As part of Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #6, AWS Game Tech senior business development manager Marion Finnigan took to the virtual stage to give a talk titled know your players, grow your game: a guide to live ops in the cloud.

Live ops are all about "motivating players to keep coming back."

It's only recently that a lot of talk has surrounded live ops, thanks to titles such as Fortnite and Clash of Clans.

Games that utilise live ops typically start out as a download, and it is worth noting that live ops are great for smaller games, too, not just the Fortnites of the world.

Games that utilise live ops tend to be designed and developed with the service in mind.

Moreover, live ops is all about building communities and introducing live events to the game, thus constantly giving players new content.

By the numbers

To make the most out of live ops, developers must utilise data and analytics as this will highlight areas and features that need altering.

"If you want to know your players and build your game, then data is absolutely crucial," said Finnigan.

It provides insight into what keeps players engaged and what exactly they are spending their money on. Furthermore, it will detail what part is the most interesting to players and which area may be more of a struggle for them.

"You can use analytics to create more engagement and improve the gameplay experience," Finnigan explained when discussing reasons for analytics to be used in live ops.

However, it can also come in handy to sniff out cheats, which will help improve the player experience for those playing the game as intended.

As such, an analytics pipeline is one of several services to be offered by AWS, giving developers access to all data that will prove crucial in having successful live ops.

PGC Digital #6 will run from April 19th to April 23rd. To keep up to date with all of our coverage, check out the roundups here. There's still time to sign up - to find out more and book a ticket, head to the website.