Introducing: Benchmarks
- June 6, 2023
- 2:29 pm
We are introducing the new benchmark feature on Steam Data Suite! These benchmarks allow you to compare your game’s key performance indicators (KPI’s) to that of other, similar games on Steam.
How to use it
The Game dashboard has a new design, visualising that it is reporting on the funnel from impressions, via visits to conversions. In some KPI cards you will see a newly added number in grey. This is the difference between your KPI value and the benchmark value. It tells you how much better or worse your game performed compared to similar games.
By clicking on this number, you can see more details about the benchmark, like the segment your game sits in, what the actual benchmark value is, and how many games we used to calculate it.
How does it work?
To get these benchmark numbers, we first categorise all our clients games into segments. These are segments we know perform very differently from one another. Within a segment all games are expected to perform similarly. This division into segments makes sure the benchmarks relevant for your game, much more so than the ‘average of all of Steam’.
When you load the page, we calculate the benchmarks of the segment your game is in for the active time frame. It’s quite important to take the time into account, since the benchmarks vary wildly due to, for example, large, Steam-wide discounts. We also make sure each segment is always large enough to ensure that the benchmarks are actually helpful, and to make sure they can never be deduced to a specific game or for example a specific publisher.
The future for Steam benchmarks
Currently there are 17 benchmark segments, based on game performance of nearly 6,000 games. As our data pool grows, we can make the segments even more specific, and with that the benchmarks more relevant.
Besides the relevance, we will also grow the number of KPI’s that we benchmark. It seems valuable to provide benchmarks for campaign performance and visibility in general.