Games Industry Glossary

The games industry has developed its own language - shaped by free-to-play economics, live operations, platform constraints, and data-driven decision making. For those entering the sector, moving between studios, or working with games businesses from adjacent industries, this terminology can be opaque and inconsistently used.

This glossary provides clear, concise definitions of the key terms, metrics, and concepts used across modern games companies. Each entry is written to be practical rather than academic, reflecting how these ideas are used day-to-day by operators, product leaders, commercial teams, and investors.

The glossary is curated by Neon River, an executive search firm specialising in senior leadership roles across games and technology companies. It is designed as a reference resource - updated over time - for anyone seeking a sharper understanding of how the industry actually works.

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Last updated January 2026

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Live Game Operations (Live Ops)

Why it matters

In today’s market, the biggest games aren’t “finished” at launch. They are operated. A growing share of player time and spending is concentrated in long-running, regularly updated titles (think Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Counter-Strike), and industry reporting consistently points to in-game and recurring spend (microtransactions, subscriptions, DLC) as a major revenue driver, particularly on PC.

Live Ops is the discipline of planning and shipping a steady stream of content, time-limited moments, and balance changes that keep a game feeling fresh without destabilising progression or the economy. It sits at the intersection of product, design, data, engineering, community, and commercial teams, and it’s tightly linked to retention and monetisation. Use the terms below as a quick reference for how live teams run that operating cadence.

Live Operations concepts and terms

Term	Definition
Live Games / Games as a Service (GaaS)	A model in which a game is operated as an ongoing service rather than a one-off product. Live games evolve continuously after launch through updates, events, and new content, with revenue driven by long-term engagement rather than upfront sales alone.
Live Ops	The ongoing operational management of a live game after launch. Live ops covers content updates, in-game events, economy tuning, promotions, and technical maintenance, with the goal of sustaining engagement, retention, and revenue over time.
Content Cadence	The planned rhythm at which new content, features, or events are released into a live game. Cadence is a critical lever in live ops, balancing player engagement, development capacity, and the risk of content fatigue or churn.
Event-Driven Design	A design approach in which temporary in-game events form a core part of the player experience. Events are often used to re-engage lapsed players, test new mechanics, and create urgency through time-limited rewards.
Battle Pass	A seasonal progression system that rewards players for completing challenges over a fixed period. Battle passes combine retention and monetisation by encouraging regular play while offering premium reward tracks for paying users.
Player Lifecycle	The stages a player moves through during their time with a game, typically from onboarding to engagement, monetisation, and eventual churn. Live ops strategies are often tailored to different lifecycle stages to maximise long-term value.
Churn	The loss of players over time, usually measured as the percentage of users who stop playing within a given period. Managing churn is a central concern in live games, closely tied to content cadence, game balance, and player satisfaction.
Economy Balancing	The ongoing adjustment of in-game currencies, rewards, and progression systems to maintain fairness, engagement, and monetisation. In live games, economy balancing is a continuous process rather than a one-time design decision.

User Acquisition and Growth

Why it matters

For many free-to-play games, growth is constrained less by demand than by unit economics. Teams can often buy installs at scale, but only if the value generated over time exceeds the cost to acquire them. This is why UA is measured as a system, not a single metric, with CPI, conversion rates, retention, and LTV working together.

Modern UA is also shaped by attribution constraints and privacy changes across mobile platforms. That pushes teams toward cohort analysis, experimentation, creative iteration, and predictive modelling to make scaling decisions. The terms below cover the core language used to plan budgets, evaluate channels, and connect acquisition performance to retention, monetisation, and analytics.

