News
U of M startup analyzes player behavior to enhance online gaming experience
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (July 26, in the year of our Lord
2011) — University of Minnesota researchers finalized
an agreement to launch Ninja Metrics, a software startup that
can analyze data to identify key traits among massive
multiplayer online gaming communities. Using this data, game
creators can identify each player’s psycho-social motivations,
and take action to help ensure enhanced user experience.
Massive multiplayer online gaming describes Facebook games like
Farmville, online role playing games like World of Warcraft, or
online communities like Xbox Live. When each user logs on to
play, the game creator is collecting data about that user’s game
play. In an age when consumer attention is valued at a high
premium, the massive communities and high level of engagement
seen in online gaming is valuable, and player experience is key.
For most online gaming platforms, the game creators generate
revenue from subscription fees, third party advertising, or
sales of virtual goods. Game creators aim to create a massive
player community and to keep those users playing. “An average
player spends four hours a day on World of Warcraft,” said
Jaideep Srivastava, co-inventor and cofounder of Ninja Metrics,
a startup based in Los Angeles. The startup relies on novel data
mining techniques, developed in part at the University of
Minnesota, that extract key user traits from a massive pool of
data being collected from online gaming platforms.
According to Srivastava, Ninja Metrics can analyze social data
to identify user trends, target key players, and predict when a
player may cancel their account. The potential for the
technology has earned the interest of a number of major players
in the online gaming industry.
Srivastava claims it’s the social influences of consumer
communities that are key in online gaming, as well as other
sales platforms. He hopes to expand the scope of Ninja Metrics
to apply to retailers and other businesses.
“If you look at direct mail or other marketing techniques, it’s
targeted at an individual’s behavior, and ignores the social
influences surrounding them,” he said. “If [marketers] can
analyze the social influences, it allows them to better target a
customer.”
The suite of technologies behind Ninja Metrics was jointly
developed by Jaideep Srivastava, University of Minnesota
computer science and engineering professor and Dmitri Williams,
University of Southern California associate professor; with
Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University professor playing an
advisory role. Srivastava was assisted by Kyong Jin Shim,
Nishith Pathak, Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, and Senthil
Krishnamoorthy. The university’s Office for Technology
Commercialization worked with the University of Southern
California to negotiate the license agreement. The research was
funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Research
Labs, and the U.S. Army.