These companies are using a derogatory and insulting phrase to talk about the customers who in many (if not most) social games drive the majority or revenue. If you just look at my last sentence, you should see what is wrong with that approach. Many companies, particularly in the iGaming and social casino world, use the phrase whales to describe their most valuable players. While gamification is misleading and often used as an excuse, the word whales is insulting and creates the wrong approach to your best players. Adding a progression system or social features build on the core game loop but you are not gamifying your game, you are putting it in a superior package.
The argument against gamification is not a criticism of building strong meta-features that enhance the core game loop. Instead, focus on making the task effortless, so the player returns to your (entertaining) game.
You are not going to create a registration process that is more fun than Clash of Clans or more entertaining than the most recent Disney movie, and that should not be your target. If you are trying to make necessary actions outside your core game loop (registration, purchases, CS, etc.) better for the customer, you are not actually making them into a game (gamifying) but looking at principles of consumer behavior and behavioral economics to make users more likely to complete the tasks. These are already great games and cannot be gamified. Poker is a fantastic game that people will spend a lifetime playing. You do not gamify a slot machine, its core game loop is already compelling. Slots, poker, bingo, etc., represent great core game loops that have been entertaining people for hundreds of years. This problem also holds for casino and social casino games. Gamification is often a euphemism for adding features that bandage over underlying problems with the product. Rather than creating a strong core loop that retains players, companies try to use tricks (gamification) to overcome the shortcomings of the product.
Gamification becomes a problem as it is often used as a solution for a poorly designed game.
The core loop is a chain of actions that the player does over and over again. A successful product will have a strong core game loop, that will drive your players enjoyment, and thus retention and engagement. If done properly, the product already will entertain customers. A game, by definition, is a game, so why would you want to add gamification. Trying to gamify a game is the height of absurdity, or at a minimum shows you have not done your job well. These words - gamification, whales and directional - often drive the wrong actions, ideas or initiatives. Last year I wrote about one of the most insidious phrases in business (which, ironically, became a talking point in US politics last month), and there are three other words that exasperate me when used by gaming companies.