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Google Mobile App Analytics in Game Design and Optimization

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries
  • Electronics
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Predictive Quality Analytics
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services
  • Data Science Services
The 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 The 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.
The 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.
Operational Impact
  • Moved the total time spent in game vs. other screens from #4 to #1
  • Optimized average turn duration from 3.08 minutes to 2.10 minutes
  • Reduced screens per session from 15.5 to 8 (cleaner UV/less back and forth)
Quantitative Benefit
  • Streamlined reporting due to the increased simplicity, fidelity, and accessibility that Google Analytics provides
  • 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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