Case Study: Gaming Analytics in Google BigQuery

Case Studies Data Processing with Google Cloud Gaming Data and Business Intelligence

Introduction

Playwing is a European video game development company known for its captivating multiplayer games.

Working on a new free-to-play multiplayer game with hopes for global success, Playwing recognized the need for a solid tracking and analytics system to provide their development team with a clear understanding of player behavior and monetization potential.

In collaboration with OPTI, Playwing developed a tracking system in Google BigQuery and Data Studio, contributing to the game’s successful launch in the global market.

Challenges

Before the game’s launch, Playwing lacked structured data on player behavior, limiting their ability to adapt the game in real-time. Playwing set the following objectives:

Monitoring player actions - To understand how players interact with characters, rewards, and scenarios across different stages of the game.

Analyzing monetization patterns - To identify how and how much players are willing to spend on in-game rewards, capabilities, etc.

Data-driven decisions - To create real-time dashboards that would enable the development team to adjust and improve the game based on in-game data.

"OPTI was a key partner that enabled us to go to market quickly at a time when our teams were still in their early stages. The attributes that describe our collaboration with them are: result-oriented, fast, proactive, and excellent professional ethics."

- Playwing

Solution

To meet these challenges, Playwing sought a technology partner to quickly implement a data transfer and visualization system, selecting OPTI for the task.

Implementation phases

Data transfer to Google BigQuery
- A rapid, scalable transfer system was set up to send data from Amazon S3 to Google BigQuery across multiple geographic regions, configured to handle data from hundreds of thousands of players.
Data structuring in BigQuery
- Data was organized into an efficient, flexible schema to enable quick analysis of in-game behaviors and interactions.
Data visualization and analysis
- Using Looker, the team created interactive dashboards that allow real-time monitoring of key metrics, such as player behavior, retention, and spending patterns.

The data architecture used Google BigQuery as the central data warehouse, capable of handling massive volumes of in-game events in real-time. Data visualization was accomplished with Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio), giving the development team a powerful gaming analytics tool to understand player behavior and optimize monetization

Results

Increased player retention

The Playwing team was able to quickly identify negative trends and take corrective actions to improve the retention rate.

Optimized monetization

By analyzing monetization data, Playwing adapted its offering strategies, maximizing the game’s revenue.

Real-time insights

Real-time information allowed developers to adjust the game based on immediate feedback from players.

References

OPTI has been a key partner which allowed us to go to market with micropayments, billing and ecommerce fast when our teams were in their infancy. They continued to remain a valuable partner that sustained our business growth by delivering analytics and other features when we needed them and by offering swift and efficient support in critical moments. Following attributes describe our collaboration with them: result-oriented, fast, proactive, excellent work ethics. I highly recommend them !

Cristi D.

Dev Manager, Playwing

Cristi D.

Dev Manager, Playwing

Quick Questions

What is the TLDR (conclusion)?

What technologies and methodologies are involved?

Technologies: Google BigQuery, Google Data Studio (Looker Studio), Amazon S3
Methodologies: Multi-region data transfer, Data structuring (schema), Data visualization, Gaming Analytics, Business Intelligence.