Choosing the right customer support software can feel like a daunting uphill battle, especially with the growing number of support tickets, diverse player demographics, and the complexity of modern games. Have you ever started researching options only to get lost in a sea of features and promises? You’re not alone.
This guide is crafted from insights gathered through our market research and the latest trends. It highlights how professionals in customer support, product, and operations roles within the video games industry are addressing these challenges.
We’ll break down what really matters when selecting a support platform that can keep up with your players’ needs. We’ll help you identify the features that will enhance your support team’s performance and keep your players engaged and satisfied. Whether you’re looking to streamline responses, scale with your player base, or integrate cutting-edge AI, this guide has you covered. Let’s dive in and find the support solution that’s a perfect fit for your game.
1. Putting Player Experience and Loyalty First
Why It Matters
Player satisfaction isn’t just about resolving issues; it’s about creating experiences that keep them coming back. Our research shows that the top priority for video games companies is ensuring that player queries are resolved satisfactorily, leading to positive experiences and enhanced loyalty.
96% of customers say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand (Microsoft).
What to Look For
When evaluating a support solution, ask yourself:
Does it allow you to deliver personalized, context-aware responses?
Can it ensure that players feel valued and heard?
Imagine a player facing a complex issue during an intense game. The AI can handle the initial query, but the player might need a more personalized response. A platform that easily transitions this interaction to a human agent without any hiccups can make all the difference in how the player feels about your game.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Tailored AI Responses: Helpshift’s AI can be customized to understand and address complex, game-specific issues, ensuring that players receive relevant and context-aware assistance.
Human-AI Collaboration: The platform facilitates a seamless blend of AI and human support, allowing for smooth escalation to live agents when needed, preserving the personalized touch that fosters player trust and loyalty.
Brand Consistency: Helpshift allows for customizable automation that aligns with your game’s unique naming conventions, voice and style, ensuring a consistent and engaging player experience across all interactions.
2. Streamlining Processes Through Automation
Why It Matters
Manual processes are a major pain point in customer support, with 60% of our respondents identifying this as their biggest challenge. Automation isn’t just about saving time—it’s about making your support operations more efficient and allowing your team to focus on what truly matters.
AI-powered chatbots can handle up to 80% of routine customer inquiries. (IBM)
What to Look For
Does the solution offer advanced automation capabilities?
Can it handle routine tasks like ticket categorization, common troubleshooting, and even more complex processes like verifications?
Think about the time your team spends on repetitive tasks. With the right automation, AI can handle these, freeing up your agents to tackle more nuanced player issues. This speeds up response times and reduces operational costs, making your support team more effective overall.
A good platform should also offer self-service options, empowering players to resolve issues independently.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Industry-Leading Automation: Helpshift’s AI-driven chatbots and automated workflows achieve the highest automation rate in the industry. The platform automates routine tasks and backend processes reducing the workload on human agents and speeding up resolutions.
Efficient Self-Service: The platform offers AI/ML-driven FAQs and knowledge hubs, enabling players to find answers quickly without agent intervention.
Smart Ticket Management: Helpshift’s Intent AI intelligently categorizes and prioritizes tickets, ensuring that critical issues are addressed promptly and efficiently.
3. Games Industry Focus
Why It Matters
Video games companies have distinct needs that generic customer support solutions often fail to meet. Whether it’s offering seamless support across multiple platforms or integrating with popular gaming tools like Discord, a specialized approach is crucial.
Players expect a smooth, immersive experience, and providing in-game or in-app support without disrupting gameplay is critical to maintaining player satisfaction. Additionally, as AI continues to evolve, the ability to leverage in-app context for personalized support will become increasingly important in delivering efficient and relevant assistance.
What to Look For
Does it offer native support for all game platforms, including console, PC, web, and mobile?
Does the platform integrate with gaming-specific tools like Discord?
Can it provide in-game or in-app support that allows players to get help without leaving the game?
How Helpshift Addresses This
Comprehensive Platform Support: Helpshift is the only provider that offers native support across all major game platforms—console, PC, web, and mobile—ensuring that your support system is as versatile as your game.
Discord Integration: Helpshift integrates with Discord, allowing you to meet your players where they are most active, ensuring consistent and timely support.
