GameAnalytics is now offering a new service called Runway, which helps mobile game publishers refine games through soft launches. Citing the success the big players such as Supercell and Kings have had with testing games in test markets, GameAnalytics is hoping to bring the same type of opportunity to small publishers.
The Runway platform helps developers plan, monitor and run a soft launch campaign. Here is how the company explains its philosophy:
Runway is our move to give the world’s smaller, but equally talented studios that same advantage, that same boost. Using our foundations in data and understanding key metrics, we want to take good games and help them get to grips with the realities of the mobile market by giving them the analytics they need to make their games better. To keep players on board for longer. To improve their chances of success. To level the playing field.
We can’t guarantee that the data you amass in a soft launch won’t highlight all kinds of problems with your game that, perhaps, you’d rather turn a blind eye too, but far too many developers are throwing money, time and resources into a pool without ever seeing the benefit. The soft launch is not an easy exercise, but the benefits of being given a vital insight into what works and what doesn’t in your game before you unleash it upon the rest of the world is priceless. Mobile may be a relatively easy sector to code for, but if you actually want to make a living from your games, life on iOS and Android is only getting more difficult.
So we present Runway to you. We think our handle of analytics, our tools and our platform can make the difference. We want to work with talent, we want to work with developers passionate about mobile, and we want to work with studios that realise the commercial realities of modern day mobile.
No publisher can guarantee you success, but rather than being little more than logo slapped onto your game’s title screen, we believe we have something of real value to offer indies eager for success.