Google Case Studies Google Mobile App Analytics in Game Design and Optimization

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	Google Mobile App Analytics in Game Design and Optimization Google

Google Mobile App Analytics in Game Design and Optimization

Google

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
Applicable Industries	Electronics
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Predictive Quality Analytics Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services	Data Science Services
Challenge	Certain Affinity, a game developer based in Austin, Texas, was working on their first mobile title, Age of Booty: Tactics. They wanted to leverage analytics to inform game design and optimize monetization. The goal was to quantify and improve overall retention, monetization, and virality of the game. They also wanted to provide a timely cadence of analytics-driven feedback to influence development and live team. However, they were frequently frustrated by the cost, size, and limited flexibility offered by many analytics solutions. Read More
About Customer	Certain Affinity is one of the most experienced independent game developers in the industry. Based in Austin, Texas, with more than 80 full-time employees, they have shipped more than a dozen products with combined sales of more than 75 million units. The most notable among those are co-development on the Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty, and Halo franchises. Most recently, Certain Affinity has been working on their first mobile Title, Age of Booty: Tactics, an asynchronous turn-based tactics game hybridized with a collectable card game. Read More
Solution	Certain Affinity integrated Google Analytics into the game design process. This allowed them to establish data-driven decisions as a key pillar of the design process starting in pre-production. They used Google Analytics to understand and optimize UI flow, customer behavior, and accessibility. They also leveraged Google Analytics for A/B testing to better understand estimated price elasticity and impact of marketing campaigns. By leveraging engagement flow and average screen time analytics, Certain Affinity understood when specific areas within the UI were either too complex or buried to drive the desired behavior. They also used session durations to understand the existing top-level behavior and optimize the average duration of play. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics

Applicable Industries

Electronics

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Predictive Quality Analytics

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

Certain Affinity, a game developer based in Austin, Texas, was working on their first mobile title, Age of Booty: Tactics. They wanted to leverage analytics to inform game design and optimize monetization. The goal was to quantify and improve overall retention, monetization, and virality of the game. They also wanted to provide a timely cadence of analytics-driven feedback to influence development and live team. However, they were frequently frustrated by the cost, size, and limited flexibility offered by many analytics solutions.

About Customer

Certain Affinity is one of the most experienced independent game developers in the industry. Based in Austin, Texas, with more than 80 full-time employees, they have shipped more than a dozen products with combined sales of more than 75 million units. The most notable among those are co-development on the Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty, and Halo franchises. Most recently, Certain Affinity has been working on their first mobile Title, Age of Booty: Tactics, an asynchronous turn-based tactics game hybridized with a collectable card game.

Solution

Certain Affinity integrated Google Analytics into the game design process. This allowed them to establish data-driven decisions as a key pillar of the design process starting in pre-production. They used Google Analytics to understand and optimize UI flow, customer behavior, and accessibility. They also leveraged Google Analytics for A/B testing to better understand estimated price elasticity and impact of marketing campaigns. By leveraging engagement flow and average screen time analytics, Certain Affinity understood when specific areas within the UI were either too complex or buried to drive the desired behavior. They also used session durations to understand the existing top-level behavior and optimize the average duration of play.

Impact #1	Moved the total time spent in game vs. other screens from #4 to #1
Impact #2	Optimized average turn duration from 3.08 minutes to 2.10 minutes
Impact #3	Reduced screens per session from 15.5 to 8 (cleaner UV/less back and forth)

Impact #1

Moved the total time spent in game vs. other screens from #4 to #1

Impact #2

Optimized average turn duration from 3.08 minutes to 2.10 minutes

Impact #3

Reduced screens per session from 15.5 to 8 (cleaner UV/less back and forth)

Benefit #1	Streamlined reporting due to the increased simplicity, fidelity, and accessibility that Google Analytics provides
Benefit #2	Development is no longer a strictly qualitative process, but is supported and elevated through the use of analytics and data on a daily basis

Benefit #1

Streamlined reporting due to the increased simplicity, fidelity, and accessibility that Google Analytics provides

Benefit #2

Development is no longer a strictly qualitative process, but is supported and elevated through the use of analytics and data on a daily basis

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Overview

Google Mobile App Analytics in Game Design and Optimization

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit