The AI in Business Podcast Scopely and the Uses of AI and Analytics in Gaming
Apr 30, 2017
Ankur Bulsara, Co-founder of Scopely and veteran of data-driven mobile gaming, shares how games turn massive digital touchpoints into analytics gold. He discusses why mobile gaming is so data-heavy. He covers micro-targeted re-engagement, predictive lifetime value for acquisition bids, and building a clean data platform before applying machine learning.
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Mobile Games Dominate Revenue And Have Tiny Payer Bases
- Mobile games dominate app-store revenue with around 90% of top-grossing apps being games.
- Free-to-play titles convert only ~2–3% to payers, making analytics critical to optimize that small paying segment.
Player Whales Measured By Lifetime Spend
- Scopely measures whales by cumulative lifetime spend rather than recurring billing patterns.
- In The Walking Dead game, some individual players have spent over $30,000 in lifetime purchases.
Games Are E-commerce For Virtual Goods
- Mobile games function like e-commerce platforms selling virtual goods via constantly refilled stores and live events.
- Scopely drives spending through fresh merchandise, tournaments, timers, and social competition to create repeated purchases.