Servitization versus Commoditization: the Business Model Dilemma Confronting Serious Games for Health.

There is growing interest in the use of Serious Games (SGs) to tackle major health issues. Challenges to their adoption and use includes the cost of development and the need to provide evidence of effectiveness. However, an equally pressing dilemma facing the establishment of a market for SGs is the general commoditization of digital media and erosion (diminution) of economic value. Given the substantial upheaval in the entertainment games, software, music, book publishing, and newspaper industries, it seems unlikely that SGs for health will be immune from such market pressures if they persist in being conceptualized and designed as products. The solution is to switch business strategy by re-conceptualizing and designing SGs for health as networked services. The benefits will include personalization, integration with health administration systems, and importantly, the ability control access and therefore the adoption of pay-per-use revenue models, and ultimately the preservation of value.