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Power Great Gaming with New Analytics from Play Games

By Ben Frenkel, Google Play Games team


A few weeks ago at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), we announced Play Games Player Analytics, a new set of free reports to help you manage your games business and understand in-game player behavior. Today, we’re excited to make these new tools available to you in the Google Play Developer Console.


Analytics is a key component of running a game as a service, which is increasingly becoming a necessity for running a successful mobile gaming business. When you take a closer look at large developers that do this successfully, you find that they do three things really well:



  • Manage their business to revenue targets

  • Identify hot spots in their business metrics so they can continuously focus on the game updates that will drive the most impact

  • Use analytics to understand how players are progressing, spending, and churning



“With player engagement and revenue data living under one roof, developers get a level of data quality that is simply not available to smaller teams without dedicated staff. As the tools evolve, I think Google Play Games Player Analytics will finally allow indie devs to confidently make data-driven changes that actually improve revenue.”


Kevin Pazirandeh

Developer of Zombie Highway 2



With Player Analytics, we wanted to make these capabilities available to the entire developer ecosystem on Google Play in a frictionless, easy-to-use way, freeing up your precious time to create great gaming experiences. Small studios, including the makers of Zombie Highway 2 and Bombsquad, have already started to see the benefits and impact of Player Analytics on their business.


Further, if you integrate with Google Play game services, you get this set of analytics with no incremental effort. But, for a little extra work, you can also unlock another set of high impact reports by integrating Google Play game services Events, starting with the Sources and Sinks report, a report to help you balance your in-game economy.


If you already have a game integrated with Google Play game services, go check out the new reports in the Google Play Developer Console today. For everyone else, enabling Player Analytics is as simple as adding a handful of lines of code to your game to integrate Google Play game services.


Manage your business to revenue targets


Set your spend target in Player Analytics by choosing a daily goal


To help assess the health of your games business, Player Analytics enables you to select a daily in-app purchase revenue target and then assess how you're doing against that goal through the Target vs Actual report depicted below. Learn more.



Identify hot spots using benchmarks with the Business Drivers report


Ever wonder how your game’s performance stacks up against other games? Player Analytics tells you exactly how well you are doing compared to similar games in your category.


Metrics highlighted in red are below the benchmark. Arrows indicate whether a metric is trending up or down, and any cell with the icon can be clicked to see more details about the underlying drivers of the change. Learn more.



Track player retention by new user cohort


In the Retention report, you can see the percentage of players that continued to play your game on the following seven days after installing your game.


Learn more.



See where players are spending their time, struggling, and churning with the Player Progression report


Measured by the number of achievements players have earned, the Player Progression funnel helps you identify where your players are struggling and churning to help you refine your game and, ultimately, improve retention. Add more achievements to make progression tracking more precise.


Learn more.



Manage your in-game economy with the Sources and Sinks report


The Sources and Sinks report helps you balance your in-game economy by showing the relationship between how quickly players are earning or buying and using resources.


For example, Eric Froemling, one man developer of BombSquad, used the Sources & Sinks report to help balance the rate at which players earned and spent tickets.


Read more about Eric’s experience with Player Analytics in his recent blog post.


To enable the Sources and Sinks report you will need to create and integrate Play game services Events that track sources of premium currency (e.g., gold coins earned), and sinks of premium currency (e.g., gold coins spent to buy in-app items).




LG G3 purchase brings free VR headset (limited, US only)

Virtual reality devices still haven't caught on like wildfire for various reasons (too bulky, too expensive) but you can bet that OEMs will continue to sweet talk consumers into trying out their respective devices and the technology itself. LG's marketing is smart enough to know that people will be willing to experience something if it's given for free (well, sort of free) and so now they're offering free VR headsets for those who will purchase their current flagship, the LG G3.



Whenever you buy their flagship smartphone at any of the participating stores nationwide, you'll receive a free VR unit. But what use is a device if you don't have any content to use it on? Yes, LG has thought of that too, and so they're also including an in-box QR code that will give you free games where the VR headset will be shown in its full glory (or so we hope). The LG G3's Quad HD Display is probably one of the perfect devices in which to experience virtual reality as it has more pixels per inch, giving you a more realistic feel when using the headset.


The device they're giving away is based on the Google Cardboard blueprint, and this one is made specifically for the LG G3. There is no assembly needed and all you have to do is insert the smartphone into the headset and you can already experience virtual reality through the games and apps that come with it or that can be downloaded on the Google Play Store.


In case you already have an LG G3 but would still like to try out VR, they also have a raffle on the LG Facebook page. Entries have to be in by April 13. Meanwhile, the free VR headsets with the purchase of the LG G3 will be given away in select US stores until supplies last.


SOURCE: LG





Casio Edifice EQB-510D and ECB-500D show world time

Casio has unveiled a couple new models of watches that fall into its Edifice family. The new models are the EQB-510D and ECB-500D. While these watches are designed to interface with an app running on your Android smartphone, they aren’t designed to give you notifications like a smartwatch.



Casio has designed the Edifice line to cater to people who need to know what time it is all around the world. Both of the watches have analog faces that are easy to read. When linked with the smartphone app the watches can tell time in 300 cities around the world and in 40 time zones using a sub dial.


ediface_1 ediface_2 ediface_3 ediface_4 ediface_5


Both watches use Global Time Sync and are based on the Smartphone Link EQB-500 watch that came before. To adjust the time to fit the current time zone, all the wearer has to do is press a button to update the watch automatically.


The watches can also correct automatically for daylight savings time if needed. Daylight savings time on the watch is kept up to date by using the app on the smartphone. Alarms and other time settings can be changed using the app as well. The watch also has a phone finder function that activates an alarm on the smartphone with the press of a button on the watch.


