riot games' insights evolution

Brandon Hsiung Riot Games Director of Insights bhsiung@riotgames.com

Riot Games’ Insights Evolution A Journey to Become More Player-Focused

RIOT HEADQUARTERS

1700+ RIOTERS

1,700+ RIOTERS IN 17 OFFICES

1700+ RIOTERS

7.5MILLION

PEAK CONCURRENT PLAYERS

STATS RELEASED JANUARY 2014

67MILLION

MONTHLY ACTIVE PLAYERS

MORE THAN 27MILLION

DAILY ACTIVE PLAYERS

MORE THAN MORE THAN

LEAGUE PLAYER BASE

ESPORTS

INSIGHTS @ Riot We strive to empower Rioters to make player informed strategic decisions &

data-powered products

INSIGHTS @ Riot

ANALYTICS Allows us to measure,

investigate and analyze player behaviors

DATA SCIENCE Gives us the ability to

apply science to behaviors in-game to develop models and

products

RESEARCH Equips us to understand

the wants, needs, behaviors, attitudes and relationships of players

TECH Enables us to ingest,

store, process, and serve up our

player data

We want to be TRUSTED advisors

We were disjointed We were on the outside

We were acting as a service

Disjointed

Engineering

Data Tech

Player Experience User

Research User

Experience

Publishing Market

Research

Business Intelligence

Predictive Analytics

Web Analytics

How could we gain their trust if we weren’t unified?

*Insights related disciplines org chart circa 2012

Culture &

Organization

Disjointed

Symbols Stories Structures

Disjointed

Symbols Stories Structures

Disjointed

INSIGHTS @ RiotWe strive to empower Rioters to make player informed strategic decisions &

data-powered products

Symbols Stories Structures

Disjointed

Symbols Stories Structures

MONTHLYINSIGHTS

Oct 12, 2015

February 4th 2015Insights Offsite 2015

Disjointed

INSIGHTS @ Riot

ANALYTICSAllows us to measure,

investigate and analyze player behaviors

DATA SCIENCEGives us the ability to

apply science to behaviors in-game to develop models and

products

RESEARCHEquips us to understand

the wants, needs, behaviors, attitudes and relationships of players

TECHEnables us to ingest,

store, process, and serve up our

player data

Symbols Stories Structures

Unified Disjointed

INSIGHTS OPS Enables Insights to deliver

extraordinary value

INSIGHTS @ Riot

ANALYTICS DATA SCIENCE RESEARCH TECH

We built a foundation of trust We were on the outside

We were acting as a service

Tech

Research

Data Science

Analytics

Insights

Team Team Team Team

At first, we did really well…

Tech

Research

Data Science

Analytics

Insights

Team Team Team Team

Outside

Due to increasing demand, we lacked alignment, so…

Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team

…couldn’t prioritize …lacked context …had no influence

Tech

Research

Data Science

Analytics

Insights

Team Team Team Team

Outside

Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team

Product

Production

Design

Engineering

Dev Mgmt

Insights

Art

Central Embed

Insights

Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team

Inside Outside

For Embeds, how do we know they’re effective?

Ensure you Embed at the highest scope possible

Prod. Prod.

Initiative

Game

Prod.

Initiative

Prod.

Embed

Here

Revaluate placement every 3-6 months

For Central people, won’t they get left the scraps?

Non-embed Products

Product-specific needs

Central Embed

Company-wide needs

•  Player segmentation •  Competitive analysis •  Cross-game economy study •  Regional variation study •  R&D •  …and many more

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

13 14 15 16

# of

Rio

ters

Year

Embeds

Forecast

We built a foundation of trust We embedded to create alignment

We were acting as a service

Can you get me the sentiment results for Shurima? Q: Sure, here’s the report with the lab results and analytics A:

Service

Service

We were present, but didn’t have a

presence

Service

Team

Production

Design

Engineering

Dev Mgmt

Insights

Art

How do we move beyond a historically

weak “pull” & non-existent “push”

relationship? Pu

ll Push

Service

Team

Production

Design

Engineering

Dev Mgmt

Insights

Art

Stakeholders weren’t educated enough to ask the right questions

Pull Embedded even more!

Built education programs •  Data 101 •  Taste the Insights Launched Knowledge Platform •  Knowledge@Riot

Push Push

Team

Production

Design

Engineering

Dev Mgmt

Insights

Art

We lacked roles to drive and represent Insights

Pull

?

Crafted three roles •  Delivery Lead •  Strategy Lead •  Data Lead

Advisor Service

We built a foundation of trust We embedded to create alignment

We became advisors

DISCLAIMER The journey we took isn’t for everybody •  Costly to maintain identity •  Going native is a risk •  Can’t address as many problems •  Need to constantly evolve

Build a foundation of trust Embed to create alignment Be a presence, not just present + Trusted Advisor

Trusted Advisor + Player-Informed Mission

Player-Focused

Questions?

Brandon Hsiung Director of Insights @ Riot Games

BHSIUNG @ RIOTGAMES.COM