Ever since becoming serious about gaming on Android and launching the Google Play Games app in 2013, Google has significantly improved its gaming service for both developers and gamers alike. In a December update Google significantly overhauled the app with Material Design as well as a brand new first-time tutorial to help users get the best out of all the service providers. Cloud saves, cross-platform gaming and easy ways to find your next favorite game are all hallmarks of the app for gamers, but what about tools for developers? In the past, we’ve seen Google provide analytics tools, something that Google is particularly good with, to developers to see exactly how gamers are playing and what needs to be improved.
Part of this code allowed developers to get deep metrics on how players play their games, what powerups they prefer, how they use them, what levels players get stuck on, etc. Google has a number of metrics that developers have been able to use for some time now but they all had to be manually implemented in the code, which could mean some serious work for some developers that haven’t been heavily invested in Google services. Now Google is going to be automating many of these statistics for developers so they can get a preview of what this data could do for them if fully implemented into their game.
These sorts of metrics help developers create better games and improve the ones they’ve got on the market, as well as deliver content updates that users actually want. Nothing worse than coming out with a big update that everyone is unhappy with; something that can be avoided by seeking out the data that Google is making available and putting it to good use. The new live operations tools found in Google Play Games will help developers get the most out of their userbase’s habits and preferences, as well as help developers figure out new ways to monetize their efforts for future expansion. These reports are automatically generated and will be sent to developers, but can always be requested on demand when needed. Developers can find more information at the Google developers site.