“Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the web like deer on a freeway,” says management consultant Geoffrey Moore. It may sound a bit dramatic. But the fact remains: data is crucial for making actionable decisions in any industry. Mobile gaming is no exception, especially now, when the digital world creates many opportunities.
The global mobile market was valued at approximately $140,5 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $173,4 billion by 2026. Despite economic shifts, the industry shows steady growth.
While the market is expanding, consumer spending on in-app purchases and total downloads of mobile games have lagged. It is becoming more and more difficult to engage and retain players. Finally, it’s not an easy task to gain insights into how players interact with a game and how to enhance their experience.
These hurdles may deter businesses from investing in gaming until gaming data analytics enters the stage and changes the situation. It provides detailed data on player behavior, preferences, and interactions, helping developers understand what keeps players engaged.
So, why does mobile gaming analytics matter for your business, and what metrics and trends will work best for you? We’ll cover that further down. Keep reading.
What Is Mobile Gaming Analytics?
Mobile gaming analytics is a specialized area that focuses on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data from mobile game players. It helps understand player behaviors, preferences, and interactions. As a result, developers can use this information to improve games and enhance the player experience.
This data-driven approach improves business outcomes by providing valuable insights for immediate action and predictive models. Gaming data analytics ensures higher data quality that also contributes to ROI. That’s why analytics is essential for developers aiming to create engaging and profitable games.
How You Can Benefit from Mobile Gaming Analytics
Today, analytics has become a valuable tool in mobile gaming. It provides insights into over 60,000 mobile games and 3 billion players worldwide. For developers, mobile gaming analytics is an instrument for creating engaging experiences, while for players, it offers a chance to enjoy more personalized gaming. Let’s clarify how you can benefit from gaming data analytics.
Understanding player behavior
Gaming data analytics show how players interact with games, revealing what they like and what keeps them engaged. This helps tweak game features, mechanics, and difficulty and create a more personalized experience. Performance data across different devices also helps spot areas for improvement, ensuring seamless gameplay.
Imagine you run a mobile game where analytics reveal that players frequently leave a level due to its difficulty. By having this data, you learn that many players face a similar issue. You can then adjust the difficulty level, add hints, or offer rewards to keep players engaged.
Involving more players
Game data analytics help you find the best ways to attract new players by showing which channels and target groups are most effective. This reduces costs and boosts your marketing ROI.
For example, you’ve launched a new mobile game. Analytics might show that social media ads targeting specific age groups are bringing in the most players. By focusing on these channels and targeting engaged regions, you can extend your player base more effectively.
Personalizing gaming experience
Using mobile gaming analytics to customize content and features helps keep players engaged. This boosts their satisfaction and loyalty and assists with long-term retention.
By personalizing elements like in-game challenges, rewards, and recommendations, you keep players more interested and involved. This approach makes players feel more connected to the game.
Creating more effective monetization
By analyzing how players spend their money, you can create monetization strategies that match their preferences. This helps balance earning revenue with keeping players happy
Suppose your game has several in-app purchases, but you’re not sure which ones are most appealing to players. By analyzing player spending habits, you find that most players prefer attractive design over gameplay boosts.
Unlock the power of mobile gaming analytics with the Forbytes team. Discover how advanced analytics can transform your game development and boost player engagement.
Mobile Game Metrics You Should Track for Valuable Insights
To gain insights into how players interact within the game, it’s necessary to track mobile game metrics. With it, you’ll understand what strategies work to engage users. Here’s a list of what to measure:
- User acquisition: This metric helps you understand how users join your game. You can calculate the number of new users in a specific period and identify which channels brought them in. For example, if your strategy attracts 500 new players in a week, this number shows how effective your user acquisition tactics are.
- Player engagement: This metric assists you in learning more about user behavior within your game, such as play frequency, average time spent per session, and daily active use. For example, if players log 500 minutes over 50 sessions in one day, the average time spent per session is 10 minutes.
- Churn rate: This is the percentage of players who stop playing your game over a defined period. By knowing the churn rate, you can develop strategies to identify weak points in your game and work on retaining your players. For instance, If you start with 1,000 active players at the beginning of the month and end with 800, your churn rate is 20%.
- Player Lifetime Value (LTV): This metric predicts the net profit from long-term relationships with players. It helps estimate a player’s value by considering ad revenue, in-game purchases, and acquisition costs. For example, If your average revenue per user is 10$, and they stay active for 30 days, the LTV per player would be $300.
So, relying on these metrics will help you acquire more players, retain existing ones, and forecast potential revenue. The specific metrics you use will depend on your game genre and objectives.
Mobile Gaming Analytics Trends to Consider for Your Business
Trends in mobile gaming analytics are quickly evolving due to new technologies and changing player expectations. These trends should be considered because they impact how data is collected and used to enhance player experience and optimize game development. Here are some of the popular game data analytics trends today.