User Acquisition & Growth

Term	Definition
User Acquisition (UA)	The marketing and distribution activities used to bring new players into a game. In mobile free-to-play, UA is typically performance-driven and optimised against CPI, retention, and LTV, with spend scaled based on profitability.
CPI (Cost Per Install)	The average cost to acquire one new install of a game through paid marketing. CPI varies by country, platform, audience, and creative quality, and is meaningful only alongside post-install retention and monetisation.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)	The total cost to acquire a paying customer rather than just an install. In games, CAC is most often used when analysing payer funnels, subscriptions, or premium products.
LTV (Lifetime Value)	The expected revenue generated by a player over their lifetime in a game. LTV is used to determine sustainable UA spend and is often modelled predictively for scaling decisions.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)	The revenue returned for each unit of advertising spend, typically measured over fixed windows such as D7 or D30. ROAS can obscure long-term value if retention is highly back-loaded.
Payback Period	The time required for an acquired cohort to generate enough revenue to repay its acquisition cost. Shorter payback enables faster, lower-risk scaling.
Cohort Analysis	A method of analysing player behaviour by grouping users who share a common start point, such as install date or campaign. Cohorts allow teams to compare retention and monetisation over time.
Attribution	The process of assigning credit for an install or conversion to a marketing touchpoint. Attribution underpins performance UA but is constrained by privacy rules, cross-device behaviour, and platform policies.
SKAdNetwork (SKAN)	Apple’s privacy-focused attribution framework for iOS. SKAN limits user-level tracking and returns delayed, aggregated performance signals, requiring mobile game teams to rely more on modelling, experiments, and creative iteration.
Creative Fatigue	A decline in performance when an ad creative is repeatedly shown to the same audience, leading to higher CPI and lower conversion rates. Managing fatigue requires continuous creative testing and a steady pipeline of new ad variations.

Monetisation and Economy

Why it matters

Monetisation in modern games is a product discipline, not a checkout screen. Revenue is shaped by progression pacing, value perception, and the way currencies and rewards flow through the system. Small changes to offers, pricing, or economy balance can move ARPDAU and LTV quickly, especially in live games.

A well-designed economy supports fair progression while creating reasons to spend. That makes monetisation inseparable from live operations and closely linked to retention and analytics. The terms below cover the core concepts teams use when designing currencies, segmenting spend behaviour, and testing price points.

Monetisation & Economy

Term	Definition
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)	The average revenue generated per user over a defined period, often daily or monthly. In games, ARPU is used to compare monetisation performance across cohorts, geographies, and acquisition sources, and is typically interpreted alongside retention and LTV.
ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User)	The average revenue generated per daily active user on a given day. ARPDAU is a common live game metric because it captures short-term monetisation intensity and can be tracked quickly after changes to pricing, offers, or events.
In-App Purchases (IAP)	Purchases made within a game, typically for virtual currency, items, boosts, or cosmetic content. IAP is a primary monetisation method in free-to-play, where design and economy balance shape payer conversion, spend depth, and long-term retention.
Payer Conversion	The percentage of players who make at least one purchase within a given time period. Payer conversion is influenced by onboarding, offer design, price points, and perceived value, and is often analysed separately for new users versus established players.
Whales / Dolphins / Minnows	Informal segments used to describe spend tiers in free-to-play games. “Whales” are the highest spenders, “dolphins” are mid-tier spenders, and “minnows” spend occasionally. These segments help teams tailor offers, pricing, and content without relying solely on averages.
Soft Currency vs Hard Currency	Soft currency is typically earned through play and used for everyday progression, while hard currency is scarcer and often purchased with real money. The relationship between the two is a core design lever for pacing, value perception, and monetisation.
Sinks and Faucets	“Faucets” are sources that add currency or resources into an economy, while “sinks” remove them through spending or upgrades. Balancing sinks and faucets is essential to prevent inflation, maintain progression tension, and preserve the perceived value of rewards.
Offer Design	The structure and presentation of purchasable bundles, deals, and promotions in a game. Good offer design aligns pricing, timing, and contents with player intent and progression, increasing conversion while avoiding a perception of unfairness or pay-to-win.
Price Elasticity	A measure of how sensitive player spending is to changes in price. In games, elasticity varies by segment, geography, and product type, and is often tested through experiments on price points, bundles, and paywalls to maximise long-term revenue rather than short-term conversion.

Retention and Engagement

Why it matters

Retention is the foundation of a live game. It determines how many players are available for social dynamics, matchmaking, content discovery, and monetisation, and it is often a stronger indicator of long-term health than installs alone. Improving retention can lift every other lever because it increases the time players spend in the experience.

Teams track retention through checkpoints (D1, D7, D30), habit metrics like DAU/MAU, and behavioural signals such as session frequency. The levers that move these numbers often sit in onboarding, core loop design, and live operations, while the downstream impact shows up in monetisation and is validated through analytics.

