Could an approach focused on 'emotional value' contribute to employee retention and improved performance?

SEGA XD, Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hidetaka Tani; hereinafter 'SEGA XD'), a company specializing in gamification, has conducted the '2025 Gamification Awareness Survey' targeting 1,000 business professionals (men and women in their 20s to 50s nationwide), including 179 individuals involved in employee engagement and organizational culture development. This release presents the findings of the 'Employee Engagement Edition,' focusing on the relationship between employee engagement and emotional value.

※Results regarding the awareness and utilization of gamification will be published in the 'Gamification Edition.'

'Gamification' refers to applying game mechanics to non-game fields to increase user motivation and influence behavior. As there have been few opportunities to discuss its business effects and actual status publicly, our company began conducting fixed-point surveys in this field last year. Due to its nature, gamification excels at moving people's hearts and enhancing 'emotional value.' Therefore, in addition to 'gamification awareness and utilization,' we conducted this survey focusing on 'Employee Engagement (EE)'—a critical issue for many companies and organizations—ahead of the new fiscal year when many people begin working in new environments, to explore the 'correlation between EE and emotional value.'

First, when comparing turnover intentions and the achievement of personal goals among 1,000 business professionals based on their level of affinity toward their company, it became clear that those with 'higher affinity' consistently showed superior results. This suggests that high affinity toward a company is highly likely to influence improved employee retention and performance.

Additionally, in a survey of 179 individuals involved in employee engagement and organizational culture development, while approximately 70% responded that they are 'implementing EE improvement measures,' only 36.3% of those in charge felt that their company has 'many highly engaged employees'—about half of those implementing such measures. This highlights that while many companies are implementing measures, the number of companies seeing results remains limited. Furthermore, it was found that 'companies with particularly high EE' implement initiatives that appeal to 'emotional value,' such as creating a culture where employees can take on challenges without fear of failure, in addition to 'functional value' such as infrastructure development.

■ Survey Overview

Title: 2025 Gamification Awareness Survey

Target: Extracted from a screening survey (3,604 people):

　　　・Business professionals (men and women in their 20s to 50s nationwide): 1,000 people

　　　・EE personnel (those involved in employee engagement & organizational culture development): 179 people

　　　　※EE personnel are included within the 1,000 business professionals.

Period: January 29–30, 2026

Method: Internet survey