Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business

Part II Games and Customers

On December 31, 2006, Burger King announced a whopping (pun intended) 40% increase in quarterly profit.¹ This increase was driven not by a popular new snack or clever TV advertisement, but by three Xbox games sold exclusively in Burger King restaurants across the United States for $3.99 each. Consumers flocked to Burger King, snapping up 3.2 million games in just a few months. And they didn’t simply buy the games—they purchased meals that might otherwise have been consumed at competing fast-food chains across the street. Then consumers took the games home, where they played them for many hours. Each play session exposed consumers to the Burger King brand and its highly recognizable characters, such as the (slightly ...