Semantics at Play: Electronic Arts' Linked Data Journey

SEMANTICS AT PLAY
E L E C T R O N I C AR T S ’
L I N K E D D ATA J O U R N E Y
EAMONN GLASS
@eggman51
AARON BRADLEY
@aaranged
SEMANTiCS 2017
12 September 2017, Amsterdam

We strive to be
THE WORLD’S GREATEST GAMING COMPANY
We exist to
INSPIRE THE WORLD TO PLAY
Electronic Arts CEO
Andrew Wilson

About EA
• Video games: 1,100+

About EA
• Video games: 1,100+
• FY17 net sales: $4.94B
• Indexed web pages: 7.7M
• Players: lots

“
”
OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE
WEAVE, WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE
TO DECEIVE
SIR WALTER SCOTT, FROM THE ROMANTIC POEM “MARMION” (1808)
12 September 2017Semantics at Play: Electronic Arts’ Linked Data Journey 8

P L AY E R V I E W O F B AT T L E F I E L D C O N T E N T E C O S Y S T E M C I R C A 2 0 1 4
COMMUNICATIONS MARKETING STUDIO
???

B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S B AT T L E F I E L D C O N T E N T E C O S Y S T E M C I R C A 2 0 1 4
WORD
PRESS
DRUPAL ADOBE
ANOTHER
WORD
PRESS

AN D T H I S E X I S T E D AC R O S S F R AN C H I S E S AN D L AN G U A G E S

“
”
ANY ORGANIZATION THAT DESIGNS A
SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE A DESIGN
WHOSE STRUCTURE IS A COPY OF
THE COMMUNICATIONS STRUCTURE
OF THE ORGANIZATION
MELVIN CONWAY, CITED IN “THE MYTHICAL MAN MONTH” (1967)

TO P I C AL C O N T E N T AT E A, C I R C A 2 0 1 4
1. Published document metadata incomplete,
inconsistent or missing

2. Primitive and non-interoperable classification of
documents

2. Primitive and non-interoperable classification of
documents
3. Localization reliant on content duplication
4. Limited publishing endpoints supported
5. Multiple content management systems and
associated processes

L I B R AR I A N > W E B D E S I G N E R > S E AR C H M AR K E T E R

A P O S T- S T R U C T U R AL I S T E D U C AT I O N

P I O N E E R S O F AP P L I E D S T R U C T U R E D D ATA

E A W E B D E V S U M M I T, AP R I L 2 0 1 4

“
”
LINKED DATA IS ESSENTIAL TO
ACTUALLY CONNECT THE SEMANTIC
WEB. IT IS QUITE EASY TO DO WITH
A LITTLE THOUGHT, AND BECOMES
SECOND NATURE.
TIM BERNERS-LEE, LINKED DATA (27 JULY 2006)

B AT T L E F I E L D H AR D L I N E N E W S

W H O I S E AM O N N G L AS S ?
• Canadian born – Vancouver
• Irishman – citizenship from parents
• Masters degree in Holland – Utrecht
• Made complete by a Croatian – married 20 years
• Have two daughters – equality is important
• Worked in motorsports, logging, fishing,
healthcare, utilities, ecommerce, start-ups,
Fortune 500 – diverse background

• Been a gamer since the very first consoles
• In 2012 on my ideal path to early retirement
• I realized this would bore me to an early death

• Joined EA as a consultant in 2012
• Joined full time in 2014
• Director, Online Platform Strategy
• Still dumb enough to tackle the big problems
• Still a passionate gamer

S TAR T W I T H W H Y
Our v1 Why?
To enable “in game” as a
channel for our marketers to
reach our players.

T H E C O N T E N T S E RV I C E : G E N E S I S

O U R V 1 V I S I O N – C I R C A 2 0 1 4

O U R F I R S T I T E R AT I O N – D E L I V E R E D I N 2 0 1 5

C O N T E N T S E RV I C E G O AL S
1. Support a broader range of content endpoints
• Particularly in game integration

E X T E N D I N G T H E R E AC H O F C O N T E N T

2. Allow us to flexibly query our content

C O N T E N T S E RV I C E Q U E RY I N G C APA B I L I T I E S

2. Allow us to flexibly query our content
3. Future-proof CMS

AC T I V I T I E S I N S U P P O R T O F C O N T E N T S E RV I C E G O AL S
1. Make our CMS(s) more agnostic by separating
the data and presentation layers in our content
management processes

S E M AN T I C P U B L I S H I N G : I N S P I R AT I O N

2. Create a content model that allows us to
structure and semantically describe our content

C O N T E N T M O D E L AR C H I T E C T U R E
Base (Meta)
Article
News Blog
Event
Gallery
Image gallery
Videos

C O N T E N T M O D E L D ATA M AP P I N G

2. Create a content model that allows us to
structure and semantically describe our content
3. Build APIs for querying and rendering content

C O N T E N T S E RV I C E L E S S O N S L E AR N E D
1. Consistent metadata meant consistent presentation across digital channels

2. Richness of meta data greatly
improved search results

3. We could see the beginnings of a “network ecosystem”
powered by semantics: content model and taxonomy

S TAR T W I T H W H Y
Our v2 Why?
To connect our players with the
best next experience,
anywhere, anytime.

