How can you use data and analytics to engage and retain online game users?

KPIs I would consider: - Retention (D1-Y+), - Playtime/Engagement: AVGs + Cohorted (!) - DAU, MAU, but as well stickiness so DAU/MAU - ARPDAU, best would be ARPDAU per segment - Churn Rates - Players' patterns & economy state: data points that show how they interact with gameplay, progression, shop, what is they game economy state & how it influences the metrics above (understanding what makes people stay or quit)

To engage and retain online game users, data and analytics play pivotal roles in understanding player behavior and preferences. By analyzing user interaction patterns, game developers can tailor experiences to meet players' needs, thereby fostering loyalty and prolonging engagement. Utilizing data-driven insights, developers can personalize gameplay, offer targeted incentives, and implement features that enhance user experience. Through continuous analysis and adaptation, game developers can build long-term relationships with players, ultimately driving retention and ensuring sustained success in the competitive online gaming landscape.

You will want to consider any possible qualitative and quantitative data here, and the methods of obtaining them to serve a purpose. When defining your goal, identify metrics in a manner that can serve multiple uses, these will be the priority ones to obtain and build your pipeline on. The idea here is to have these metrics can help to make data-informed decisions and help in the crafting of data-driven strategy. Also keep in mind that this should be an iterative process to be modified along the way.

Analyze player behavior data to understand how users interact with your game. Track metrics such as session length, play frequency, in-game actions, and progression milestones to identify patterns and trends. This insight can help you tailor the gaming experience to match player preferences and optimize engagement. Utilize player data to deliver personalized recommendations and content. Leverage algorithms to suggest relevant game modes, challenges, items, or events based on each player's gaming history, preferences, and skill level. Personalization increases the likelihood of user engagement by offering content that aligns with individual interests.

Before analysing data, make sure it the data adhere to the three principles of confidential to the personal needing it, the data is not modified and has kept its integrity and available for retrieval in secure locations. Only then you can look at it do start analytical process and dissecting the information to form insights and then to visualization. Your end goal is to ensure data is clean, accurate and available for usage, then moving to analysis and forming a dashboard for long term monitoring.

For data visualization, these tools should cover all your needs: - Tableau - Looker - GCP Stack (Google Analytics, Looker Studio) - Power BI

Employing data analytics, you can leverage user behavior insights to customize gameplay and mechanics, significantly elevating engagement and retention. Rigorous A/B testing and analytics facilitate continuous optimization, ensuring game design evolves in lockstep with player expectations.

When thinking about the strategies to implement, consider the resources you have and the risk threshold you currently have and the risk appetite you can take in. Look at the areas that you wish to implement the strategies through a Parento Principle consideration, focus on the 20% area of the game that retains 80% of your users. Then while implementing A/B testing, be sure to have a control group and another variable one to do a rigorous test. Make it into a multivariable testing if resources permits and sometimes there could be more results. Consider a data pipeline surrounding the implementation and maintenance of such strategies, break it down into phases for achievable integration and experimentation.

Sometimes the things that retain users come from random places. Small mechanics or gameplay elements gain more popularity than was expected. Identifying these and expanding upon them in a way that still captures the magic of what made them interesting to begin with is key.