Mining Actionable Player Insights Without In-house Researchers

Customer story

Mining actionable player insights without in-house researchers

Client Dead Monkey Studios

Company Size 15+

Genre Shooter

Use case Development speed

Transforming early game development from a state of alchemy to a proven science with Dead Monkey Studios.

“

I like to think about the creative and design process for video games as if it’s in a stage of alchemy. Solsten is the key tool to make the process move towards chemistry - to be more of a science and less guesswork. Video games are still works of art, but Solsten is the guide to knowing exactly who you’re creating for. Without their tools, I would have to create a whole research department, which is near impossible for a small studio to do.

Oliver Perez

CEO

The challenge

Removing assumptions in the design process to build a game that is both creatively fulfilling and lucrative.

In the world of game design, creativity and ambiguity are the norm. Design teams with their right-brained flair spar with the analytical minds of development teams in endless sessions, united in their pursuit of crafting games that ignite their passions and generate sustainable revenue.

Dead Monkey Studios was working on a prototype called ‘Aurora 7’ which is a top-down tactical shooter with squad management and permadeath focusing on real-time action and strategy. They had a reached a defining moment in their design process, one that would impact their budget and publishing options. Should ‘Aurora 7’ be a co-op multiplayer or not?

The solve

Dead Monkey turned to Navigator to better understand their audience interested in tactical and top-down shooters. The insights from Solsten’s platform informed the team that co-op was important to their most valuable players, and empowered them to identify which multiplayer features to focus on. The studio was able to quickly streamline efforts and costs for the design and development teams.

The result

The path to success involves more science and less guesswork.

Dead Monkey Studios’s bypassed traditional research tools, opting for a solution that moved at startup speed.

The result was a massive increase in development velocity while ensuring product market fit.

The Navigator insights have been used to educate new employees, secure opportunities with publishers, and support the marketing team as the game approaches launch.

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