O U R V 2 V I S I O N

C O N T E N T E N G I N E G O AL S
1. Unify our approach to content publishing,
extending the Content Service to cover more
environments and more endpoints
2. Develop a single, standards-based source of
truth for our games
3. Facilitate rich personalized experiences that help
our players connect to the information they want
and need

AC T I V I T I E S I N S U P P O R T O F C O N T E N T E N G I N E G O AL S
1. Improve and expand content model

“
”
INTELLIGENT CONTENT IS CONTENT
THAT’S STRUCTURALLY RICH AND
SEMANTICALLY CATEGORIZED AND
THEREFORE AUTOMATICALLY
DISCOVERABLE, REUSABLE,
RECONFIGURABLE, AND ADAPTABLE.
ANNE ROCKLEY, MANAGING ENTERPRISE CONTENT, 2ND ED. (2012)

2. Create an ontology of our domain

O N TO L O G Y D E V E L O P M E N T: S C H E M A. O R G K I C K - S TAR T

E X T E N D I N G S C H E M A. O R G F O R C O M P E T I T I V E G AM I N G ( E S P O R T S )
bit.ly/cgvocab

O N TO L O G Y D E V E L O P M E N T: P O O L PAR T Y

3. Improve and extend taxonomies

TAX O N O M Y D E V E L O P M E N T: P O O L PAR T Y

3. Improve and extend taxonomies
4. Employ an enterprise semantic data store to
aggregate and store content and data
5. Marry player-generated game play data with
structured and semantically-described content

C O N T E N T E N G I N E AR C H I T E C T U R E
Other
Today
Other
Today
Other
Today
Other
Today
Other Today
Other Today
Other Today
Other Today
Other
Other
Content Model
AEM 1
UGC
AEM 2
Content Service
Other
Today
Render
Content
Query
Content
Other
Tomorrow
Render
Content
Web Sites
EA Content
Game Clients
Mobile Apps
Other Today
Other Tomorrow
Player
Content
Apple News
JSON &
JSON-LD
HTML
Facebook
Other
Content
Creation
Content
Management
Content
Classiﬁcation & Querying
Content
Output Formats
Content
Rendering Endpoints
Taxonomy
&
Ontology
Partner
Content
Machine
Content

O U R V 1 V I S I O N – C I R C A 2 0 1 4

O U R F I R S T I T E R AT I O N – D E L I V E R E D I N 2 0 1 5

T H E C O N T E N T S E RV I C E : G E N E S I S

C O N S O R T I U M O F PAR T N E R S
We’ve been working with partners to accomplish this.
Content Management
Taxonomy & Ontology Management
Semantic Data Store

R E L I AB L E , C O N S I S T E N T, E X T E N S I B L E M E TAD ATA

G AM E D E TAI L PAG E : B E F O R E

G AM E D E TAI L PAG E D ATA : B E F O R E

G AM E D E TAI L PAG E : B E F O R E
• Data inaccessible by
other domains and
applications
• Loosely-organized,
poorly-governed,
inadequately maintained
• Data resides at
universally-available,
dereferenceable URIs
• Well-modelled,
standards-based
taxonomy independent
of CMS

F R O M I L L - TO W E L L - D E F I N E D R E L AT I O N S H I P S B E T W E E N G AM E S

L O C AL I Z E D G AM E G E N R E PAG E : B E F O R E

L O C AL I Z E D G AM E G E N R E PAG E : AF T E R

• Sparta is an internal EA codename for the user interface that combines
the Battlefield titles into a single integrated player experience.

• UGC from “Game Changers”
• Mostly Tips and Tricks, also “Battlefield Moments”
• Can be EA made videos, also on YouTube

• Intended to reduce churn, increase player success
• Catalogued in Content Engine via Taxonomy
• Game Telemetry + Reco Engine = what to serve

C R E AT I N G A N E T W O R K E C O S Y S T E M
In game On the web On the go
Companion Apps
Mobile

I N T E L L I G E N T C O N T E N T I N G AM E : I M PAC T O N M E T R I C S
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Default
Personalized
Personalized Content Study Group vs Default Content Control Group
Impact: A 40% increase on session days from personalized content

T H E C O N T E N T E N G I N E : L E S S O N S L E AR N E D
1. The learning curve is steep
2. Linked data tools and the business infrastructure
supporting them are not yet mature
3. Measurement challenges existing systems
4. Once you demonstrate the utility of using linked
data technologies people start coming on board

F U T U R E G O AL S
1. Extend our existing publishing and linked data
capabilities to facilitate better player experiences
across a broader range of content endpoints,
products and processes

B U I L D I N G T H E N E T W O R K

2. Normalize and extend the taxonomies that are
used across the enterprise

E X T E N D I N G T H E G R AP H

E X T E N D I N G T H E G R AP H
AARON

2. Normalize and extend the taxonomies that are
used across the enterprise
3. Execute measurement and analysis best
practices

E X T E N D I N G AN A LY T I C S ( T H E M I K E AR N E S E N M E T H O D )
bit.ly/semanticga

AC T I V I T I E S I N S U P P O R T O F F U T U R E G O AL S
1. Develop a standards-based method of
representing content models

C O N T E N T M O D E L R E P R E S E N TAT I O N : F R O M T H I S TO … ?

AC T I V I T I E S I N S U P P O R T O F F U T U R E G O AL S
1. Develop a standards-based method of
representing content models
2. Formalize and centralize taxonomy development
and governance processes
3. Drive adoption, measure impact, refine

1. Simplify
2. Standardize
Scale

1. Simplify
2. Standardize
3. Scale

THANK YOU!
EAMONN GLASS
eglass@ea.com @eggman51
AARON BRADLEY
abradley@ea.com @aaranged

Semantics at Play: Electronic Arts' Linked Data Journey

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