PlayHaven’s data tracking goes real time with ‘big data’ acquisition

Information is power, and mobile-analytics firm PlayHaven is adding some boosters to that power to help it move at an instantaneous rate.

PlayHaven announced today that it acquired “big data” specialists Staq.io. That three-man company developed a technology that enables the real-time reporting of user statistics in mobile applications. PlayHaven will implement Staq.io’s system to provide information to its customers on a second-to-second basis.

“It’s our mission to transform data into action through our platform,” PlayHaven chief executive Andy Yang told GamesBeat. “The one piece of the puzzle that we’ve been missing is making our data as real-time as possible.”

Staq.io’s tracking algorithm works instantaneously. Yang gave an example where a single user was tapping away at a game and the information from that action immediately showed up in the developer’s analytic tools.

“The world of mobile moves really fast and changes really fast,” said Yang. “It’s critical for our customers to be able to get the insight into what is going on with their business and to make changes on the fly as quickly as possible.”

Yang says this will provide for more tactical decision-making. Before, developers had to stick to a strategic level of long-term goals. With this new technology, studios can experiment with new user retention and monetization ideas and see results at once.

“We started Staq.io with the goal of bringing valuable insights to developers struggling to make sense of their users and understanding how they want to be engaged,” Staq.io chief executive Massimo Andreasi Bassi said in a statement. “Data is core to every game developer’s success and we’re excited to join forces with PlayHaven where we will continue solving the same set of problems we’re passionate about.”