This document discusses how player analytics can help grow your mobile game business. It provides examples of developers like Rovio, Kongregate, and the makers of BombSquad and PBA Bowling who have used player analytics to improve their games and business metrics. Specific analytics tools discussed include store listing experiments, pre-registration, achievements, quests, leaderboards, and the player stats API. The document emphasizes how analytics can provide insights at all stages from early testing to live operations and help personalize the player experience.

1. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Grow your business
with Player Analytics
Benjamin Frenkel – Slides Creator
Product Manager
Google Play Games
Shady Selim – Speaker
Google Expert

2. Grow your business with Player Analytics
IDEAS PROTOTYPES
SOFT LAUNCHED
GAMES
LAUNCHED
GAMES
SUCCESSFUL
GAMES
Lifecycle of a game

3. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Store Listing
Experiments
SOFT LAUNCHED
GAMES
Player Analytics
Achievements
Quests
Leaderboards
Pre-Registration
IDEAS
LAUNCHED
GAMES
SUCCESSFUL
GAMES
PROTOTYPES
Alpha & Beta
testing

4. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Alpha / Beta testing

5. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Open & Closed Alpha / Beta testing

6. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player Analytics
Achievements
Quests
Leaderboards
Pre-RegistrationAlpha & Beta
testing
IDEAS PROTOTYPES
LAUNCHED
GAMES
SUCCESSFUL
GAMES
SOFT LAUNCHED
GAMES
Store listing
experiments

7. Grow your business with Player Analytics
“We conducted 25 icon tests in the past 6 months
that cost us $50,000 between test fees and the cost of
UA campaigns needed to fill simulated pages with traffic.”
Rovio
Testing the store listing is expensive

8. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Store Listing Experiments allow you to test
different parts of your store listing page

9. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Start by testing icons

10. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Variant C
+91.3%
Variant B
-33.7%
Kongregate tested different icon art, and
the helicopter showed 91.3% increase in installs
VS
Variant A
-31.3%
Control

11. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player Analytics
Achievements
Quests
Leaderboards
Store Listing
Experiments
Alpha & Beta
testing
IDEAS PROTOTYPES
SOFT LAUNCHED
GAMES
SUCCESSFUL
GAMES
LAUNCHED
GAMES
Pre-Registration

12. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player is driven
to a developer’s
marketing
campaign page
and is pointed to
pre-registration

13. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player sees
the pre-registration
page where they
can pre-register

14. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player is informed
that they will get
notifications on launch
day of the game

15. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player is now pre-
registered and sees the
official YouTube video for
the game and other stats

16. Grow your business with Player Analytics
The player scrolls down
the page and sees that
they can share the
game with others

17. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Launch Day:
The game is ready to
play! The player taps the
notification and is taken
to the game details page
in the Play Store.

18. Grow your business with Player Analytics
From there, the player
can install the game,
get the reward, and
start terminating!

19. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Alpha & Beta
testing
Store Listing
Experiments
IDEAS PROTOTYPES
SOFT LAUNCHED
GAMES
LAUNCHED
GAMES
Pre-Registration Player Analytics
Achievements
Quests
Leaderboards
SUCCESSFUL
GAMES

20. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Google Play game services
ACHIEVEMENTS LEADERBOARDS SAVED GAMES
PLAYER
ANALYTICS
MULTIPLAYER QUESTSGAME GIFTS

21. Grow your business with Player Analytics
BombSquad
Eric Froemling
● One man army that does everything
● Has a very compelling game
○ 3M+ downloads
○ Awesome retention

22. Grow your business with Player Analytics
PLAYER
ANALYTICS

23. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Impact
Eric identified that
sources of tickets was
too high
He made changes to cost
of items & rates tickets
were earned
Rate of tickets used now
exceeds tickets earned
Average Tickets earned
Average Tickets Spent
2
3
1
+140% +67%
ARPDAU ARPPU
Sources & sink reports

24. Grow your business with Player Analytics
“Player Analytics has helped me home in on BombSquad’s
shortcomings, right the ship, and get to a point where I can
financially justify making the games I want to make.”
Eric Froemling

25. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Time series explorer overview
Compare different
types of players
Show time series with
selected player
events
Show activity for
custom events
Show activity for
predefined events
Zoom level shortcuts
Organize data
by timestamp
or sequence

26. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Show time series for common critical moments

27. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Hovering over shapes shows you extra details

28. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Events viewer overview
Choose between
column and line
chart types
Choose how to
aggregate activity
data
Select events
to display
Look at activity data
by calendar day or
day of week
Select player
segment

29. Grow your business with Player Analytics
QUESTS

30. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Time-based
objectives for your
entire community
of players
* New objectives without
updating your game

31. Grow your business with Player Analytics
PBA Bowling
Challenge
● Founded in 2003
● Headquartered in MN
● Flagship title is PBA Bowling
● Dedicated community of players

32. Grow your business with Player Analytics
● Exemplary Quest
implementation
● Integral part of live
operations strategy

33. Grow your business with Player Analytics
January 2015 Calendar of Promotions
New content
Advertisement
Push
Social
Quest
New content
Advertisement
Push
Social
Quest
New content
Advertisement
Push
Social
Quest
New content
Advertisement
Push
Social
Quest
Hammer Black
Widow Legend
● Ball
● Advertisement
● Push
● Social
● Quest

34. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Among Quest users, sessions per user improved 14.4% DoD
upon Quests acceptance, and 3.7% DoD upon completion
Day before
quest
Day of quest
appearance
Day of quest
completion
+14.4%
+3.7%
Sessionperuserperday

35. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Personalize user experiences based on past and
predicted player activity with the Player Stats API
95th percentile
spender
60th percentile
sessions
Last played 10
days ago
5 minute
average session
length
20 in-app
purchases
>200 sessions
At high-risk of
churn

36. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player stats API use cases
Janice is a 95th percentile spender who is
starting to intensely play another game. Her
engagement in ZH2 is dropping.
When Janice logs in, ZH2 calls the play
games CRM API which identifies her as a
high value player that is very likely to churn in
the next day.
ZH2 displays a special offer of 70% off of
the rare Plasma Canon.

37. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player stats API use cases
95th spend percentile player, Bobby, leaves
game for 10 days.
Upon Bobby’s return, you call the Player
Stats API that identifies him as a high value
player that has left the game for 10 days.
You display a special gift of 10 gold coins
along with a welcome back message.

38. Grow your business with Player Analytics
Player stats API use cases
You want to monetize players through
incentivized video ads.
However, you do not want to show the ads
option to highly monetizing players.
When John the low monetizing but highly
engaged player logs in, you calls the Player
Stats API to check if he is eligible for the
video offer.

39. Google Confidential and ProprietaryTitle | Subtitle
Google Play game services
ACHIEVEMENTS LEADERBOARDS SAVED GAMES
PLAYER
ANALYTICS
MULTIPLAYER QUESTSGAME GIFTS

40. Google Confidential and ProprietaryTitle | Subtitle
Thank you
Benjamin Frenkel
Product Manager
Google Play Games