How Big Data Is Affecting Gaming Sector in New Zealand

The gaming industry is one of the rare ones that managed to resist the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It keeps skyrocketing all around the world thanks to technological improvements in the past years. The whole entertainment industry moved its activities online, and gaming is no different. Those who like playing casino games can enjoy them in online casinos, while the eSports fans can watch their favorites at one of the live streaming platforms. The gaming industry in New Zealand is booking as well, and it doubled revenue in two years. Besides the tech improvements mentioned above, that achievement wouldn’t be possible without an in-depth analysis of the consumers’ habits. That is where the Big Data concept steps in, and we are going to dive into this topic more thoroughly.

How it applies to Online Gambling?

A big data concept is a tool that makes real-time data analysis much more manageable. Of course, in the big industry, such as the gaming one, we speak about the enormous volume of data. The main goal of every casino is to keep their customers returning. Since the competition is very high and new brands keep appearing in the market, it is essential to provide top-quality service to the existing and new customers. Since the market is growing at such a fast pace, operators are turning to data analytics to enhance the gaming experience of their customers. 

Big data and advanced analytics can help them to get to know the habits of their players. Now, when online casinos can facilitate millions of players at the same time, big data can help operators how to structure real-time events. The online casinos can analyze their customers play time or quitting points. On the other hand, it can provide better protection against cheaters. Some players would do anything to take the unfair edge over the house. However, they are getting detected faster than ever, thanks to big data. Various casinos in Las Vegas use big data as an anti-cheating tool, which helped them save a lot of money. When we talk about online casinos, this concept made them more credible since it brought more transparency into the market.

Big data analysis doesn’t help just the house, but it can also give valuable insights to gamblers as well. If you turn it into your advantage, you may win big. Players can find free tools that track all poker tournaments around the globe. They can provide you valuable information about every player’s stats and strategies. Some players have developed their winning strategy by using AI and big data, and professional gamblers build their careers based on the stats and insights provided by it. If you want to try out the concept in the best online gambling sites, you should dive into some of these, as explained in detail here.

What about video gaming?

The online gambling market is not the only sector in the gaming industry that uses big data in its monumental rise. New Zealand’s video gaming is a potential billion-dollar industry if the trends of growth continue by 2024. In the last six years, this sector has been growing by 38% annually, while the government recognized its potential and backed the industry. If we can make a parallel to the government’s partnership with the movie and the music industries from the past, we can say that gaming will have a bright future as well. 

Of course, the big data concept will play a significant role in that project. Gaming companies can use these insights to position their products much better on the global market. The game developers face quite challenging questions. What is the number of daily and monthly active game users? Were there new users in the past month, and how many? Those questions are connected directly to the most critical KPIs in the industry. That is where BI developers and data analysts step in as they can transform these data into valuable information and insights.

Any game can have its ups and downs. Big data analysis can help companies understand better the reasons for those variations so that they can adapt to the situation promptly. For example, if the number of daily active users is on the rise, the company can reconsider their pricing policy since the probability that someone will upgrade to the paid account is greater as well. On the other hand, if the number of monthly active users is in decline, the game developer can react on time and apply the strategy to keep the remaining players.

Big data and game improvements

Generating more revenue is what drives the gaming companies, and they can use in-game advertisements to enhance it. Big data analysis can help them create targeted ads that are suitable for the profile of the gamer. It is not about troubling the players, but the money accumulated by such advertisements can be used for new product developments. Exploring players’ habits and having insights into their gaming activities doesn’t bring benefits only to in-game ads, but can also help to improve the game itself. 

Companies use big data analysis to better understand the player’s habits in order to create a better gaming experience. Tracking gamers’ performances provide valuable info about adjusting the difficulty of certain levels in the game. For example, if players struggle at the particular point of the level, the game can be slightly tweaked in order to avoid the gamers’ frustration. In other words, data science can reveal what keeps players engaged, and companies can create more attractive products.

The numbers behind New Zealand’s gaming industry

As we have already stated, the gaming industry in New Zealand doubled its revenue in the past two years. The big data analysis had a significant role in that success as it helped the companies to target audiences all around the globe. As a result, 96% of the industry’s earnings came from abroad in the form of exports. The source of that figure is the NZ Game Developers Industry Survey, and it matches the predictions made in the Interactive Aotearoa study published by the Game Developers Association last year. It makes the gaming industry the fastest-growing tech sector in New Zealand. Moreover, the projections are more encouraging as 59% of studios should grow significantly in the next year. One hundred thirty-three new jobs have been opened in the last year, and game development is one of the country’s most popular jobs.

However, skills shortages limited the growth of nearly half studios, or to be more precise, 47% of them. Compared to the last year, when only one-quarter o studios reported this issue, it represents a significant demand for skilled professionals. Most of the positions that are lacking are related to experienced and senior staff from the tech and design sectors. The game developers cover a range of markets as 63% of them are producing mobile gaming apps, 53% are dealing with PC games as well, while 38% of studios develop console games. 

Final thoughts

The gaming industry uses all tools available in order to improve its products, and big data analysis is definitely one of them. Live streaming is an emerging section, and its popularity is skyrocketing lately. It will continue expanding through the coming years and give a lift to the entire industry. There is no reason for slowing down since many games attract a vast audience. And where a massive audience is, there are also numerous marketing possibilities. Big data can also be used for tracking both the consumers and streamers in order to create more attractive advertising packages. That should also raise the revenue and bring more significant profit.It makes sense to track and log different patterns and use that data to improve and enhance products. Thanks to the eSports and live streaming, the usage of big data can be more widespread in the future, and that can only propel the gaming industry to new heights. Of course, gaming companies should establish a data-driven culture and get the most out of the data to create meaningful insights. That can only help their businesses, but also enhance the players’ gaming experience. It is not just about gathering data, as they need to unify, visualize, and clean them before starting the analysis, and that is a big task. Persistence and patience is the key, and all efforts should pay off so that the gaming industry can collect benefits and keep growing.