pepsiman brought Pepsi’s mascot to PlayStation.

What has changed is the cost. For decades a custom game meant months of work and a big-brand budget. Today, with AI-assisted development workflows, time and cost have dropped enough to make advergames accessible to small and mid-sized companies too. We explain why in our business case.

Why a game works where an ad struggles

An ad asks for attention; a game earns it, because people choose to play. The reasons are practical:

• Voluntary attention. Players stay with the brand for minutes, and sometimes hours across sessions, instead of the few seconds of an ad.
• Participation. Leaderboards, challenges between friends and prizes turn audiences into players who come back and share.
• Active recall. People remember what they did better than what they only saw: in a game the product is used, not just watched.
• First-party data. Players who sign up for a leaderboard or a prize leave their contact details, with consent.

The most common formats

There is no single kind of advergame. The formats we propose most often are:

1. Mini-games for events and trade fairs: short, replayable games, ideal for a stand or a social campaign.
2. Mascot games linked to the product: a QR code on the pack takes people straight into the game.
3. Explorable 3D worlds: hotels, resorts, museums or destinations rebuilt as places to visit from a phone.
4. Contests and leaderboards: prizes and challenges that collect contacts in line with GDPR.
5. Story games: they tell the story of a place, a collection or a product.

How to design an advergame that works

A fun game is not enough: it has to be useful to the business. Our method has five steps.

1. A measurable goal. For example, 2,000 qualified contacts during a trade fair, or a longer average time on site.
2. Audience and context. Who plays, where and for how long: in a queue at a stand people play for two minutes, on the sofa for twenty.
3. A mechanic tied to the brand. The rules should make players “use” the product or tell its value.
4. Zero friction. No download, fast loading, play straight from the browser.
5. Measurement from day one. Players, play time, repeat plays, shares and contacts.

First of all we build a playable prototype to test and improve together. It is the fastest way to find out whether the idea works.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

It depends on the format. A simple mini-game for an event can be ready in a few days; a game with several levels, characters or a 3D world takes a few weeks. Cost follows the same logic: a mini-game costs far less than an explorable world. After a first conversation we always prepare a clear quote.

A concrete example

Choco Flakes Run! is a demonstration prototype built by our creative director: an endless runner starring a cereal mascot, through rivers of milk and chocolate waterfalls, reached through a QR code on the pack. It was not commissioned by the brand, but it shows the format well. You can play it in our portfolio, alongside other playable projects.

Frequently asked questions

Are advergames and gamification the same thing?

No. An advergame is a complete game built around a brand. Gamification applies individual game mechanics, such as points, levels or leaderboards, to something that is not a game: a loyalty scheme, a process, a training path.

Do players need an app?

No. Modern advergames run in the phone’s browser through a link or QR code. A native app only makes sense for projects meant to stay on the device for a long time.

Do advergames work in B2B?

Yes, especially at trade fairs and events: a game at the stand draws visitors, starts conversations and collects quality contacts. It also works to explain a complex product in a simple way.

How do you measure an advergame’s success?

With the indicators set at the start: number of players, play time, repeat plays, shares and contacts collected. The game records this data and reports it clearly.

Wondering whether an advergame suits your brand? See how we work on advergames or write to info@play2business.com.