In-Game/In-App Support: Helpshift’s SDK leads the industry in providing seamless in-game and in-app support. This allows players to access assistance without leaving the game, with AI-driven support that uses player context to deliver personalized responses, enhancing both efficiency and player satisfaction.
4. Ensuring Seamless Integration with Your Existing Systems
Why It Matters
One of the biggest hurdles when adopting new technology is ensuring it plays well with what you already have. In fact, 61.54% of companies flagged integration challenges as a significant barrier. A new support tool should enhance your operations, not disrupt them.
What to Look For
When choosing a platform, check if it can integrate with your existing CRM systems, databases, and other essential tools. Look for flexibility, such as robust APIs, that allow for custom integrations. The goal is to ensure data flows seamlessly across platforms, keeping everything in sync without extra headaches.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Versatile Integration Capabilities: Helpshift’s platform is designed to integrate smoothly with a wide range of backend systems, overcoming technical limitations and ensuring cohesive operations.
Robust API Support: The solution offers comprehensive APIs, facilitating easy customization and integration tailored to specific business needs.
Quick Deployment: Helpshift minimizes implementation times through guided onboarding processes and support, allowing companies to realize benefits rapidly.
5. Scaling with Your Business as It Grows
Why It Matters
As your player base grows, so do the demands on your support team. Your support solution needs to be scalable and capable of handling the increasing volume of inquiries without compromising on quality.
What to Look For
Look for a platform that can effortlessly handle fluctuations in demand, particularly during peak times like game launches. Check if it offers modular features that can be added or adjusted as your needs evolve. Global support, including multi-language capabilities, is also crucial for maintaining player satisfaction across diverse demographics.
During a major game update or launch, the volume of support requests can skyrocket. A scalable platform will manage this spike without slowing down response times or overwhelming your agents, ensuring that every player gets the help they need promptly.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Dynamic Scaling: Helpshift handles high ticket volumes efficiently, making it ideal for companies with tens of thousands of monthly inquiries. The platform automatically scales to support billions of devices and conversations annually, ensuring seamless service even as demand grows.
Flexible Adoption: The platform supports a phased approach to AI implementation, allowing companies to start with specific use cases and expand as needed.
Multilingual Support: Helpshift supports multiple languages, ensuring effective communication with a diverse, global audience. Language AI is directly integrated into Helpshift using Keywords Studios’ proprietary machine translation technology. It has the lowest translation error rate compared to ChatGPT, Microsoft, and Google Translator.
6. Enhancing Agent Productivity and Empowerment
Why It Matters
Efficient support teams are the backbone of great customer service. With 50% of respondents emphasizing the need for team efficiency, it’s clear that your support solution should not only serve your players but also empower your agents.
Workers today already trust AI to do roughly 43% of their work tasks, indicating a shift among workers to offload tasks to AI. (Salesforce)
What to Look For
Does the platform offer tools that assist agents in quickly resolving issues? Is the interface user-friendly, reducing the time needed to navigate the system? Additionally, consider whether the solution provides analytics to help you monitor agent performance and identify areas for improvement.
Imagine your agents have access to an AI that suggests relevant information or responses during a player interaction. This assistance helps them resolve issues faster and more accurately, boosting productivity and improving the overall player experience.
How Helpshift Addresses This
AI-Assisted Support: Helpshift’s AI tools assist agents by providing relevant information and suggested responses, streamlining communication, and reducing handling times.
Intuitive Design: The platform’s user-friendly interface simplifies agent workflows, allowing them to focus on delivering high-quality support.
Comprehensive Analytics: Helpshift offers detailed reporting on agent performance and customer interactions, enabling continuous improvement and targeted training initiatives.
7. Justifying the Investment with Clear ROI
Why It Matters
Investing in a new customer support platform is a big decision, and you need to be confident that it will deliver value. With 61.54% of companies highlighting ROI measurement as a key concern, it’s important to choose a platform that makes this easy.
What to Look For
Look for transparent pricing models and the ability to track key metrics like response times, customer satisfaction scores, and cost savings. The platform should also demonstrate potential for long-term savings, helping you justify the investment to your stakeholders.
A platform that offers detailed reporting can show you exactly how much time and money you’re saving through automation and improved workflows. This kind of data is invaluable when presenting the benefits of your new support solution to executives.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Demonstrable Metrics: Helpshift provides precise analytics showing improvements in response times, reduced operational costs, and increased player satisfaction, facilitating easy ROI demonstration.
