Optimizing Live Ops for a Winning Product Strategy Roadmap in GaaS

How Efficient LiveOps Drive Success and Become the Core of Your GaaS Strategy

In the world of GaaS (Games-as-a-Service), evolves fast and for businesses in this space, the pressure is on. Player expectations soar, competition intensifies and the need for continuous engagement becomes paramount. While flashy game design and innovative features capture initial interest, LiveOps is the too-often-underestimated discipline that delivers the kind of experience that keeps players playing and ultimately determines a game's long-term success.

Those who do understand the value of LiveOps also know that managing them can feel like navigating a tangled web of operational complexity. This article empowers senior leaders to transform this complexity into a streamlined engine of efficiency, supporting your overall product strategy roadmap.

The GaaS Paradox: Complexity Breeds Opportunity

LiveOps encompass the ongoing management and optimization of a GaaS game post-launch. It brings together a vast range of activities – content creation, player engagement, data analysis, monetization strategies and community management – all interwoven to deliver a seamless experience that players demand. Getting everything to work together is a delicate balancing act which can feel overwhelming, especially considering the sheer volume of data generated by a thriving GaaS title.

Within this complexity, however, lies immense opportunity. By streamlining your LiveOps processes, leveraging data effectively and building a high-performing LiveOps team, you can unlock a wealth of insights to inform your overall product strategy roadmap. Here's the key: turning operational complexity into a competitive advantage.

Data is King: Cross-Game Analytics for Informed Decisions

Data is the lifeblood of successful LiveOps. Every player interaction, every purchase, every click generates valuable insights. In this case study, a company that utilized game analytics for optimization improved day seven retention by 50 percent, increased average revenue per daily active users (ARPDAU) and improved in-app purchase (IAP) monetization among players.

Now imagine those insights multiplied across all of the games in a portfolio: cross-game analytics. By aggregating data across your entire GaaS portfolio, you gain a holistic understanding of player behavior, preferences and engagement patterns.

This consolidated view allows you to:

• Identify trends and patterns: Player data holds the secrets to what truly resonates with your audience. LiveOps analytics decode the hidden trends and patterns across your GaaS titles. This goes beyond the obvious – data can reveal surprising correlations and counterintuitive preferences. Use these insights to guide you in refining future development efforts and crafting experiences players crave, even before they know it.
• Benchmark performance: If you don’t know where you are, you cannot meaningfully measure your progress. Benchmarking performance in LiveOps will allow you to compare key player engagement metrics such as retention rates and monetization trends across your GaaS portfolio. By pinpointing areas where some titles excel and others fall short, you can identify winning strategies to replicate and areas ripe for improvement. This data-driven approach ensures you're constantly optimizing your offerings for maximum player satisfaction and charting a course towards continued success across your GaaS portfolio.
• Personalize the player experience: Leverage data to tailor in-game experiences and content recommendations, fostering deeper connections with each player. Today's gamers crave unique experiences. LiveOps data empowers you to personalize the player journey. Imagine tailoring in-game challenges, content recommendations, and reward systems based on individual player preferences and behavior. This data-driven personalization goes beyond a simple name swap. It fosters deeper connections with each player, making them feel valued and understood – the key to unlocking long-term loyalty.

Taming the Data Beast: Mastering Data Management

Data is only valuable if it's readily accessible and actionable: as entrepreneur Aaron Koblin says:

“You can have a ridiculously enormous and complex data set, but if you have the right tools and methodology, then it’s not a problem.”

Here's how to ensure your data management practices are up to par:

• Invest in a Scalable Data Warehouse: As we have seen above, your player data is valuable: don't let it become a tangled mess. Implement a robust data storage solution with the capacity to handle the ever-growing influx of information generated by your player base. This ensures smooth operations as your games grow and allows you to analyze vast datasets for deeper insights.
• Standardize Your Data Language: The chaos of inconsistent data collection is something you need to plan to avoid from the very beginning. Establish clear data collection protocols across your LiveOps teams to ensure consistency in how player data is gathered, formatted, and stored. Standardized data makes analysis easier, faster, and more reliable.
• Cultivate a Data-Driven Mindset: Data is the new oil, but it needs to be processed for it to be of any use. Foster a company-wide understanding of the importance of data and its role in informing strategic LiveOps decisions. Invest in training programs and workshops to empower your teams to leverage data insights for crafting engaging in-game experiences and driving player retention.

Building a Dream Team: The Power of a Skilled LiveOps Workforce

Your LiveOps team is the human engine driving your GaaS strategy.

Finding the perfect talent for your LiveOps team is a challenge: the perfect candidate will have a blend of skills, data analysis savvy, a passion for gaming and the ability to communicate insights which can be translated into actionable plans. Getting the mix right across the whole team is essential as they are the bridge between data and player experience, crafting content and updates that keep your GaaS title thriving. Attracting and retaining top talent with diverse skillsets is paramount. Look for individuals with expertise in:

• Data Analysis: Individuals who can translate raw data into actionable insights for informing content decisions and optimizing gameplay.
• Community Management: Passionate and engaged individuals who can build strong relationships with your player base, fostering a sense of community and addressing concerns effectively.
• Content Creation: Talented creatives who can consistently produce high-quality content that keeps players engaged and excited about your game.

Quality of Service: The Foundation of Player Loyalty

In the fast-paced world of GaaS, maintaining a high-quality service is essential. As Kari Silvennoinen, Head of Business Intelligence at Ubisoft RedLynx says:

“A lot of the value of the game comes from the quality of experience… With service based games, the players expect customer service, not just customer support.”

Here's how to prioritize player experience:

• Prioritize server stability: Ensure smooth gameplay experiences with minimal technical hiccups or downtime.
• Implement bug fixes and updates promptly: Address player concerns by resolving bugs and implementing updates in a timely manner.
• Foster open communication: Maintain a transparent dialogue with your player base, actively listening to their feedback and addressing their concerns.

LiveOps: The Bridge Between Strategy and Success

LiveOps are not a separate entity; they are the bridge connecting your overall product strategy roadmap to long-term GaaS success. By embracing streamlined operational practices, leveraging data effectively and building a skilled LiveOps team, you can transform complexity into an advantage. Remember, as industry veteran Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, emphasizes, "Live service is not just about keeping a game running; it's about building a community and fostering a relationship with your players."

Embrace LiveOps as the cornerstone of your GaaS strategy and watch your games evolve from mere products to thriving ecosystems, captivating players and securing your position as a leader in the ever-evolving GaaS landscape.

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