Data science and analysis have become an indispensable set of skills that’s transformed how some companies make video games today. That’s why, in this article, we’ll explore data in the games industry, and how it’s a central force to any mobile, PC or console game’s success.
What data in the games industry is used for
Data has become essential to optimise both the marketing of the games as well as the development of the games themselves.
Both Hyper Casual and Hybrid Casual games rely on these approaches heavily to achieve success. That’s why the data teams are at the centre of Kwalee’s success as a business. Because they analyse the data at early stages, and make informed decisions to shape the game’s direction, helping our business grow significantly.
The same principles and approaches we talk about here are also used to grow the games of the external developers that our mobile game publishers work with.
Study different cases
Data teams optimise games with split-tests (also called ‘A/B testing’), which is a case-control study within a game, where players experience a slightly different version. This way, they can measure the differences in how two randomly selected groups of players respond to a change in gameplay.
The data team takes what they learned from that test, and move forward with the version which performs best for the players. So they are constantly experimenting with games, making a mix of both huge as well as near-invisible changes.
Measure engagement
Data is also crucial in the game development process. The data team records players’ interactions in every prototype to get feedback on how they behave in our games. We only go ahead with the games which show the most outstanding performance.
The team can model the engagement players have with the games in order to understand, in detail, who’s engaging the most with our games and why.
Optimise business growth
The data team uses as much data as possible in the marketing of our games. They also make use of machine learning systems to make predictions about player value, in order to make automated, data-driven decisions about campaign optimisation.
The people behind the data in the games industry
Handling data in the games industry would take a team of data analysts and data scientists who work hard to turn games into major successes.
At Kwalee, data analysts use their expertise in statistics and tools such as SQL, Python, and Tableau to explore, analyse, and present data. Meanwhile, data scientists develop models that sit at the heart of our game optimisation engine and growth tools. They develop and deploy machine learning systems alongside our Core Developers.
Essentially, our data analysts make decisions with data, and our data scientists develop the software for it.
Since data has rapidly evolved to become pivotal in the games industry, strategising how data can help us make lucrative decisions is a crucial skillset.
Want to be part of our data and engineering teams?
If you’re interested in joining a passionate team of experts who love working with data, it might be interesting for you to check out our roles. We’re hiring for various roles within the data and engineering teams, including core developers and machine learning engineers.
We have many job roles available for everyone, including remote opportunities! Head over to our jobs page and see what’s in store at Kwalee for passionate folks like yourself. You can also reach out to us and our recruitment team to ask about roles that fit you. Follow us on social media (TikTok| Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook) to get the latest news on our recruitment efforts.
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