In gaming, the economics are genuinely lopsided. Most industries talk about the 80/20 rule. Gaming ignores that completely and goes full 95/5. Sometimes even wilder.
We're talking 1 to 10 percent of players generating 50 to 90 percent of revenue. In mobile games especially, the top 1% could be responsible for 50 to 70% of all spend.
Just to be super clear on this: if that top layer disappears, your revenue graph doesn't dip. It falls off a cliff.
And the tricky part isn't just that each VIP is valuable. It's the scale. Even if only 0.5% of your player base qualifies as VIP, with 2 million players that's still 10,000 people. Each of them expecting to feel like they're the only one.
Spotting them before they spend
The smartest studios I've talked to aren't sitting around waiting to see who opens their wallet. They're predicting it. Within the first 24 to 72 hours, early behavior patterns start hinting at who's heading toward VIP status.
There are tells. Players who make early, above average in-game purchases. People who dive into multiple features right away instead of poking around. Those who gravitate toward strategy-heavy content over casual stuff. Longer sessions. More frequent logins. Even how they respond to tutorial nudges can signal something.
Some analytics platforms claim they can flag future whales within days. I haven't verified all those claims, but the logic tracks. And it changes the game, because it means you can route potential VIPs into a different experience before they've even spent big.
Why does that matter? Acquiring a VIP from scratch might cost you thousands. Nurturing someone who's already showing the signs? A fraction of that.
Making thousands feel like the only one
This is where it gets interesting. And hard.
A high-end hotel might have 100 VIP guests at a time. A luxury retailer might know a few hundred top customers by name. In gaming? You've got thousands. Operating 24/7. Across every timezone. With high emotions involved.
The way most top studios handle this is through tiered VIP programs. Maybe 4 to 8 levels. The very top slice gets a real human account manager, direct lines, special access. The broader VIP group still gets priority support, faster answers, and recognition, but delivered more through smart tooling than personal relationships.
CRMs like Salesforce, Optimove, or custom-built platforms keep track of player preferences, game activity, contact history, and key moments. Real-time dashboards give teams visibility into churn risk, recent wins, spend dips, and sentiment trends. AI tools help schedule outreach during prime activity windows, flag moments where a human touch is needed, and send personalized nudges automatically.
At this volume, automation isn't a nice-to-have. It's survival.
Looking across the fence
I keep comparing gaming VIP care to other industries and it's honestly not even close.
Luxury retail relies on physical space, face-to-face rapport, and slow-burn loyalty programs. VIP perks are seasonal, tied to product drops or invitation-only events. In gaming, your next drop could be this Friday and 10,000 people want early access. Not five.
Fintech does personalization through wealth tiering and risk modeling. Players get relationship managers, but the interaction tends to be reactive. In gaming, you're expected to be both therapist and concierge, proactively reaching out before things go wrong. The intensity is just different.
Restaurants offer another angle. Regulars get the corner table and a familiar nod. But even the busiest Michelin-starred spots rarely handle more than a few dozen VIPs at once. Gaming is doing that at 100x scale. Online. Around the clock.
Gaming borrows the emotional depth of luxury with the delivery velocity of tech. That's the balancing act, and I don't think any other industry has to pull it off quite like this.
WhatsApp at 2 a.m.
Today's VIPs don't live on email alone. The best programs I've seen are using 5 to 7 channels. WhatsApp has become a favorite. It's quick, personal, supports rich media, and makes escalation easy. Some studios report conversion rates there that are triple what they get on email.
Discord is another big one. Private VIP channels where players interact with community managers or even devs. Telegram offers a similar vibe, with tighter group management and enhanced privacy.
And then there's still email, phone, and live chat. But the key isn't just being available everywhere. It's keeping the thread alive. If a VIP messages you on WhatsApp at 2 a.m. and follows up on email the next morning, the context better follow them. Otherwise you're just a bunch of disconnected inboxes pretending to be a team.
It's not about the cashback
People don't stick around for discounts alone. VIP players are humans with identities. Recognition matters. Visible status markers like badges, exclusive avatars, custom titles.
But some want more than that. They want influence. A say in the roadmap. Access to betas. Private tournaments. Others want community. A Discord where they actually feel like they belong. And sometimes, the win is just remembering their gaming handle and congratulating them on a milestone.
Psychologically, it comes down to recognition, agency, and belonging. VIPs don't just want perks. They want to be seen. If you make them feel like a founding member of something exclusive, they stick. If you make them feel like a number, they leave. Simple as that.
The line
I want to touch on the ethical side of this because it's easy to skip over.
There's a line between strong player care and aggressive retention. It's easy to blur when VIPs drive most of your revenue. Some studios are building in safeguards now: time-away reminders, optional spending limits, internal reviews of unusually high activity. Not every studio gets it right, but the good ones are at least asking the right questions.
You can create memorable, high-touch VIP experiences without pushing players toward unhealthy behavior. Long-term engagement beats short-term spend spikes every time. The best VIP care respects players as people first.
The numbers
If VIPs are responsible for 70% of your revenue and you increase their retention by even 10%, you just added 7% to your total income. That's not a small number.
A solid VIP program isn't a cost center. The best ones deliver 2x to 4x ROI. Acquiring a VIP might cost 2,000€. Retaining them for another year? Maybe 500€. The math is pretty clear on which side to invest in.
The things worth tracking: churn rate, lifetime value, how fast a player moves from pre-VIP to full VIP status, NPS. And maybe most importantly: how hard is it for them to switch to another game? If they've got status, friends, and a direct line to the devs, they're probably not going anywhere.
So what
I think what keeps surprising me about gaming VIP care is that it's genuinely world-class, but nobody outside the industry seems to realize it. Hotels and luxury brands get all the press for their "personalized experiences." Meanwhile gaming studios are doing the same thing at a scale that would make a Ritz-Carlton concierge's head spin.
The top 5% of your players might be where 90% of your growth comes from. Worth thinking about how you're treating them.