Behavioral segmentation for creating a detailed player persona
Advanced analytics encourages behavioral segmentation to divide players into groups based on their in-game preferences, behaviors, and spending habits. This process helps game developers better understand their player base and tailor their strategies accordingly. The advantage of creating a detailed player persona is the ability to customize game experiences to boost player engagement and retention.
For example, in a mobile game, players might be divided into categories such as “casual players”, “competitive players”, and “spenders”. Casual players enjoy short, easy-to-complete levels and frequent rewards, while competitive players prefer challenging levels and leaderboards. Spenders appreciate exclusive offers and premium content.
AI-driven game development insights for better playing experiences
AI significantly powers mobile gaming analytics by assisting with data analysis, game design, and game development. Artificial intelligence can analyze player feedback on games from social media or forums in ways and at speeds that are not possible manually. As a result, developers gain the ability to understand player needs and preferences more quickly, leading to more informed decisions about game updates.
For instance, you may use AI in gaming to automate many tasks related to design and development, resulting in improved gaming experiences based on player skills. This automation allows for more personalized and effective game fine-tuning.
Predictive modeling for engagement
Predictive modeling is another mobile gaming analytics trend that helps better understand patterns in player behavior and create strategies for engagement and retention. For example, predictive models can forecast when a player is likely to churn. As a result, for developers, this is a signal that it’s time to personalize offers to retain them.
Predictive modeling also helps forecast market trends and player preferences. It can be used to optimize promotional campaigns and ensure that they align with player interests. So, you can focus on initiatives that resonate with the target audience and bring significant returns.
Unlock the future of mobile gaming with advanced analytics! Contact Forbytes to discover how it can enhance game development, player experiences, and revenue.
How to Implement Mobile Gaming Analytics: 6 Key Steps
As we already mentioned, using mobile gaming analytics helps understand player behavior, enhance user experience, and boost revenue. That’s why here’s a step-by-step guide to implementing game data analytics:
Step 1: Define your goals
When you start implementing mobile gaming analytics, it might be tempting to start by choosing the right analytics tools right away. But begin by getting a clear idea of what you want to learn from your data.
Figure out what you intend to achieve. Want to understand player behavior, enhance the gaming experience, or measure the effectiveness of your monetization strategies? Knowing your objectives is crucial before diving into mobile analytics. Next, define specific KPIs such as user acquisition, player lifetime value, player engagement, and churn rate. Once you understand your needs, you’re ready to move forward with selecting analytics tools.
Step 2: Choose the right game analytics tools
Once you’ve identified your needs and goals, your next step is to choose the right analytics tools. Evaluate options based on aspects such as compatibility with marketing tools, user segmentation capabilities, and real-time data processing.
Ensure that the game analytics tools align with your requirements. We recommend the following: Firebase, App Analytics, Flurry, and CleverTap. Also, weigh the pros and cons of each tool and check if it integrates well with your system. After choosing the appropriate tool, use it for your game.
Step 3: Start data collection
Another step is to determine the actions and events you want to monitor in the game. For example, these may be in-app purchases, session length, or level completions. Set up the mobile gaming analytics tool to track these events.
And don’t forget about relevant regulations and user privacy. Giving users control over their data and being clear about how you use it will build trust and improve their experience.
Step 4: Analyze your data
Regularly check the mobile game KPIs you’ve set to see how your game is performing. Use this data for deeper analysis, such as understanding player behavior and assessing how well your app is doing. Consider metrics like player retention, in-app purchases, and session length to gauge overall success.
These insights reveal patterns in player behavior, highlight areas for improvement, and guide your decisions on updates. By consistently analyzing this data, you can enhance your game’s design, improve features, and keep players happier and more engaged.
Step 5: Use analytic insights
After collecting data, use the insights to make more informed decisions and enhance your game. This might include changing difficulty levels, adding new content, or fixing bugs.
You should also focus on improving onboarding, simplifying interfaces, and personalizing experiences based on player preferences. Additionally, consider adjusting pricing, offers, and purchase prompts according to what works best for different player groups.
Step 6: Ensure continuous improvement
Keep collecting and analyzing data regularly. Use what you learn to make changes to your game and marketing strategies. Stay flexible and ready to adapt quickly based on new information and changing trends in the market.
For example, if data shows that a new feature is not as popular as expected, you might need to tweak it or try something different. Always be on the lookout for new opportunities to improve and stay ahead of your competitors.
Final Thoughts
All in all, mobile gaming analytics is vital for your business, especially for improving player experiences and generating more revenues. Using analytics requires strategic planning and adapting it to your needs and goals.
At Forbytes, we know how to help you. We offer entertainment and gaming software development services and can assist in enhancing user experiences and powering your games with advanced technologies. Plus, we can integrate gamified experience into your business solution to help your client base and increase user engagement.
If you’re seeking help with mobile gaming analytics, contact us, and we’ll get back to you to discuss the details.