Retention & Engagement

Term	Definition
Retention	The percentage of players who return to a game after a given period of time. Retention is a foundational metric for live games because it determines the size of the engaged audience available for monetisation, social dynamics, and long-term growth.
D1 / D7 / D30 Retention	Standard retention checkpoints that measure whether players return one day, seven days, or thirty days after install. These milestones help teams diagnose onboarding issues, early drop-off, and the long-term “stickiness” of a game across cohorts and channels.
DAU / MAU	Daily Active Users and Monthly Active Users. DAU captures the number of unique players active on a day, while MAU captures unique players active in a month. Together they are used to understand scale, engagement patterns, and the health of a live game.
DAU/MAU Ratio (Stickiness)	A measure of how frequently monthly users return on a daily basis. A higher DAU/MAU ratio suggests stronger habitual engagement, while a lower ratio can indicate “spiky” usage driven by events, content drops, or occasional play.
Session Length	The amount of time a player spends in the game during a single session. Session length can signal engagement depth, but is genre-dependent and can be affected by friction, loading times, and live ops incentives as much as intrinsic fun.
Session Frequency	How often players open the game within a given time period, such as sessions per day. Frequency is a key input to retention and monetisation in many mobile games, especially those built around daily habits, timed resources, and repeatable loops.
Core Loop	The repeating cycle of actions that forms the backbone of a game’s engagement, such as play a level, earn rewards, upgrade, and repeat. A strong core loop creates momentum and habit, while a weak loop increases churn regardless of content cadence.
Onboarding	The early player experience that teaches the game, reduces friction, and helps new users reach the “aha” moment. Onboarding has outsized impact on D1 and D7 retention, and is often optimised through experimentation and segmentation.
Re-engagement	Efforts to bring back lapsed players through messaging, incentives, or new content, commonly via push notifications, email, or in-game offers. Re-engagement is most effective when timed to player intent and paired with meaningful improvements to the underlying experience.

Platforms and Distribution

Why it matters

Platforms decide how games are discovered, distributed, and monetised. Store rules, ranking systems, featuring, and payment rails shape what is possible commercially, and they can change the economics of a game overnight. For most studios, platform strategy is not just a launch choice. It is an ongoing operating constraint.

Distribution performance is shaped by the mix of paid and organic installs, store conversion, and the signals that feed platform recommendation systems. These factors connect directly to user acquisition, influence monetisation through fees and revenue share, and can add complexity to live operations when a game runs across multiple platforms.

Platforms & Distribution

Term	Definition
Platform Holder	A company that controls a major distribution platform and its rules, economics, and technical standards. In games this typically refers to Apple, Google, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, and increasingly large ecosystem owners with stores, payment rails, and discovery surfaces.
App Store Optimisation (ASO)	The practice of improving a game’s visibility and conversion within app store search and browse experiences. ASO includes keyword strategy, screenshots, video, ratings management, and localisation, and is a core driver of organic installs alongside paid UA.
Organic Installs	Installs that occur without direct paid advertising, typically driven by store discovery, search, featuring, social sharing, or word of mouth. Organic growth is often measured separately because it improves unit economics and can compound when a game achieves strong ranking momentum.
Featuring	Promotion of a game by a platform holder within curated surfaces such as “Editors’ Choice”, store banners, or special collections. Featuring can drive large spikes in installs, but is unpredictable and often tied to seasonality, product quality, localisation, and platform relationships.
Store Algorithm	The ranking and recommendation logic that determines how games are surfaced in store search results and browse placements. Algorithms typically respond to signals such as conversion rate, retention proxies, ratings, velocity of installs, and regional performance.
Revenue Share	The percentage split of revenue between a game developer/publisher and the platform. On major app stores and console storefronts, revenue share shapes unit economics and pricing strategy, especially for subscriptions and high-volume in-app purchases.
IAP Platform Fee	The fee charged by a platform holder for processing in-app purchases through its payment system. Platform fees influence pricing, margins, and promotional strategies, and have become a major strategic and regulatory issue across mobile ecosystems.
Cross-Platform	A game designed to run across multiple platforms such as mobile, PC, and console, often with shared accounts or progression. Cross-platform strategy affects technology choices, live ops complexity, and marketing, but can increase addressable audience and lifetime value.

Genres and Design Models

Why it matters

Genre is not just a label. It sets player expectations about pacing, progression, session length, and the social contract of a game. Design models such as gacha, roguelite runs, or idle progression shape how content is consumed, how difficulty is tuned, and what retention loops make sense.

