Big data is becoming a fundamental analysis tool across all industries, with the world of gaming seen using the power of big data across all platforms in 2020 and beyond.

As almost all forms of digital gaming have online elements to them, be it the game being hosted on online servers or customers connecting to the internet via their consoles for head-to-head battles and DLC purchasing, video game industry companies can stack up heaps of data every single day. This includes statistics on how often a certain title is played, what times of the day are most popular with each demographic, the replayability of their titles or even the likelihood that players will purchase additional content.

Starting with such data, gaming brands use complex tools to enhance their products, make marketing decisions, choose the most likely to succeed promotions, or even select the genre and themes of upcoming games. It is safe to say that regardless of the platform in use, gaming is becoming increasingly driven by big data.

Vital in the free-to-play space of mobile gaming

For developers in the mobile gaming sector, big data couldn't be more crucial to the creation and further development of their IPs. In mobile gaming, especially so in the "casual" genre, the vast majority of games are "free-to-play," arguably with most people rarely looking at premium mobile games. Despite this, mobile gaming revenues make up nearly half of all global gaming revenue.

The games may be free to play, but developers have discovered ways of monetizing their game space to ensure that their development time isn't wasted. However, in mobile gaming too, over-monetization or aggressive advertising within a freemium model can turn players off, so companies use big data to measure, predict, and track player behavior to then be able to enhance the experience for the player as well as further encourage in-game spending without going overboard.

A necessary tool for providers to offer the best deals

This point is especially relevant to iGaming, namely the sector that pertains to all real-money games available online. As iGaming is such a competitive field, operators have to utilize big data constantly to try to find ways in which they can enhance their websites, range of games, and, perhaps most importantly, their bonuses and promotions. This can easily be seen in the way that all websites are now organized with the popular slots as their main feature as well as in how bonuses have expanded and become more sophisticated.

By analyzing engagement statistics, times when bonuses are taken, and customer data such as gender and age, platforms that use big data analytics have been able to hone in on the perfect offers for their target audience. For example, the casino bonus in its optimum form now comes as a 100% matched deposit bonus and also includes free spins – as online slots are always among the most popular iGaming titles.

Breaking stigmas in home console gaming

One of the most important breakthroughs to come from the implementation of big data in video gaming is how it has been used to uncover audience splits in home console gaming. It was found that nearly 80% of gamers play games on more than one device – dispelling the notion that most players will buy just one of the home consoles on offer. In turn, this has encouraged game developers and hardware producers to bring in cross-platform online features.

Furthermore, and most importantly, big data finally gave credence to the female audience in gaming, showing that 46% of women indulge in gaming of some form. This was how we learned that there isn't a significantly dominant audience gender. For decades, there has been the stigma that video gaming is for men, but now developers can explore other avenues to appeal to this huge segment of the player base.

Big data is helping companies all over the world hone in on ways to better serve their respective audiences. In gaming, across all platforms, companies are now being driven by this innovative technology – and the future is set to bring even more of this.