big data gaming

Gaming companies who want to continue to compete and grow need to use all the tools available to them; and use these tools to their full potential. A massive part of this for them to take advantage of now is big data analysis. Gamers leave a virtual footprint now whenever they play a game, which becomes the basis of big data. Whether they are playing on a social game via Facebook, a multi player game on Xbox live or even an offline game, data is continually created as a result of their gaming. Data is created on how long they play, how they interact with the game and who they are playing with.

At present over 2 billion individuals throughout the world are game players. The 275 million users of Electronic Arts are now generating upwards of 50 terabytes of data every single day. The gaming industry is now starting to use big data to increase customer engagement and optimise gaming experiences. It is also allowing them to maximise revenues from advertising, by ensuring it is targeted due to the specific profile of the user.

Gaming companies are now using ‘big data’ to analyse the performance of the games. They have now started to use the vast amounts of data that the games create, to their advantage. This data gives the companies and developers the opportunity to understand habits, interests and desires of their users. They are then able to use this to redefine and improve the gaming experience; as well as effectively market to them.

Big data is starting to play a bigger and bigger role in online gaming especially.2017 saw $40.6 billion in global revenue in gaming solely on mobile devices, and this is going to continue to rise year on year. One of, if the biggest reason for this explosion in online gaming is down to big data. It has been available to capture for a while now, however the ability to use this data to optimise gaming experiences and monetisation is now just coming to fruition. This trend is quickly becoming the norm in fiercely competitive spaces like the online casino industry, where ; employ this information to provide a near perfect online gaming experience for their members.

Game design now is being influenced by big data as it is highlighting the importance of giving gamers what they want. An example of big data being put to use is in the study of ‘Farmville’, the social game seen on social networking sites. The developer of the game used data to understand what their users wanted, by monitoring user behaviour on the game and using the insights on how the game was being played to continually improve gameplay.

Other examples of how data can be used now within gaming is if the game contains a task or mission that is creating a bottleneck due to players not advancing, this area of the game can then be identified and changed if necessary. It can also help developers to remove unpopular aspects of a game, if there was an area that when players reached they were logging off.

When gaming first became popular it was widely regarded that realistic graphics and creative storylines were enough to give users engaged, however this is no longer the case. Online gaming companies need to use big data to understand the likes and dislikes of their users, what works and doesn’t and what is making players leave the game and what is making them stay.