These choices flow into the rest of the operating model. They influence retention through progression and core loops, affect monetisation through what can be sold without breaking fairness, and determine what live operations looks like in practice. The terms below cover common genre shorthand and the design patterns that sit underneath it.

Genres & Design Models

Term	Definition
RPG (Role-Playing Game)	A genre focused on character progression, stats, equipment, and narrative or world-building. RPG systems often include levelling, skill trees, and loot, and can be single-player or multiplayer. In free-to-play, RPG progression is frequently used to structure long-term retention.
Roguelike / Roguelite	Games built around repeated “runs” with variation and risk. Roguelikes typically emphasise permadeath and procedural generation, while roguelites often include meta-progression that carries over between runs. The structure supports replayability and variety with relatively bounded content.
CCG / TCG	Collectible Card Game and Trading Card Game. These games centre on building decks from a collection of cards with differing abilities and rarity. In digital CCGs, monetisation often comes from packs, crafting systems, cosmetics, and battle passes tied to competitive play.
Gacha	A monetisation mechanic where players spend currency for a chance to receive randomised rewards, often characters or items with varying rarity. Gacha systems are typically supported by event cycles, limited-time banners, and “pity” mechanics designed to manage player frustration and spend.
Idle / Incremental	Games where progress continues with limited active input, often through timers, automation, and compounding upgrades. The appeal is a steady sense of growth with low friction, making idle mechanics common as sub-systems inside broader free-to-play games to drive habitual engagement.
Meta-progression	Progression that persists outside a single match or run, such as permanent upgrades, unlocks, or account-level advancement. Meta-progression creates long-term goals and retention loops, and is common in roguelites, competitive games, and live service titles with seasonal systems.
Pay-to-Win (P2W)	A perception that paying players gain decisive gameplay advantages over non-paying players. P2W risk is a major design and community management issue in competitive and social games, and is often mitigated through cosmetic monetisation, fair matchmaking, and careful economy constraints.
Cosmetic Monetisation	Monetisation based on non-gameplay-affecting items such as skins, emotes, avatars, and visual effects. Cosmetic systems preserve competitive integrity while enabling high spend, and are common in live service games where identity, status, and social signalling drive demand.

Esports and Competitive Gaming

Why it matters

Competitive games live or die on trust. If matchmaking feels unfair, cheating is common, or the meta stagnates, players leave quickly and communities fragment. When competitive integrity is strong, these games can sustain long lifecycles, strong social identity, and high visibility through streaming and organised competition.

Esports sits on top of the underlying game systems. It depends on reliable matchmaking, clear rules, and frequent balancing, and it often increases the complexity of live operations. Competitive ecosystems also influence retention through ranked progression and status, and can support monetisation through cosmetics, passes, and event-driven content. The terms below cover the core language used to run and protect competitive play.

Esports & Competitive Gaming

Term	Definition
Esports	Organised competitive gaming played in leagues, tournaments, or structured ladders, typically supported by broadcasting, sponsorship, and community ecosystems. Esports can be publisher-led or third-party-led, and success depends as much on game design and spectator appeal as on prize pools.
Competitive Integrity	The fairness and trustworthiness of competitive play, including anti-cheat, consistent rules, balanced gameplay, and reliable tournament operations. Integrity is crucial for serious competitive communities because perceived unfairness quickly undermines engagement and long-term viability.
Ranked Ladder	A progression system that places players into skill tiers based on match results and performance. Ranked ladders drive long-term engagement through status and improvement, and they create a measurable path from casual play to competitive play in many multiplayer games.
MMR / Elo	Skill-rating systems used to estimate player strength and support fair matchmaking. “MMR” is a general term for matchmaking rating, while Elo is a specific rating model adapted from chess. These systems help keep matches competitive and reduce churn caused by one-sided games.
Matchmaking	The process of grouping players into matches, usually aiming for fairness, acceptable queue times, and good network quality. Matchmaking often balances skill, party size, region, and latency, and is one of the most sensitive systems in competitive games.
Anti-Cheat	Tools and processes used to detect and prevent cheating in online games, including aim bots, wall hacks, scripting, and account boosting. Anti-cheat combines technical detection with policy enforcement, and is essential for maintaining competitive integrity and player trust.
Metagame (Meta)	The dominant strategies, character picks, builds, or team compositions that emerge as players optimise play. The meta shifts over time due to patches, new content, and player discovery, and managing it is a key part of live balancing in competitive games.
Balance Patch	An update that adjusts gameplay parameters to improve fairness, variety, or overall health of the game. In competitive titles, balance patches are used to prevent stale metas, address overpowered strategies, and maintain spectator interest.
Tournament Ecosystem	The structure of competitions around a game, from grassroots events to professional leagues. Ecosystems can be open (many organisers) or franchised (controlled teams and slots), and they shape player pathways, sponsorship value, and the long-term sustainability of competitive play.

