Big Data analytics have been crucial in the rapid rise of online gaming. And when we say rapid, check out these figures.
In 2015, the combined music and movie industry was worth $50 Billion. The online gaming market was worth $75 Billion. A year later and the music and movie industry were still at $50 billion but the gaming business was already at $80 Billion.
Without Big Data these huge figures wouldn’t exist. Nor would we have the super-fast and technically ingenious games that we enjoy on a day-to-day basis.
To cope with the ever-expanding games market Big data is constantly evolving and feeding information back to the developers, so they may enhance our online gaming experience. But what is ‘big data’ and how does it differ from ordinary data?
Three V’s
To answer that we need to go back to the start of the 21st century. This time starts what industry analyst Doug Laney identified what we now call the three V’s. The collective term for the three V’s is ‘big data’, but let’s begin with an even simpler question, what is data?
In computer terms, data is information that has been collected and converted into digital binary form to make it efficient for processing into facts or figures. You often hear the phrase ‘analyze the data’. So, in this instance, data could be statistics or records concerning the overall satisfaction of a game.
But big data is different from regular data on account of Volume, Velocity, and Variety, the big V’s. Let’s drill into each one.
- Volume. This can be anything from tens of terabytes to hundreds of petabytes of unprocessed data that arrives from clickstreams to mobile gaming apps.
- Velocity. This pertains to the speed the data arrives in the memory of a machine. Additionally, how long it takes to be processed. In some instances, this can be almost instantaneous in so far the data arrives and is processed and acted upon in one go.
- Variety. This refers to different types of unstructured information the machine receives. This can include the range of different data generated by audio, visual, or text.
The latter aspect of the last bullet point demonstrates one of the ways big data is helping the gaming industry. Audio, visual, and text are all used in online games, even at their most basic, so the ability to process the data at speed is crucial.
But there is a more fundamentally important way that big data has seen the gaming industry explode. And that’s by using the data for pin-point marketing and super-fast transactions.
Let’s take a look at that in more detail:
- Processing Payments: Most gaming platforms will offer gamers a variety of ways to pay for their entertainment in addition to collecting their winnings. If they want to remain competitive, big data will help in making this process fast and seamless.
This almost real-time transaction rate adds to the real-life gaming experience that keeps players coming back for more. And if it wasn’t for big data the next generation of VR and AR online gaming simply wouldn’t be feasible.
- A bespoke user experience: The collecting of your personal data is crucial to online gaming platforms. This will ensure the experience is as unique as it can be for each user.
For example, let’s take a look at the online casino industry. For players signing up for the first time to one of many casino apps available, they will need to create an account and input their data. This data is collected from the moment you register, and every subsequent interaction is tracked and monitored.
Why Big Data for Games?
Helping Game Developers
Big data isn’t just about providing the user with the ultimate games available. It can be used to track games that aren’t performing as well as the ones that are thriving. This information can be used to create better games while weeding out the poor performers.
Super-Fast Analytics
None of the above would be of much use if big data wasn’t able to process the information at almost real-time speed. On-the-spot tracking, monitoring, and analysis are vital to grabbing attention and retaining it.
We’ve already alluded to the future, it’s almost impossible to predict what’s coming around the bend. But you can be assured that big data is doing everything it can to make what’s coming in the gaming industry, come as fast as it can.
