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Alex Ovcharov, the CEO of Sensemitter, explains how the company utilizes neuroscience, behavioral, and emotional analysis to measure and enhance player engagement – and emphasizes the importance of understanding the concept of ‘arousal’ in game development.
Regardless of your motives as a game developer – whether it’s creating immersive experiences, improving product metrics, or generating revenue – player satisfaction is crucial. The success of all these goals hinges on players having a good time and enjoying the games.
In today’s oversaturated market of mobile games, developing unique ideas and achieving success is challenging. Luck alone is no longer enough – it requires hard work, research, and data-driven decisions.
Surprisingly, many companies rely solely on product analytics, which assess a feature’s success only after it has been implemented. This method of hypothesis testing is time-consuming and costly. It fails to provide insights into why users appreciate or dislike specific features and how to enhance them.
To address this issue, we have developed a method to test game content before implementation, using neuroscience, behavioral, and emotional analysis to create player engagement metrics.
Understanding the Key Metrics of Emotional Engagement
What is the true essence of “fun” in gaming?
For example, in an Overwatch-like mobile shooter game analysis, a player’s character being hit by a train during a match resulted in a loss. While this could be seen as a failure, the unexpected interaction caused the player’s arousal to spike. This increased arousal motivated the player to continue despite the setback, showcasing the importance of emotional engagement. This concept is also prevalent in challenging games where frustration can lead to increased emotional engagement.
Arousal is a crucial metric for measuring emotional engagement in games. Although it may sound humorous to some, arousal is a scientifically validated term used to gauge the level of emotional engagement during player interaction. It directly influences player retention and immersion in the game.
Every game designer is familiar with the concept of balancing player skill level and game challenges to ensure ideal player progression. Our tests and analysis show that while arousal may fluctuate, a positive overall trend is essential for a successful game.
How Does It Work?
Our method combines three neural networks and human researchers’ expertise to generate valuable insights. The neural networks assess emotional baseline, track emotions, monitor gaze direction, and provide comprehensive reports for analysis. We rely on Paul Ekman’s emotions classification to transform emotional responses into a simplified yet informative metric: arousal.
We focus on capturing emotional responses without concern for polarity, as every emotional reaction provides valuable insights into player engagement. This approach allows us to collect objective data on players’ perceptions that surveys alone cannot achieve.
Implementation of Neurobiological Analysis
Our methodology effectively captures shifts in emotional responses. To ensure data reliability, we structure research to allow players to explore the game freely, measure their emotional responses, and cross-check survey data for correlations. By filtering out emotional fraud, such as non-genuine responses, we ensure the authenticity and accuracy of emotional data.
Enhancing Game Design through Emotional Insight
Analyzing the initial play session of an action shooter game highlighted issues with the introduction of the battle pass, demonstrating how emotional tracking can uncover overlooked aspects of game design. This approach offers new possibilities for understanding player behavior and shaping the gaming experience consciously.
If you’re intrigued by these insights, visit Sensemitter.
