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Data-Saturated Gaming Industry

An interesting phenomenon is unfolding in the gaming industry, where data is becoming increasingly prevalent. More and more third-party data reports are being disclosed, and data collection enthusiasts are emerging continuously, even becoming a point of contention for some in public debates. During this year's ChinaJoy (CJ), a special forum called CGDC China Game Market Data Insight Forum was held, themed "Data Navigation, A New Era of Smart Gaming," highlighting the central role of data in the current gaming industry. The speeches covered topics such as development, marketing, and AI.

Not long ago, at the 2024 OPPO Developer Conference, the opening of more data also became an important direction for the upgrade of gaming channels, providing data empowerment throughout the entire lifecycle from project initiation to long-term operation.

On the other hand, Maimai Gaopin released the "2023 Insights into High-End Talent in the Gaming Industry" last year, revealing that non-technical positions such as product managers, data analysts, game characters, game design, and community product managers saw a decrease in monthly salaries in 2023.

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In this year's "2024 Big Data Report on Talent Supply and Demand in the Gaming Industry" by Liepin Big Data Research Institute, data-related positions also do not rank in the top 20, and occasionally there are extreme statements on the internet claiming that data analysis has no future.

This contrast actually indicates that in an environment where data's impact on the gaming industry is deepening, companies' requirements for data analysis capabilities are upgrading. They are continuously raising the bar from establishing systems, collecting data, to screening and decision-making optimization.

From Operations to Development

In the past few years, big data technology has achieved significant results in the gaming industry, radiating from the operational end. A crucial part of the precision operation often mentioned by companies is to rely on data for scientific operation, real-time decision-making, and forming a data loop.Taking the speech of Tan Yanfeng, Vice President of Shengqu Games, as an example. First of all, the Shengqu team meticulously extracts the three core elements of a game: art, theme, and gameplay, and based on these, they create materials for testing and real-world deployment. By comparing and analyzing with competitive products, they make a preliminary estimate of the market potential. This step ensures the uniqueness of the game at the creative level and its competitiveness in the market.

Secondly, the team places great emphasis on the product-market fit (PMF). Through detailed questionnaire surveys, they gain a deep understanding of the target users' willingness to try, verify the fit between user segmentation and product needs, and provide solid data support for the development direction.

During the development process, the team adopts a flexible and efficient trial-and-error mechanism. By developing DEMOs or core levels, they invite core players to experience the game and collect extensive user feedback through questionnaires or discussion panels. This feedback can directly guide the optimization of the game, effectively reducing costs and risks. Data-driven game development can improve decision-making and market response speed, helping companies seize the initiative, accurately grasp demands, and thus achieve rapid product iteration and optimization.

Data insights are becoming increasingly important in the gaming industry, not just as an element in the operation and promotion phase, but throughout the game's lifecycle.

This also aligns with the laws of industry development. In the pioneering period, everyone tended to cherish their own methods, relying on unique tricks to expand their territories. Today is different from the past, and even channels are continuously making more of their segmented user data transparent to attract developers to collaborate. From project initiation, new game launches, to long-term operations, the entire lifecycle is covered, including but not limited to industry analysis dashboards, game resource material dashboards, user composition and portrait dashboards, and conversion leak dashboards.

Enterprises, channels, and third parties all have data. Project initiation, development, buying traffic, and long-term operations all require data, leading to an increasingly "flooded" scenario with big data.

From establishment to discrimination

Imagine that as gaming companies go global, they face more complex channels and diversified markets, with a massive influx of external data. Companies themselves are no longer in the past, when the industry was in its infancy and lacked basic data awareness.

At the same time, most companies, especially leading ones, have established their own data systems, from traditional data warehouses to modern data platforms, and to the recently emerging concept of data flywheels.

The data flywheel is based on the data platform, emphasizing the positive feedback loop between data accumulation and application. Data actively drives decision-making and optimization in every business process.Real-time data processing, multidimensional feature analysis, and algorithmic modeling are technologies that can transform players' real-time feedback into improvements in game design. For example, dynamic tagging systems and A/B testing can be utilized for this purpose.

In short, the act of enterprises building a data flywheel through technological concentration actually reduces the technical requirements for individual data analysts. In other words, the demand for data analysts is no longer about building a small-scale data analysis system on their own, but rather focusing on selecting, identifying, and refining more effective data from the data flywheel already built internally and the massive influx of external data, to provide support for decision-making.

A typical example is the prevalence of the term "Data X Engineer" in the magic duels of the game industry. As the name suggests, it involves artificially creating and filtering data to influence the accuracy of decision-making.

Now that enterprises have their own data systems established by technical personnel and have access to a wealth of data sources, the more desired skill set is the ability to discern and make strategic decisions in complex environments.

This is also reflected in channel cooperation, where platforms provide and track more detailed data items, and more importantly, the results of optimization.

Data is important, but more important is decision-making.

Of course, we do not intend to blur the line between whether game development should be people-centric or data-driven.

As a creative industry, the brilliant ideas, gameplay innovations, and fun settings of the development team are undoubtedly paramount. However, with the intensification of industry competition and the practical needs of long-term development, the significance of data analysis is determined.

Unlike the one-time short-term transactions of single-player games, in the long-term, evergreen products that span five or even ten years, it is difficult for team decision-makers to maintain rational judgment over the long term without oversight (continuous judgment, adjustment, and control of new plans are needed).

Take "Peace Elite," which just held the "Stimulating Night 2024 Peace Elite Annual Trend Show," as an example. This year, the frequency of updates within the game has significantly increased, with more than ten updates and changes occurring in just the third quarter alone.According to Huang Xinlong, the planning director of Peace Elite, "The entire market and player base have undergone significant changes. Starting from last year to this year, players' demands for new content and gameplay have increased sharply. At the same time, many competitors in the market have also been introducing more of such content, leading us to increase our investment in these resources."

The most important role of data analysis is to reflect changes in user needs. For evergreen games to continue, they must continuously respond to the changes in users over a long period of time.

Moreover, the integrated data itself also reflects the current market trends. Outstanding products that lead the trend must have a certain degree of foresight, and it is not uncommon for excellent designs to actively cultivate new player habits and create blockbusters.

From this perspective, data is becoming increasingly important in the industry, providing more stability in fierce competition rather than being decisive in decision-making. The divine move still depends on human judgment.

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