How can you use cohort analysis to improve game user retention?

Imagining cohorts like a Tesseract works best as it provides unlimited combinations on 4 scales of time of download, gaming level, demographic and purchase behavior. Marketeers often limit themselves to one conversion metric for segment analysis and loose out on insights. In Multi player games; behavioral analysis of collection of players (a team, a league or any unit) becomes an important factor too as conformity plays into effect.

Cohort analysis is like watching students in a class—instead of just grading everyone, it's like stalking groups of classmates to see who's acing class or struggling. It's your secret sauce for decoding trends and making improvements by grouping users into similar behavioural groups.

Cohort setup is a continuous process. Cohorts and their analysis can drastically shift depending on current business goal. Example - Increasing revenue will have different cohort analysis than feature launches (on which level does the feature unlock, what is the frequency of the feature use, what type of players are most likely to use the feature etc). Setting up a seamless data infrastructure seems like the best way forward as it will provide the much needed flexibility in cohort setup.

Setting up cohorts involves a simple process: 1. Define Criteria: Choose a key characteristic (e.g., sign-up date) as the foundation for cohorts. 2. Time Frame:Establish meaningful time frames for cohorts (e.g., weekly or monthly). 3. Create Cohorts: Group users with shared characteristics within set time frames (e.g., January sign-ups). 4. Segmentation: Further divide cohorts based on user behavior, demographics, or in-game activities for precise insights. 5. Data Tracking: Deploy a robust analytics system to monitor user activities within each cohort over time. Effective cohort analysis hinges on relevant characteristics and actionable insights from segmented data. Adjust as per your goals and application or game dynamics.

To measure and compare retention rates between cohorts: 1. Define Retention Period: Choose a timeframe (daily, weekly, or monthly). 2. Select Cohort Start Dates: Identify cohort start dates based on the chosen characteristic (e.g., sign-up date). 3. Calculate Retention Rates: Use the formula: retention rate = (retained users/initial cohort size)x100. 4. Compare Cohorts: Analyze and compare retention rates between cohorts to spot trends and try and Visualize Data using graphs or tables for clearer comparisons. 5. Consider Influencing Factors: Account for factors like updates or campaigns affecting retention. Now compare the rates to target cohorts with favourable retention rates.

Just like any other app; a game retention is heavily based on emotional triggers like placing a new challenge at the right level. Just like in-game communication there should be an strong case of having a social connect with dis-engaged players. Insights like what level are the gamers dropping off, what challenges are they responding to, what are the talking points of unofficial social media come into effect.