Hardware and Performance

Why it matters

Performance shapes player perception of quality. Frame rate stability, latency, and responsiveness affect comfort and fairness, while crashes, stutter, and long frame times create frustration that can damage retention quickly. Hardware constraints also determine what features and visual targets are realistic across platforms.

These concepts cut across engineering, design, and competitive play. Performance work often supports platform strategy, impacts competitive integrity through latency and tick rate, and can influence retention by keeping sessions smooth and reliable. The terms below cover the core vocabulary used when discussing performance targets and player experience.

Hardware & Performance

Term	Definition
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)	The processor responsible for rendering graphics and running highly parallel workloads. In games, GPU capability strongly affects resolution, visual effects, and frame rate, and is often the limiting factor in performance-heavy scenes compared to CPU or memory constraints.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)	The general-purpose processor that handles game logic, simulation, AI, physics, and many non-graphics tasks. CPU performance influences frame stability and responsiveness, especially in complex scenes with many entities, networking, or heavy simulation.
FPS (Frames Per Second)	The number of frames rendered each second. Higher FPS typically feels smoother and can improve competitive play, while inconsistent FPS creates stutter. Many console games target 30 or 60 FPS, while competitive PC titles often aim higher where hardware allows.
Frame Time	The time taken to render a single frame, usually measured in milliseconds. Frame time consistency matters as much as average FPS: uneven frame times create judder and perceived lag even when headline FPS numbers look acceptable.
Latency	A measure of delay between an input and what the player sees or experiences in-game. Latency can include input latency, network latency, and display latency, and it is particularly important in competitive multiplayer where responsiveness affects performance and fairness.
Tick Rate	The frequency at which a game server updates the game state, usually measured in ticks per second. Higher tick rates can improve responsiveness and hit registration in shooters, but increase server cost and bandwidth requirements.
Resolution	The number of pixels used to display the game image, such as 1080p, 1440p, or 4K. Higher resolution increases visual sharpness but demands more GPU performance, often requiring trade-offs with frame rate or graphical settings.
VRR (Variable Refresh Rate)	A display feature that synchronises a screen’s refresh rate with the game’s frame output, reducing tearing and perceived stutter. VRR can make performance fluctuations feel smoother, especially on consoles and PCs where frame rates vary under load.

Game Development and Production

Why it matters

Production vocabulary is the shared language of how games actually get made. Terms like vertical slice, milestone, build, and roadmap describe how teams reduce risk, align stakeholders, and turn creative intent into a shippable product. When these concepts are misunderstood, planning becomes unstable and quality issues surface late, often at high cost.

Development work also connects to the rest of the operating model. Platform certification affects release timing and live operations, engine and middleware choices shape performance constraints across platforms, and QA quality influences player experience and retention. The terms below cover common development and production language used across studios and publishers.

