Just as previous generations shared board games with boards and tokens, such as Monopoly or earlier El Estanciero, and simulated buying and selling companies or fields, digitalization incorporated gamers into the stressful world of investors trading stocks and bonds on world stock exchanges. According to recent research on investment innovation, gamification relies on the use of simulators, personalized goals, rankings, and challenges that allow users to experience different investment scenarios without risking real money. For example, simulators that answer questions like “what would happen if I invest $10,000 a month for a year?”, goals associated with concrete objectives — such as a trip or buying a car — with visual progress showing how much is left to achieve them, comparisons between more conservative and more aggressive strategies, or “missions” that invite building a first balanced portfolio and identifying common mistakes of beginner investors. A new world for new players. While these dynamics facilitate the understanding of complex financial concepts and accompany the learning process progressively and accessibly, especially among young users or those with little prior investment experience, they open the doors of this new market for banks and investment platforms to approach increasingly diverse profiles. In this scenario, gamification applied to investments ceases to be an emerging trend to become a concrete tool within the product strategy. “It is not an isolated playful layer, but a strategic decision on how financial institutions accompany, educate, and support the user in decision-making, especially in the initial stages of their relationship with the market,” explains Joaquín Díaz Vélez, Business Manager at Flux IT. From the banking perspective, this approach also impacts how investment products are designed and communicated. “It's not just about what is offered, but how it is explained, how it is tested, and how the user is accompanied to make informed and sustainable decisions over time,” adds the spokesperson. Specialized fintechs. Investments for gamers in Argentina focus on specialized fintechs like n1u, crypto games (metaverse), and local video game development. Interested parties can operate through local brokers (Balanz, PPI) or international ones (eToro, Interactive Brokers). This virtual venture connects the potential of 26 million Argentine gamers with the use of sophisticated portfolios, national investment funds, ETFs registered both in and outside the USA, and alternatives with financial assets that converge on Wall Street. It surpasses investment funds that have become unnecessarily expensive without adding any value and, in most cases, charge entry and/or exit fees. In Latin America and particularly in Argentina, this type of initiative is part of an ecosystem marked by the growth of fintech, the democratization of access to investment products, and a strong demand for financial education. The incorporation of playful experiences responds to the need to accompany new investor profiles without giving up information, transparency, or responsibility criteria. In today's digital world, video games not only offer entertainment but also opportunities to earn cryptocurrencies, a trend known as GameFi, an acronym for games and finance. This trend has generated play-to-earn platforms that allow rewards to be earned in cryptocurrencies, which can be converted into fiat money and used in wallets like Mercado Pago. An account must be opened on a cryptocurrency exchange that allows converting tokens into pesos. Some of the most popular platforms are Binance, Bitso, Lemon, and Ripio, among others.
