Gamers are from Mars. Developers are from Venus. What can we do to get these crazy kids together?
Player-behavior data firm GamesAnalytics released a new paper that explores how free-to-play game developers can better understand the people who play their titles.
The 15-page document, which anyone can download here for free, illuminates how tracking data can help a developer personalize its player messaging, which could better turnaround player engagement. These concepts are primarily for the free-to-play market and illustrate how different the people who play $60 console releases are from those who only play Facebook social games.
“As an industry, we need to recognize that one size no longer fits all in games and sophisticated segmentation,” said GamesAnalytics cofounder Mark Robinson. “Messaging techniques are becoming essential tools for developers and publishers. While player-relationship management is fundamentally focused on improving player engagement, it also helps retention and monetization, generating revenue uplifts in the range 20 to 40 percent — which, in our opinion, makes PRM a very compelling proposition.”
GamesAnalytics provides a suite of tracking tools that it claims can help developers figure out when to present a player with a purchasing opportunity and what kinds of item packs to sell them based on playing styles. Considering that most free-to-play games make their money from the 5 percent of players who spend a lot — called “whales” — that kind of information is valuable.