How Data is Shaping our Games

What is your players' 'gamer DNA'? Learn how behavioral profiling and social network analysis can help you build more engaging and innovative games.

#1about 2 minutes

The growing economic and social impact of video games

The video game industry's revenue now surpasses movies, music, and sports combined, with recognized benefits for mental health.

#2about 5 minutes

Using data to align game design with player experience

Data analysis can help designers understand player behavior and improve the user experience, rather than just focusing on monetization.

#3about 3 minutes

Analyzing the player journey and social interactions

Game telemetry data helps understand the player's learning curve from controls to mechanics and reveals insights into social dynamics.

#4about 6 minutes

Understanding different player types with behavioral profiling

Behavioral profiling uses models like Bartle's gamer types to categorize players, but each game requires defining its own unique player archetypes.

#5about 9 minutes

A case study on player retention in Just Cause 2

Using archetypal analysis on game data from Just Cause 2 reveals distinct player types and helps visualize player churn between missions with a Sankey diagram.

#6about 6 minutes

Applying social network analysis concepts to gaming

Social network analysis concepts like 'six degrees of separation' and the 'Kevin Bacon number' can be applied to understand connections within the game industry.

#7about 5 minutes

Analyzing player communities with social network models

Building player networks based on in-game interactions helps analyze community structures, identify influencers, and understand social dynamics.

#8about 3 minutes

Integrating data analytics into game design and its ethics

Data can be a core game mechanic, but developers must be mindful of ethical issues like spurious correlations and the real-world impact of algorithms.

#9about 4 minutes

Q&A on monetization, AI bots, and personal gaming habits

The speaker answers audience questions about balancing artistic vision with business needs, the use of AI bots in multiplayer games, and her own approach to playing games.