What 3.7 Million Tracked Players Can Tell You About Launching Your Game

The launch of any title starts with understanding the mechanics of your game, where it sits within the current gaming ecosystem, and how to translate those mechanics to the right audiences through the right messaging and platforms.

If you're launching a war game, it's important to understand the mechanics of titles like Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Helldivers 2. Which players have chosen those titles? Which have stuck with them? And which mechanics, messaging, and platforms will get them to try your game?

Converting new players starts with understanding where your future players currently spend their time, what their core needs are, and how often they're open to trying something new.

Building Your Competitive Player Cohorts

Once you understand your game mechanics, it comes down to identifying each circle of the competitive landscape and the titles that fall within it. Are you an extraction shooter? Are you closer to Tarkov than Marathon? Are you baby's first extraction shooter, or are you a hardcore extraction shooter fan's dream title?

Once you have an idea of where you land, you can start planning how to message each of your target cohorts. Open World established R/DA, our research and data analytics team, for exactly this purpose: to look into players' gaming habits, see what they play and for how long, and understand where they came from and where they go.

Understanding that player journey lets you look at the mechanical, social, or behavioral traits of each title and build player cohorts that help your team set up messaging for each group.

Using Playtest Data Before Launch

Before the game goes to market, your team may stage playtests or player interviews to better understand what resonates with players (R/DA does that too). As the playtests, alpha tests, and closed betas start to give a clearer picture for launch, the cohort data can help align:

• Marketing strategy and messaging.
• Creator selection, platforms, and briefs.
• Paid media assets and the messages they take to market.

Tracking Player Movement During Launch

Prior planning is always helpful, but tracking player movement during the launch window helps your team make quick decisions about messaging and platforms. Where are players coming from? How long do they stay? Where do they go if and when they churn from your title?

This information helps you adjust messaging, creators, or imagery to bring in new players or re-engage lapsed players based on real playing habits. Knowing where they went can be just as important as knowing why they left when it comes to re-engaging those players.

Monitoring Live-Service Titles and the Player Lifecycle

Once your game is in the wild, you can follow the player journey:

• How long does the average player stay before they churn?
• Where do they go when they leave?
• When do they come back, and what happened around that return: a battle pass, a new season, a cosmetic update, an event, or creator content?

Understanding the churn-to-return cycle helps your team plan important beats and updates, and decide how to spend efficiently to bring in new or lapsed players. Looking at those patterns alongside player feedback can also help you understand which mechanics keep players engaged. All of this gives your team a better basis for deciding what to do next in market and staying top of mind with the players most likely to play your game.