Real-Time Data Gap Puts Gaming Platforms on Competitive Notice

Irony exists everywhere, and the gaming industry is no different. Just take the fact that the gaming industry has long been at the forefront of technological innovation, yet many companies remain hindered by outdated data strategies.

Findings in a new report from PYMNTS Intelligence and Carat from Fiserv reveal that only 18% of gaming platforms both track and have access to market data in real time, even as a striking 80% believe that such access is critical.

This glaring disconnect can leave gaming companies flying blind, unable to make agile, informed decisions in an industry that thrives on immediacy. After all, from optimizing player engagement to refining monetization strategies, data-driven decision-making is the linchpin of modern game development and live operations.

Still, the data shows that across critical areas like sales and performance tracking, real-time data access is shockingly low — just 4% of gaming platforms have real-time sales data, while only 2.2% can track business performance in real time.

As player behaviors evolve and monetization models shift, companies that close this data gap could stand to gain significant market share, while those that don’t may ultimately risk stagnation.

See also: Data Readiness Powers Engagement and Monetization for Gaming Businesses

Gaming companies operate in an environment of rapid iteration where they can frequently update game mechanics, launch new monetization features and tweak in-game economies based on user feedback.

However, without real-time data, these decisions are often reactive rather than proactive. Companies tend to rely on historical performance reports or fragmented data streams, preventing them from responding dynamically to market fluctuations or emerging trends.

For instance, a mobile game developer may recognize a sudden drop in daily active users (DAUs) but lack the tools to immediately diagnose the cause. Was it a pricing misstep on in-game items? A rival game launching a competing event? A sudden shift in player sentiment driven by social media chatter? Without access to real-time insights, the developer can only speculate rather than act decisively.

This challenge extends to marketing and user acquisition as well. Ad spend optimization requires constant recalibration to maximize return on investment (ROI). When a company lacks visibility into live campaign performance and player conversion rates, it risks wasting millions on ineffective campaigns while competitors swiftly pivot to more lucrative strategies.

Nearly 3 in 4 gaming platforms (74%) report that they missed out on business opportunities due to the lack of complete and timely data.

Read more: Data-Driven Strategies Help Gaming Platforms Win Next-Level Revenue

Still, if the importance of real-time data is so widely acknowledged, why do most platforms lack the capability to access it? The problem lies in infrastructure, fragmentation, and cost barriers.

A significant share of gaming platforms (61%) that have tracked their data in the last 12 months still report that they do not have access to any data in real time.

Many gaming platforms rely on outdated back-end architectures that were never designed for real-time analytics. Data remains trapped in silos across game servers, third-party ad platforms and internal business intelligence tools, making it difficult to aggregate and analyze efficiently.

At the same time, by adopting standardized data-sharing protocols, companies can access external market data more seamlessly and integrate it with their own insights. Implementing privacy-first data collection methods, including federated learning and differential privacy techniques, can allow companies to harness data insights while maintaining compliance with global regulations.

Per the report, all gaming platforms report at least some negative consequences from a lack of complete and timely data, demonstrating how impactful good data can be for merchants that are hindered in their ability to innovate effectively (70%) and that miss out on business opportunities as a result (74%).

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