Analytics for the Games Industry: New paper describes a winning hand

Are you an online gamer, and – because you’re reading this blog – a “big data” enthusiast as well? Then you know very well that, when you’re playing, you’re fully immersed in the game, and the backend tech is of no concern. You’re grappling your way up a cliff in “Hang Line,” or taking pride in the defenses you’ve set up in “Clash of Clans.” It’s all about the fun and excitement, even if you’re aware, during your more restful moments, exactly what makes your particular game tick.

And, as you know, these games are all designed to keep you coming back for more.

That’s what motivates game manufacturers around the globe, of course. It’s an ancient value proposition, the business of monetizing fun. It’s what has kept horse racing tracks busy for hundreds of years, kept fans paying high prices for ring-side seats and 50 yard line seats, and more recently has filled video arenas with folks paying good money to watch online gamers compete.

There are millions, billions, to be made in the computer-based gaming industry, whether we’re talking consoles, mobile and hand-held, or conventional laptops. But it takes the right data analytics platform running in the background, powering a game company’s competitive edge.

A new whitepaper puts the stakes on the table

A new, in-depth paper describes the value of data analytics within the gaming industry, with a focus on the Vertica Unified Analytics Platform. This paper was produced for gaming organizations seeking a flexible, multifaceted platform for organizations seeking cloud, on-premises, or hybrid solutions to their data analytics requirements.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Massive data sets present a challenge to gaming organizations looking for patterns in, for example, individual player behavior. Vertica provides a scalable infrastructure and powerful machine learning-driven analytical functions for game companies to predict behavior and better retain players.
• Vertica’s massively scalable capability enables you to keep pace with growing data volumes and analyze data around the clock, so analysts can get quick answers to complex questions around gaming usage.
• Vertica enables you to dynamically cope with constantly changing workloads so you can meet peak demands without paying for capacity when things are slow.
• The wide variety of today’s data types – stored in different formats and with varying file types – makes correlating disparate data types difficult. As an advanced analytics platform, Vertica can normalize and correlate different data types, making it easier to identify meaningful patterns and relationships within the data. How many ads will a player tolerate during a game session? Vertica’s ability to read live-streaming data gives you the answer at the individual player level.

Many of the world’s most successful, innovative gaming companies run on Vertica. If you’re considering ways to become more competitive in this growing industry, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read “Analytics for the games industry: How to increase engagement and forge tight customer relationships.” Through customer examples, and technical explanations, you’ll learn how Vertica’s analytic power can put you at the top of your game.

This link will take you to Vertica’s Games Industry page, where you will find the new whitepaper, as well as other great assets — including customer stories — that will inspire your data-driven games imagination.