What should you measure after launch?
Build the reporting brief before the first player arrives.
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Measurement starts before the experience is built. Decide which player actions would show that the idea worked, then make sure the game and reporting plan can capture them. This keeps the post-launch report tied to the campaign job.
Use a short measurement brief that the brand, media team, studio and platform partners can all read. Agree on definitions before anyone builds a dashboard.
Turn the objective into behaviour
Replace broad goals with actions the experience can observe. “Awareness” might become arriving in the world and reaching the core brand moment. “Consideration” might become completing a product-led quest or choosing to interact with a character more than once. These are planning examples; the right behaviour depends on the campaign and design.
- What is the first meaningful action after arrival?
- What does completion mean inside this experience?
- Which action suggests interest beyond accidental exposure?
Map the player path
Lay out the path from discovery to the final campaign action. Your project may use only part of it.
- ImpressionThe player sees the campaign: an ad, a post or the experience in a game list.
- VisitThe player opens the experience.
- ArrivalThe player loads in and can move.
- Meaningful interactionThe player does the first thing the brand idea depends on.
- CompletionThe player reaches the end state you defined.
- ReturnThe player comes back in a later session.
- External actionWhere the platform permits it, the player takes the campaign action outside the game.
Give every stage a plain definition and a denominator. A completion rate based on visitors tells a different story from one based on players who started the activity.
Plan the events before launch
For each measure, write the event name, trigger, properties and owner. Test the events in a release candidate and check that repeat actions, reconnects and idle players behave as expected.
Plan this with Petrex
Bring the campaign objective before the build starts and we’ll map it to player actions the game can record.
Read measures together
A single number rarely explains the experience. Reach needs arrival and participation for context. Time spent needs progression or completed actions. Returns need a reason, such as new content, social play or unfinished progress. Compare the pattern with the campaign plan and creative choices rather than applying an unrelated benchmark.
Measurement brief checklist
- Campaign objective and the player behaviour linked to it
- Player path with a definition for every stage
- Primary measures, supporting measures and denominators
- Event triggers, properties and reporting owner
- Quality checks for repeats, reconnects and idle sessions
- Platform, privacy and data-access constraints
- Reporting dates and the decisions each report should support
- A space for qualitative observations from players and moderators
Keep the report useful
End the report with decisions. Record what players did, where they dropped away, which creative choices may explain the pattern and what the team will change or test next. Keep open questions visible. A clear limitation is more useful than a precise-looking answer the data cannot support.
Plan it with Petrex
Plan the measurement with the build.
Bring the campaign objective. We’ll shape the experience around the player actions that show whether it worked.