Game Development & Production

Term	Definition
Game Engine	The underlying software framework used to build and run a game, providing core systems such as rendering, physics, input, audio, animation, and tooling. Engines can be commercial (e.g. Unreal, Unity) or proprietary, and they shape production workflows and technical constraints.
Middleware	Third-party software components used within a game, such as physics, audio, analytics, networking, or ad monetisation SDKs. Middleware can accelerate development but adds dependencies, licensing costs, and integration complexity that must be managed across platforms.
Build	A compiled, runnable version of a game created from the current code and assets. Teams create frequent builds for testing and review, and production pipelines often include automated build systems to reduce errors and ensure consistent releases across devices and platforms.
Vertical Slice	A highly polished section of a game that demonstrates the intended quality and experience, often used for internal alignment, funding, or milestone sign-off. A vertical slice is not the full game, but it should represent the target level of art, gameplay, and performance.
Milestone	A defined delivery checkpoint in development, often tied to a scope of features, content, or quality targets. Milestones are used to plan production, manage publisher relationships, and control risk, but can become counterproductive if they reward “paper progress” over real playability.
Crunch	Sustained periods of overtime used to hit deadlines in game development. Crunch is controversial because it can harm team wellbeing and long-term productivity, and it often reflects planning issues, late scope changes, or production processes that do not surface risk early enough.
QA (Quality Assurance)	The discipline of testing a game to identify bugs, usability issues, performance problems, and edge cases. QA can include manual testing, automated tests, compatibility testing across devices, and structured processes for reproduction steps and prioritisation.
Certification (Console Cert)	The approval process required by console platform holders before a game can be released or updated. Certification checks technical requirements, stability, and compliance with platform rules, and it introduces lead times that affect release planning and live ops cadence.
Roadmap	A forward-looking plan outlining upcoming features, content, and major workstreams over time. Roadmaps help align teams and stakeholders, but in live games they are typically treated as directional rather than fixed, as priorities shift based on data, performance, and player feedback.

Publishing and Business Models

Why it matters

Publishing is the commercial operating layer around a game. It determines how development is funded, how risk is shared, who controls distribution and marketing, and how revenues flow between studios, platforms, and IP holders. The structure chosen affects everything from production timelines and creative control to long-term upside.

Business models also connect directly to the rest of the glossary. Platform fees and storefront terms shape unit economics in distribution, live publishing relies on tight integration between UA, live operations, and monetisation, and the resulting performance is validated through analytics. The terms below cover common structures used by publishers and developers to finance, launch, and operate games.

Publishing & Business Models

Term	Definition
Publisher	A company that supports the development, marketing, distribution, and operation of a game. Publishers may provide funding, UA, platform relationships, live ops expertise, and operational scale in exchange for revenue share, ownership, or control.
Developer	The studio or team responsible for building the game itself, including design, engineering, art, and production. Developers may be independent, publisher-owned, or work under contract, and their commercial risk varies significantly by business model.
First-Party vs Third-Party	First-party games are developed or published by a platform holder for its own ecosystem, while third-party games are produced independently and distributed across platforms. The distinction affects funding, exclusivity, economics, and platform support.
Advance & Recoup	A common publishing structure where the publisher provides upfront funding (the advance) which is later recouped from game revenues before profits are shared. Recoup terms strongly influence developer risk, cash flow, and long-term upside.
Revenue Share Model	An agreement defining how revenues are split between parties such as developers, publishers, and IP holders. Revenue shares vary widely based on funding, risk, platform fees, and operational responsibility.
IP Licensing	The use of an existing intellectual property, such as a film, TV, or sports franchise, under licence. Licensed IP can accelerate awareness but introduces royalties, approval constraints, and dependency on external brand holders.
Exclusivity	An agreement restricting a game to a specific platform or storefront for a defined period or permanently. Exclusivity can provide funding or promotion but reduces addressable audience and long-term distribution flexibility.
Live Publishing	A publishing model focused on operating and growing a game after launch through UA, live ops, analytics, and monetisation optimisation. Live publishers often run portfolios of games and scale successful titles aggressively based on data.

Data, Analytics and Experimentation

Why it matters

Modern games are operated through measurement. Analytics turns player behaviour into signals that teams can act on, from onboarding drop-off to economy health and content performance. Without a reliable data layer, it is easy to mistake noise for insight and optimise locally while damaging long-term value.

Experimentation is how teams reduce uncertainty. Cohorts, segmentation, funnels, and A/B testing help isolate causality and quantify trade-offs between retention, monetisation, and acquisition. In live games, analytics also underpins live operations by showing what content, changes, and offers are actually moving the metrics that matter.

