Gaming is a big part of my life and a core passion. Often, the minute my wife and kids fall asleep, you can find me playing the latest videogame or watching others play online or via Twitch. The gaming industry is a marvel to me — how much creativity there is, the complexity of the technology involved. My work as an analyst with the Adobe Digital Insights team lets me explore the gaming industry in depth by tapping into our extensive dataset.
Adobe just released the Gaming Report 2016, which is based on analysis of consumer data comprising 2.5 billion visits to retail gaming and gaming-related websites from January 2015 to March 2016. Using my knowledge and experience in the gaming world, I spotted trends, sought unexpected relationships in the data, and shaped a nuanced story about the industry.
This is our second year developing a gaming report, and I wanted to delve into what’s driving industry growth. Many analysts tell the parts of the story we already know — gaming is growing year over year. I wanted to explore how different parts of the industry create the context for such explosive growth — what roles do social communities, new technologies like virtual reality (VR), and online gaming play in fueling that growth? Here are some essential lessons I learned along the way.
Use Your Unique Knowledge in Research Design and Source Selection.
My first challenge was to develop a fair way to encompass the gaming world, which builds upon our data, collection, and methodology. For example, a couple of important data sources I noted were online discussions and social media. What’s really helping to develop the industry are the powerful communities that form both before and after games launch. Digging into more than 20 million social engagements that were captured from June 2015 to July 2016 — on platforms ranging from blogs to Twitter to YouTube and beyond — provided unique insights for the report.
Tell Your Story and Take a Stand — Supported by Data.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an analyst is that you have to tell your story and state your opinion. People’s opinions may vary, but you just have to back yours up with data and solid analysis. For example, when I looked at the growth trends in the data and compared them against the industry numbers reported in Fortune, I was comfortable making the projection that gaming PC and console sales will reach $25.3 billion in 2016. Fortune reported that the overall industry grew five percent in 2015, and I also found that online gaming revenue grew 42 percent between Q1 2015 and Q1 2016. It’s our extensive dataset that allows me to accurately size a key portion of the gaming space.
Collaborate to Expand the Value of Your Work.
Collaborating with colleagues can also help you expand your work. One of my colleagues has deep expertise in economics and has been instrumental in developing Adobe’s Digital Price Index. The index tracks consumer spending in specific product categories. We decided to capitalize on that work and develop a category that looks at videogames and videogame consoles. His project benefits from my expertise in gaming by expanding to add another category, and my report benefits through better analysis. The data revealed an interesting trend in console vs. PC gaming. Console gamers experience the steepest discounts in sales prices in November, enjoying up to five percent price reductions around the holidays. High-end computer rigs used for gaming see less discounting but have experienced the least deflation over time at two percent.
Dig Deep to Obtain the Real Story on the Latest Trends.
Your passion can also help you focus on the trends that really matter to a specific audience. Virtual reality and augmented reality are hot right now. The sheer number of mentions of VR, AR, and related hashtags have increased 548 percent since January 2015. It became clear that there are currently four big players: HoloLens, Vive, PlayStation VR, and Oculus. In this year’s analysis of discussions regarding virtual-reality devices, there was a significant swing from Oculus to Vive. The mentions for Oculus dropped to 37 percent, while Vive mentions grew from 2 percent to 46 percent! When we first saw the data, we realized we had to dig deeper to obtain the whole story.
When we compared the devices, it became clear that Vive — which was second to market — offered features such as multiple sensors in the room and dedicated virtual-reality controllers for a more immersive experience. Another factor driving Vive’s social engagement is their positioning in the market. Vive is partnered with the gaming marketplace Steam, while Oculus is owned by Facebook. Oculus is set to make some major improvements in the fourth quarter of 2016 — such as more sensors and new controllers — so the VR device story is likely to evolve quickly. The PlayStation VR also stands to be a force to be reckoned with since it removes the hidden PC cost of VR and links directly to gaming consoles.
The key lesson here is that you have to dig deep, consult many sources, and do in-depth analysis to really understand the forces at play in such a complex industry.
Perhaps, the most important takeaway regarding what makes research successful is following your passions. Researchers on our team are passionate about everything from finance to social media to machine learning. When I came aboard, the desire to do more gaming analysis connected with my personal interests. When you have a passion, there’s a drive — you’re not just going to treat information like data points. Instead, you’ll investigate why it’s significant, you’ll examine the broader context, and you’ll determine why the story matters. Ultimately, your interests make you a better analyst.
Next up for me? Taking a closer look at how eSports and specific subgenres of the gaming world are shaping the industry’s explosive growth. I can’t wait to dig into the data!
The post How Passion Shapes the Work of Adobe Digital Index’s (ADI’s) Gaming Analyst appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.
from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/passion-shapes-work-adobe-digital-indexs-adis-gaming-analyst/
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