ThinkingEngine, a Next-Gen Game Big Data Intelligence Engine, Launched by ThinkingData

2022 marked the seventh year since ThinkingData's founding and the third edition of the Game Data-Driven Conference. Over these years, we've witnessed firsthand how data propels gaming businesses forward, while continually exploring how to unlock even greater value from it.

At the 2022 Game Data-Driven Conference, Jin Zhou, co-founder and CTO of ThinkingData, officially unveiled ThinkingEngine, the next-generation gaming big data intelligence engine. The following is a detailed recap of his presentation at the conference (abridged and edited for clarity).

ThinkingAnalytics: Taking Data Analytics to the Extreme

Before introducing our new product, let's briefly revisit the TA system. At its core, TA is built around Analytics — data analysis. For the past five years, our team has been deeply focused on gaming data analysis, with the goal of taking it to the absolute extreme.

Since we launched TA 1.0 in May 2018, the product has gone through 30 iterations. From testing to launch to long-term operations, the TA system supports analytical needs across the entire game lifecycle.

As gaming data analysis has moved into deeper waters, we've encountered increasingly sophisticated and complex analytical demands from our clients. To meet these needs, we've continued to deepen our expertise in data analysis, rolling out many advanced application scenarios.

For example, last year we introduced object and object group data models at the infrastructure level. These enable highly complex behavioral data collection, supporting intricate analytical scenarios such as analyzing hero lineup compositions in battle. A year earlier, we launched a multi-ID recognition system that allows gaming companies to switch seamlessly between character, account, and device-level granularity for LTV and ROI analysis.

Beyond depth, we've also worked to expand the breadth of our data analysis. We've distilled analytical needs across many sub-genres, enabling data analysis to cover all game categories with specialized solutions.

After years of iteration, our products and services now cover virtually all gaming data analysis scenarios. So we've been in ongoing conversations with clients about how to further unlock data's value for gaming companies.

From TA to TE: From Data Analysis to Closed-Loop Application

**

Analysis is indeed an effective way to extract value from data. But how to efficiently apply analytical conclusions in real business scenarios is another core challenge. Data is about more than analysis. This is the underlying logic behind our product strategy upgrade, and why we're evolving from ThinkingAnalytics to ThinkingEngine.

At the application level, this directly reflects what we've observed: many clients want to build their own data application loops on top of data analysis.

The TA system's core strength is providing comprehensive data analysis across all gaming scenarios. Because a key characteristic is private deployment, it naturally sits close to clients' business systems at the physical layer. Clients can also use the built-in open platform functionality, invest some development resources, and connect the system to their internal business systems — forming a refined operations application loop.

When we learned that clients were attempting such loops, we asked ourselves: this approach requires development investment, and because the two systems remain decoupled, the overall chain is quite long. What if our team could close the data application loop internally, helping clients achieve streamlined, one-stop refined operations? This would let clients focus on the game business itself and better extract data value.

Beyond data application loops, clients frequently ask us: How do we implement data tracking? How do we connect marketing data with operations data? How does data actually guide business decisions?

So for us, the question became how to help clients with data governance at the product and technology level, enabling data-driven growth in gaming business. Meanwhile, larger clients with multiple game projects wanted to use our products to consolidate their internal data application expertise and elevate their overall data-driven capabilities.

ThinkingEngine: The Next-Generation Gaming Big Data Intelligence Engine

**

Based on all this thinking, we decided on a major product upgrade this year. Following the current 3.8 release, we'll soon launch version 4.0, with the product name evolving from the familiar ThinkingAnalytics to ThinkingEngine (TE). The upgraded TE closes the loop between gaming data analysis and refined operations, delivering one-stop gaming data application services.

TE's powerful user tagging and profiling capabilities enable efficient, personalized player segmentation within games — the foundation of refined operations. TE also provides flexible audience segmentation, allowing teams to quickly define target audiences through tag combinations and behavioral paths, then reach them through full-scenario touchpoints with comprehensive performance evaluation.

Combined with TE's robust player behavioral analysis, teams can conduct deeper insight analysis and more thoroughly evaluate campaign effectiveness, forming a positive closed loop of data-driven refined gaming operations.

A central highlight here is gaming big data intelligent operations — using data combined with operational methods to drive business growth. TE provides automated operations tools to help gaming teams build operational strategy systems, improving operational workflow efficiency through full-scenario coverage and driving growth across operational scenarios.

Beyond intelligent operations, within the product ecosystem we'll connect the complete data loop from marketing data to user behavioral analysis to gaming intelligent operations, covering all gaming data scenarios. TE already supports data integration from over 30 third-party marketing platforms, connecting marketing-side and in-game user behavioral data to form a complete player data loop that improves campaign effectiveness and ultimate ROI.

** Packaging One-Stop Data Application Capabilities

Beyond application capabilities, let's return to client needs: how to implement and apply these data capabilities? Only solutions that combine product capabilities with actual business scenarios generate real value. So within the TE product ecosystem, we've introduced packaged, ready-to-deploy functionality for gaming data analysis and operations scenarios.

What do we mean by packaged and ready-to-deploy? We bundle data-related application scenarios into scenario boxes. These boxes can contain years of ThinkingData's industry expertise, or a client's own internal knowledge — this bundling is the "packaging."

Once delivered, clients can import these scenario boxes into TE with one click — the "deployment." This automatically generates everything from underlying data tracking to upper-level gaming operational strategies within TE. After game launch, all data application scenarios are automatically operational.

This approach lets clients rapidly build analysis and operations scenarios, quickly replicating ThinkingData's years of industry expertise. For larger enterprises, it also enables rapid replication across projects, forming unified internal operational analysis systems.

Regarding TE's upgraded architecture: at the foundation, we're building a cloud-native base, leveraging cloud-native capabilities to help clients reduce costs and improve efficiency.

On top of this, we're building a gaming industry big data infrastructure platform, providing a suite of data platform capabilities. Combined with the system's private deployment characteristics, these platform capabilities are packaged as a unified underlying open platform.

At the top level, we'll continue building essential gaming industry data applications: behavioral analysis, intelligent operations, and various data applications that drive gaming business growth — creating a one-stop big data application platform.

To summarize: through the newly launched ThinkingEngine, we aim to build industry-leading big data infrastructure, package one-stop data application capabilities, consolidate advanced gaming industry data application expertise, and create a gaming data intelligence engine that helps clients deeply extract data value, enabling continuous data-driven growth in gaming business and making data value truly accessible.

Check out conference highlights and relive the moments** Detailed agenda content from the "2022 Game Data-Driven Conference" will continue to be published on the ThinkingData WeChat official account. Stay tuned.