Code Wizards Group

Game studios collect more data than ever before. It's everywhere! Player data. Match data. Regional activity. How healthy the backend is. Live service trends. The list goes on. Getting the data isn't the hard bit. It's knowing how to use it to actually improve your game. Without the right system in place, data becomes noise. Good decisions are rarely made based on instinct alone when you're operating at scale. The studios that respond fastest to player issues, identify live problems early, and adapt their games more effectively are usually the ones with the clearest visibility into what's happening across their game and infrastructure. Better visibility leads to better decisions. And better decisions (usually) lead to better player experiences. If you want to learn more about analytics and what to watch out for, check out our Chief Online Services Officer Tom Penrose's short series on all things analytics. They're a (pun fully intended) game changer 🙌 Part 1: https://lnkd.in/e2GrBHPy Part 2: https://lnkd.in/eFixGeVj Part 3: https://lnkd.in/eqrhgCJT Part 4: https://lnkd.in/eiZE-86w

At #gamesgrowthsummit? See if you can spot these two in pink roaming! 📍

Our people are what make Code Wizards the company it is 🩷

Adam Keely, who you may previously have known as our Head of IT at Code Wizards, now leads Studio Wizards as Director of Studio Technology (a big ‘ooh!’ and applause please 👏). Today, he’s speaking at #GamesGrowthSummit on how to embrace IT as a driver of game studio success, creativity, and growth. It’s easy to think of IT as something that’s just about fixing computer issues or serving system infrastructure. However, technology tailored to games can drive real gains in creativity, efficiency, revenue, and growth. If you’re attending and want to learn how, make sure to catch Adam’s talk! Adam’s view is that great technology doesn’t just support game development, it accelerates it. Whether it’s helping teams collaborate more effectively, removing technical friction from development, protecting valuable studio time, or building the foundations that allow studios to scale, he believes technology should give creative teams more time, fewer blockers, and better foundations to do their best work.

Today i'm delighted (and priviliged) to have been elected to the board of TIGA (The Independent Games Association). But i wasn't the only one so i want to give a massive congratulations to the others who were re-elected or elected today: Gemma Brown FCIPD, John Tearle, Sitara Shefta, Ben Gunstone, Greg Howson, Marco A. Minoli, Dan Hett, Tim Repa-Davies, Rebekah Simpson, Halli Thor Bjornsson, and Mark Gerhard. It's amazing to be in such esteemed company (and thanks to Dr Richard Wilson OBE and the TIGA members for their faith in me). Why now? We founded the Code Wizards Group with the Don't be a Dick mantra to not only make us be good bipedal hominids but, just as importantly, to push us to proactively lean-in and help others. Now, possibly more than ever, the sector we love is going through massive change. It feels only right to be part of the conversation and help navigate a path. I'll be using my position to help advance and communicate the needs and wants of independent studios and service providers. In addition, championing different voices and participating to help games organisations pull together (UK Video Games Council and Ukie to call out especially as their inter-organisation work has paid dividends for us all). (apologies for the photo of CWG winning the TIGA Award last year - but it was a good excuse to show Mark, Richard and myself while we're all dressed up) #videogames #tiga #theindependentgamesassociation

A report via IGN Entertainment and developed by Kantar and UC Burkeley released recently, painting a vivid picture of the games landscape and how gamers are reacting to changing conditions in the market and overall customers preference. Key takeaways include: 💡 62% of gamers no longer purchase full-price games 💡 Gen Z gamers prefer multiplayer, Gen X single-player, and Millenials a roughly even split 💡 Gen Z are primarily motivated by new customisation and community content (You can find the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ep3YXDwf ) Now, while it's based on a small sample size (5,500) and only focuses on the US, UK, and Australia, it does paint a clear picture that's being reflected in many areas; gamers are staying longer with games they already own. For studios and developers, that means longer lifetimes for their titles. 🙋 What does this mean for you? 🙋 The game you developed with a 2-3 year lifecycle might actually live for 5-7 years (or longer!). It's no longer reasonable to ship a game with 'good enough' tools; what you use needs to be able to respond to player needs quickly to maintain player retention and satisfaction. Additionally, to be able to steer players away from existing longtail games, you need to be able to not only build a community quickly, but identify when your game is getting picked up; if you wait for the Steam reports, you've already missed the trend you could have used to amplify your marketing! This all comes from having a very fast development turnaround cycle. That means quick deployments, pipelines and testing of new game features, and the ability to be able to adjust things like game balance, changes, and respond to player feedback quickly. 🪄 Are your backend systems ready for that longevity? 🪄 What plan do you have in place long-term? 🪄 Do you have analytics infrastructure in place to spot player issues quickly (before the player even spots them)? It's never been more important to get these 'back office' tools right. The Code Wizards team offers the ideal level of backend flexibility, including monitoring, analytics, remote config, as well as quick and flexible near real-time changes as your game adapts. If you're operating an online or ongoing game , reach out and speak to one of the team today (Tom Penrose is our first recommendation!) to double check that your game is ready to operate smoothly. What do you think? Are you seeing the same trends in your own titles? Is your studio planning for longer game lifecycles? Share your thoughts! 👇

Tom's fourth and final article on game analytics is live - go give it a read! 📖 And if you've missed the previous series' entries, be sure to go back and give those a look too; you'll definitely find at least one useful insight if you're operating a multiplayer title!

Migrations can be scary. 🫣 If it goes wrong, your studio can expect angry players, review bombs, colourful Reddit threads, and more importantly, drops in: 📉 Player satisfaction 📉 Player counts 📉 Player spend Getting it right is crucial for the long-term success of your game. If you know you need to migrate, but you're worried you're not ready, speak to a Code Wizard (Tom Penrose perhaps?) for a friendly chat on how we can help. We've done it before (we migrated Apex Legends in 10 days with 0 downtime!), and we can do it again! 🙌

Tom continues his series on all things analytics, this time looking at gameplay analytics! Go give it a read - we're certain you'll discover something that applies to your studio! (💡Oh, and don't forget to check Tom's previous posts in the series for even more great insights!)

Just a reminder we're less than a month away from the AWS Games Hackathon! 🥳 Join us in London Tuesday 23rd of June! 📅