Data Cracker: Developing a Visual Game Analytic Tool for Analyzing Online Gameplay

Game analytics is a domain that focuses on the systems and methods used to analyze game-related data. In this paper we present how a visual game analytic tool can be developed to analyze player gameplay behavior. Our tool, Data Cracker, was built for monitoring gameplay in Dead Space 2, the latest game in the Dead Space franchise. We use Data Cracker as a case study to inform a larger discussion of designing a visual game analytic tool while working with a game team. Our design approach focuses on increasing the data literacy of a game team. This means getting an entire team interested and involved with game analytics. We found that building our tool during the early game development cycle, creating multiple early visual prototypes and branding the tool to the Dead Space team caused more team members to become interested in our tool. Increasing interest in analytics is also a means, we argue, for changing the common occurrence within the game industry to disband teams after a game is released. Instead, we promote the creation of "live" teams which stay attached to a game long after it is release in order to continue the analysis process. Additionally, we discuss the barriers one might face when developing game analytic tools, such as prejudice against analytics or the technical issues involved when collecting large data sets. All of these examples are presented as insights we gained while coupling analytic tool design to game development.