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Researchers at the University of Minnesota will launch analytics software designed to identify the characteristics of MMO players by applying data mining techniques and “help developers to target their audience better”.
According to Gamasutra, the software, called Ninja Metrics, will extract and analyse data from online games in order to find what makes users prolong subscriptions or buy items through microtransaction stores.
“An average player spends four hours a day on World of Warcraft,” said Ninja Metrics co-founder Jaideep Srivastava. “If you look at direct mail or other marketing techniques, it’s targeted at an individual’s behaviour, and ignores the social influences surrounding them.
“If [marketers] can analyze the social influences, it allows them to better target a customer.”
Srivastava went on to say the software startup will work with everything from Farmville to online communities like Xbox LIVE.
The research is currently being funded by the national Science Foundation, Air force Research Labs, and the U.S. Army.
About the Author
World of Warcraft
- Platform(s): macOS, PC
- Genre(s): Fantasy, Massively Multiplayer, Massively Multiplayer Online, RPG
