Game Analytics across Platforms

One of the concerns about Game Analytics is the analysis across multiple platforms. Different platforms would need different set of metrics.

Prioritizing the metrics with respect to the platform is also very important. There are various platforms such as Consoles, PC, Mobiles and AR/VR.

One would need to identify as to what must be prioritized in such cases.

Mobile Games:

For mobile games, at first you need to figure out the metrics which matters the most. Apart from the general Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as number of downloads, registrations etc.., you will need to track some metrics which indicates user behavior.

The following are some of the important metrics for mobile games,

This data can be used to track the player’s engagement with the game. Which also includes on what ways they engage with your game.

This can be done across mobile platforms such as android & iOS as well.

Console Games:

Even though mobile games have taken a big chunk out of Console & PC Games’ dominance in the gaming industry, Console games are now a fray above the PCs in the gaming industry according to Newzoo’s Report.

So, it is very important to keep players engaged to your game to sustain longer in the market. A key factor which would determine the longevity of the console games are player retention rate.

Now, what is a player retention rate? It is really simple. You develop a game and players play your game.

If the players receive your game well, they will keep returning to play the game. As long as they keep returning to play your game, your game will be in the fray.

If the retention rate is lower, then there is a good chance that the game will fade out of the market.

Another important factor is Churn Rate. Churn rate is nothing but the rate at which the players stop playing the game.

Lesser churn rate means more players are actively playing the game. Churn rate can also be determined by tracking app crashes, users drop off, session length, average revenue per user and more.

Potentially poor upgrades, outdated content & much easier gameplay are also the factors which result in increasing churn rate.

If the churn rate is high, you can be sure that the game needs serious upgrades.

VR Games:

Recent advancements have paved way for Virtual Reality to be a game changer in the gaming industry.

VR platform is spread across various genres such as entertainment, education, healthcare etc.., But Game Development has helped big time in popularizing VR.

For VR games, analytics are quite important to reach wider audience. Some unique key metrics used in VR Game Analytics are,

• Heat Map – It is the form of visualized data in the VR area, where it will show the time spent by the player in a particular area and it would be marked in red color. The more time they spent, the redder the area will be. It could also be called “hotspot” where users spend more time.
• Performance – The performance metrics here are specific to VR. Since VR would make players to feel like they are in an entirely new universe, it is important to keep them entertained rather giving them sickness. For example if the VR gameplay is not realistic, users are more likely to get motion sickness. You would be required to make a smooth, non-choppy gameplay to keep the game more effective and playable.
• Hardware – It is important to keep in mind that there are a number of high-end VR systems available in the market such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive & also the reasonably affordable Playstation VR, Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear devices. It is necessary to make the game effective across the hardware devices, so that it will be compatible with majority devices and audience expansion would be wider.

Game Analytics Tools

These metrics can be analyzed using the tools& languages such as,

And these analyzed data can be enhanced visually with the help of,