Now that virtually every game company, and every tech company, understands and uses analytics in its operations, simply having strong analytics is no longer a competitive advantage. If everyone is doing the same thing, it becomes the cost of doing business. In the early days of social gaming, Zynga, Playdom and the other leaders built a huge advantage because they had great (at the time) analytics system and used the information to adjust their games based on player demands. Now, even the most traditional game companies (yes, I mean EA) are using analytics to optimize live games and third party providers allow even start-ups access to advanced analytics.
Sustaining competitive advantage
A recent article in the MIT Sloan Management Review, “Sustaining an Analytics Advantage” by Peter Bell, shows ways companies can still use analytics to build competitive advantage even when analytics are prevalent. While some of the suggestions are not relevant to game or tech companies, there are some that are invaluable: Continue reading “Keeping the edge you built with analytics”
The Business of Social Games and Casino 