SOURCE: Casio


Tomb Raider is back in its original glory, this time on Android

You know how a lot of developers are bringing back their well-loved older games and giving it a rejuvenated 3D look or updating it to the more modern feel? Well one of the most loved and most played games from the past decades is coming back as a mobile game, but its makers felt that they had to bring it back in its original glory. Are you ready to welcome back Lara Croft in Tomb Raider into your life, and this time on your tablet or smartphone?



Ever since it made its debut on the Playstation in the late 90s, Tomb Raider has been one of the more successful game to mainstream pop culture cross-overs, with the movie version being one of the star-making vehicles of a certain Angeline Jolie. The developers feel it is now time for the mobile smartphone/tablet generation to experience this third-person epic adventure game, and see how it all began, literally. The game is the original Tomb Raider I, with (very) slightly improved hi-res graphics, but with basically the same look, gameplay, and storyline.


Lara Croft is still rocking that tight explorer outfit and her iconic dual pistols, and she's still looking for artefacts in all the right/wrong places. You will explore the lost city of Atlantis and discover Lara's past as well. You'll get to experience the "full, unedited, unadulterated" classic from the 90s, with the two extra chapters that were included in the re-release back in 1998.


Tomb Raider I supports game controllers you can link to your mobile device, specifically MOGA Ace Power & Logitech PowerShell. You can download the game for just $0.99 from the Google Play Store.


tomb1 tomb2 tomb3 tomb4 tomb5 tomb7


EE offers free Power Bar portable charger for subscribers

Probably one of the most frustrating things for mobile users nowadays is that smartphones and tablets' battery problems still persist despite the "best efforts" from OEMs to give us better charging devices. One mobile network company wants to help out their consumers (and themselves too of course) by giving out free portable chargers for those who are always on the go.



Calling it their "Power to the People" campaign (and they mean it literally), current active subscribers to the network will be able to get a free Power Bar portable charger, simply by opting-in to the promo through SMS. The 2,600 mAh charger can fully charge one cycle for a smartphone. And in case your charger runs out of juice while you're still out, you can just go to any EE store and swap it for a fully charged power bank. But you also have the option of keeping your depleted charger and just juicing it up again once you reach a place where there's a charger or power outlet.


EE_PowerBar-520x628


To be eligible to join this free charger program, you need to have a 30-day or 12-24 month plan for their mobile, fixed line or broadband services. Subscribers to their other program, PAYG or Pay As You Go, can also join but they should have been a customer for at least three months.


This is a good move for EE to take care of its small base while also attracting new users. And of course the more battery your device has, the more data, calls, and messages you consume so it should benefit EE as well in the long run.


VIA: The Next Web


HTC One M8s official: a slightly different One M8 for Europe

Although HTC probably wants most of the world's attention, and money, to be focused on the latest One, it can't simply shake off the legacy that the One M8 has left behind. In fact, while the One M8 itself will fade into history, it is giving the name a lease on new life. This is no One mini 3 but the new One M8s could very well be. We're still not sure what the "s" stands for, but it's definitely not "super". That said, the smartphone could give budget conscious buyers an option that doesn't skimp too much on quality.



Compared to the One M8, it is easier to count the very few places where the One M8s differs from last year's flagship. The most prominent is the processing power provided by Qualcomm's mid-tier 64-bit offering, the Snapdragon 615. In almost all other area, the spec sheet would look almost the same, if not better. The screen and RAM, for example, boast of the same 5.0-inch Full HD resolution and 2 GB capacity. The 16 GB internal storage can likewise be supplemented by 128 GB with a microSD card. The battery is actually an improvement, with a 2,840 mAh power block versus the One M8's 2,600 mAh.


True to its M8 legacy, the HTC One M8s also boasts of the same unique features as the original. That translates to dual front-facing BoomSound speakers, an HTC Sense 6.0, not 7, user experience, and that now iconic HTC premium all-metal body. In fact, you could actually mistake this for the One M8 since the two look quite similar from the outside. When it comes to the camera, you might even say the One M8s is better. That is, if you don't subscribe to HTC's UltraPixel spiel. At the back, you find a 13 megapixel DuoCamera setup, while the front has a big 5 megapixel shooter. Both are augmented with HTC's new EYE photography suite.


With this range of features, you might presume the HTC One M8s' price tag would be around the One M8's mark, and you'd be somewhat right. The suggested price for this smartphone is around 379.99 GBP, which roughly translates to $564. HTC is targeting this device to hit Europe, with no plans to expand to other markets yet.


Twitch app gets persistent player, audio only feature

Hardcore gamers who love watching broadcasts of their favorite games are surely onto the Twitch app by now. Whether you follow League of Legends, Minecraft, or the oh-so-popular Clash of Clans, the Twitch app should be the broadcast app of choice. There are some interesting tweaks that have made it to the current update of the app – including a persistent video player and an audio only mode.



The problem before when streaming a game or commentary broadcast was that you were not able to browse other content within the app while doing so. Exiting out of the broadcast to browse meant you had to re-stream the video again. That ends with the persistent video player, which continues to play your video in the app while allowing you to browse other content.


And specifically for Android users, there’s the Audio Only mode. The new feature lets users listen to broadcasts even with their device locked or just the Twitch app running in the background. A new option is now made available within the Video Options icon to activate or deactivate it. Also, users can control this mode outside the app via Android’s system notifications. Pretty cool, eh?


Twitch is maturing as an app, and gamers who use it must be thankful for developers who think their features through. If you haven’t tried the app yet, get it via the download link below.


DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store

SOURCE: Twitch





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