GDC 2012: The Evolving Development Tool Ecosystem and the Rise of Big Data Customer Analytics

This IDC study categorizes game development engines and tools and then delves into one of the more interesting aspects of how this ecosystem is evolving: Big data customer analytics that are increasingly being applied postlaunch to "freemium" titles in particular. Many of the examples offered in this study were culled from meetings and presentations at Game Developers Conference 2012, which took place in San Francisco, California, in early March.

"Online gamer analytics have become much more important since the launch of titles is now more often than not the beginning of a long revenue optimization process," says Lewis Ward, research manager of IDC's Gaming Industry service. "A slew of interesting start-ups have emerged to serve the needs of multiplatform-oriented microstudios in particular, and I expect the big data gamer analytics space will grow and mature significantly in the next two years."