Gamification in the metaverse for business value: a systematic literature review
Ahmed GamalPurpose
This article systematically reviews research at the intersection of gamification and the metaverse to understand how gamified immersive environments contribute to business value. It consolidates current knowledge, proposes an integrative framework to guide research and practice, and identifies gaps that can guide scholarly inquiry in this emergent domain.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted. A total of 38 relevant articles were identified through initial screening and forward–backward search. These were analyzed via concept-centric coding and synthesized into thematic clusters. The insights were used to develop a business-oriented, comprehensive framework integrating design, engagement, value and ethical considerations for responsible metaverse gamification.
Findings
Four thematic clusters were identified: (1) Design and Mechanics, highlighting game elements (e.g. avatars, narratives, feedback systems) that promote immersion and flow; (2) Business and Consumer Engagement, showing how gamification influences affective and cognitive engagement, loyalty and purchase intentions; (3) Business Value, demonstrating how gamified experiences generate economic, relational and strategic benefits and (4) Ethics, Policy and Societal Impact, underscoring risks including data misuse, manipulation and inequitable access. Drawing on these themes, the article introduces the “GAMIFY” framework, synthesizing these dimensions for gamification in the metaverse.
Research limitations/implications
The review is limited to peer-reviewed, English-language publications and excludes gray literature, yielding a focused corpus of 38 studies that reflects the emerging state of metaverse-specific gamification research. Given the predominance of consumer-facing contexts in the reviewed literature, GAMIFY's applicability across all sectors should be interpreted with these boundaries in mind. The framework offers a structured research roadmap and opens avenues for longitudinal, ethically informed and cross-industry studies that would refine and validate it across diverse metaverse ecosystems.
Practical implications
GAMIFY gives managers an actionable diagnostic for turning gamified metaverse engagement into sustainable business value, reframing immersive design from a set of engagement tactics into a coherent strategic architecture. By aligning goals, mechanics and metrics while pairing Fair Governance with Yield-focused evaluation, it shifts attention from surface metrics to high-impact outcomes such as customer lifetime value and skill mastery, providing a structured basis for ethical, scalable and measurable gamification in the metaverse.
Originality/value
This is the first systematic review to integrate insights on gamification design and business value in the context of the metaverse. The article contributes a novel framework for responsible, value-driven metaverse gamification (GAMIFY) and a future research agenda.