Data, Analytics & Experimentation

Term	Definition
Cohort	A group of players who share a common starting point or characteristic, such as install date, acquisition channel, or geography. Cohort analysis helps teams compare retention, monetisation, and behaviour over time, and isolate the impact of product changes or UA shifts.
Segmentation	The practice of dividing players into meaningful groups based on attributes or behaviour, such as spend tier, engagement depth, skill, or progression stage. Segmentation enables targeted experiences, more accurate analysis, and better decision-making than relying on overall averages.
Funnel	A sequence of steps players move through, such as install → tutorial → first session → first purchase. Funnel analysis identifies drop-off points and friction, helping teams improve onboarding, conversion, and retention by focusing on the specific stage where players disengage.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)	A metric used to track performance against a goal, such as retention, ARPDAU, conversion, or crash rate. In games, good KPIs balance short-term responsiveness with long-term outcomes, avoiding optimisation that improves one metric while damaging player value elsewhere.
A/B Test	An experiment that compares two variants of a feature, offer, or flow by randomly assigning players to different groups. A/B testing helps teams make decisions based on measured impact rather than opinion, and is widely used in onboarding, pricing, and live ops design.
Control Group	The group in an experiment that does not receive the new change, used as a baseline for comparison. Control groups help isolate causality by showing what would have happened without the intervention, reducing the risk of misattributing natural variation to a product update.
Statistical Significance	A measure of whether an observed result is likely due to a real effect rather than random chance. In experimentation, significance helps teams avoid false positives, but must be interpreted alongside effect size, power, and practical impact on player experience and revenue.
LTV Modelling	The process of estimating future revenue from players based on early signals such as retention, conversion, and spend patterns. LTV models support UA decisions by predicting whether cohorts will be profitable, but they require careful calibration and constant validation as behaviour changes.
Attribution	The method used to assign credit for an install or conversion to a marketing source, such as a network, campaign, or creative. Attribution underpins performance UA, but is complicated by privacy changes, probabilistic methods, and the difference between click-based and view-through influence.

Industry Structure and Roles

Why it matters

The games industry is organised around a set of recurring structures. Studios, publishers, platform holders, and service partners combine in different ways depending on budget, risk appetite, and the type of game being built. Understanding these structures makes it easier to interpret strategy, funding arrangements, and who actually owns delivery and outcomes.

Roles and organisational models also shape how work gets done day-to-day. Co-development and outsourcing affect production workflows, central services can change how functions like UA and analytics are run, and live ops teams sit at the intersection of operations, monetisation, and retention. The terms below provide a quick reference for common structures and leadership roles across games companies.

Industry Structure & Roles

Term	Definition
Game Studio	An organisation responsible for developing games, ranging from small independent teams to large, multi-project studios. Studios may be independent, publisher-owned, or part of larger groups, and their structure often reflects the scale and complexity of their games.
Indie Studio	A small, typically independent game studio that self-funds or uses limited external support. Indie studios often prioritise creative control and efficiency, but face higher commercial risk and resource constraints compared to publisher-backed teams.
Co-development	A collaborative model where multiple studios share responsibility for building a game. Co-development is common in large productions and live games, allowing teams to scale capacity, access specialist skills, and accelerate delivery without fully internalising headcount.
Outsourcing	The use of external partners for specific tasks such as art production, QA, localisation, or porting. Outsourcing helps studios manage costs and flexibility, but requires strong production oversight to maintain quality and consistency.
Producer	A role focused on planning, coordination, and delivery. Producers manage schedules, scope, dependencies, and communication across disciplines, helping teams balance creative ambition with practical constraints.
Game Director	The role responsible for the overall creative vision of a game, including gameplay, tone, and player experience. Game directors align design, art, and technology around a coherent vision and make high-level trade-offs when priorities conflict.
Technical Director	A senior technical leader responsible for architecture, performance, tooling, and technical standards. Technical directors bridge creative goals and engineering reality, ensuring the game can scale, ship, and operate reliably.
Live Ops Team	A cross-functional group responsible for operating a game after launch. Live ops teams typically include product, design, engineering, analytics, and marketing expertise, and focus on retention, monetisation, content cadence, and service reliability.
Central Services	Shared teams or functions that support multiple studios or games within a group, such as analytics, UA, platform relations, technology, or HR. Central services create efficiency and consistency, but must balance standardisation with individual team autonomy.

Wrapping up

Games is a fast-moving industry, and the same term can mean slightly different things depending on platform, genre, and business model. The goal of this glossary is to make the language more consistent and practical, so teams can align faster and make better decisions.

If you think we have missed a term, or you want to suggest a clearer definition, you can use the “Suggest a term” button at the top of the page. We will keep updating this page over time as the industry evolves.