Cost-Effective Implementation: The platform minimizes upfront costs and offers scalable pricing options, ensuring affordability and value.
Long-Term Optimization: Helpshift’s continuous improvements and AI advancements contribute to sustained cost savings and operational efficiencies over time.
8. Prioritizing Data Security and Compliance
Why It Matters
Security is non-negotiable in the gaming industry, where sensitive player data is constantly being processed. Compliance with regulations like GDPR is crucial for legal reasons and maintaining player trust.
The average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, emphasizing the need for robust security (IBM Security).
What to Look For
Your chosen platform should adhere to international data protection standards and offer advanced security features like encryption and access controls. Regular audits and updates are also essential to ensure ongoing compliance and protection against new threats
Consider a situation where a player’s data is compromised due to a security flaw in your support platform. This could damage your reputation and lead to legal issues. Choosing a platform with robust security measures helps prevent such scenarios, safeguarding your players and your business.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Regulatory Compliance: Helpshift complies with major data protection regulations, ensuring that player data is handled responsibly and legally.
Robust Security Measures: Helpshift utilizes AES 256-bit and TLS 1.2 encryption for robust data security at rest and in transit. The platform is committed to the highest data privacy standards, with strict policies ensuring user consent and de-identification.
Proactive Monitoring: Helpshift conducts regular security audits and updates to maintain high data protection standards and address potential vulnerabilities promptly.
9. Customization to Align with Your Brand
Why It Matters
Your support solution should reflect your brand’s voice and values. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work in the games industry, where each game has its own identity and player community.
80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences (Epsilon).
What to Look For
The platform should offer customization options that allow you to tailor workflows, response templates, and even the interface to match your brand. This ensures a cohesive player experience that feels authentic and consistent.
Imagine a scenario where your game has a playful, casual tone. Your support interactions should mirror this style. A customizable platform allows you to align all communication with your brand, making the support experience feel like a natural extension of the game itself.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Highly Customizable Platform: Helpshift allows companies to configure support workflows, automation rules, and response protocols to match their specific operational structures.
Brand Consistent Interfaces: The platform supports integration of brand visuals and tone into all support interactions, ensuring a cohesive player experience.
Custom-Trained Engines: Helpshift’s custom-trained engines recognize and respect brand-specific terminology across languages, preserving brand integrity.
10. Partnering with a Proven Provider
Why It Matters
Choosing a support solution isn’t just about the technology but also the company behind it. You want to work with a provider that understands the games industry and has a track record of success.
What to Look For
Look for a provider with experience in the games industry, as well as strong support services like training, onboarding, and ongoing assistance. Positive feedback from other games companies can also provide assurance that you’re making the right choice.
Consider the peace of mind that comes with knowing your provider has successfully implemented similar solutions in the video games industry. This expertise ensures that they understand your unique challenges and can offer relevant, effective support.
How Helpshift Addresses This
Extensive Games Expertise: Helpshift has a strong history of delivering effective support solutions tailored to games companies, understanding the unique challenges and requirements of the industry.
Dedicated 24/7 Support Services: Helpshift’s highly-praised customer success and support team offers comprehensive training, onboarding assistance, and 24/7 customer support, ensuring smooth implementation, education on best practices, and helping clients get the most out of their support operations.
Proven Success Stories: Helpshift showcases numerous case studies demonstrating significant improvements in efficiency, player satisfaction, and cost savings for games clients.
Making the Choice
Navigating the search for the ideal player support software doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You can make a well-informed decision by honing in on the essentials—like ensuring the solution is tailored to games industry needs, integrates seamlessly with your existing systems, and scales with your growth.
Don’t let the excitement of new technology overshadow practical considerations. Ensure you involve your team in the evaluation process and take advantage of free trials to test the software in real-world scenarios. This hands-on approach will give you valuable insights into the platform’s performance and whether it aligns with your operational goals. Additionally, seek honest reviews and feedback from industry peers to gauge the software’s reliability and support.
Investing in the right support software can significantly impact player satisfaction and your team’s efficiency. By making a choice grounded in thorough research and practical testing, you’ll set the stage for a smoother support operation that meets and exceeds player expectations. Make the decision with confidence, knowing you’ve chosen a partner that supports your vision and enhances your game community.
