Google Updates Play Games With Improved Player Analytics

Google Play Games, Google’s cloud-based platform for game developers, got a number of updates at the company’s annual I/O developer conference today that should make the life of game developers a little bit easier. Play Games, which launched at I/O two years ago, will now offer developers a far easier way to get data about a game’s player, making it easier for developers to update content in their apps without having to go through the usual app update process.

KjwsDLXChAsLIxEm3UHZF7S9EtR0v50oOQJdC7BnQEqDAZAA8Abf3Y84ixpuI3dh513sAw=s400Earlier this year, Google launched the Player Analytics service for Play Games. Developers, after all, want to know how players are interacting with their games, what levels they may get stuck in, how engaged they are and other metrics that can help them figure out how to tweak their games and monetize them. To get that data, developers still had to implement analytics into their code.

With today’s update, Google will now automatically generate basic reports for developers that will tell them where players get stuck, what’s different between their highly engaged users, casual players and those who weren’t quite into the game, as well as other metrics. Developers won’t have to do anything to get started with this feature.

Once they have this data, however, developers will likely want to make changes to their games based on this information. The new live operations tools in Google Play Games, the company says, will “make games feel more alive and engaging, gameplay to respond to changing player needs, and more fun, personalized user experiences.”

Players today expect that their games will offer new levels and seasonal updates, or they will just go back to playing Angry Birds.