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Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
Side Note: Since I'm going through a bunch of studios and checking if there's anything new, and you can think of someone where we might be able to glean something meaningful from surface level job postings (you can usually only tell things like genre, business model, multiplayer, that kind of stuff), feel free to ask and I'll see if there's anything interesting.

Job Posting: https://ninjatheory.com/?page_id=2138

Senior Game Analyst – 12 month Fixed-term Contract

Ninja Theory are looking for a talented and experienced Senior Game Analyst to join their award winning studio. You'll be solely responsible for creating and implementing the best data solutions, providing key insights which drive improvements for an unannounced title. This is a great opportunity to make a real impact in our studio, delivering data-driven change.

This role will see you:
  • Leading Ninja Theory's analytics capabilities for an exciting new unannounced project.
  • Working closing with the game development team taking our project through to launch and
  • Once launched, you'll monitor our game performance and core KPIs daily and perform regular deep-dive analyses to investigate player behaviour.
  • Managing our game telemetry and data dashboards
  • Counsel project leaders by identifying risks, potentials and trends
  • Sharing your findings to ensure key insights can drive improvements for the project.
  • You'll need to manage your own workload and priorities to best serve the needs of the project.
Requirements:
  • Fast learner, adaptive to a highly changing business

Also, most of the technical job postings have this appended to them:

• Experience in concurrent systems, such as multi-threading or networking

Edit:

Since some people are asking, it's true that singleplayer only games do analytics reports, but it's not super common to do daily deep dive reporting and try to bring that feedback into the same project, instead of just doing as needed analytics reporting when designing the sequel.

It's also a bit unusual to call out adaptability to a highly changing business if you're making something in a business model mold that's several decades old, though that's much less of a sign than the daily reporting and bringing it back to the same product.
 
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Hey Please

Avenger
Oct 31, 2017
22,824
Not America
Presumably they are now expanding their portfolio after the injection of capital from MS.

Good luck to whatever they are planning on doing next. I simply hope that they have plans for their usual self contained SP experiences.
 

Sonicfan059

Member
Mar 4, 2018
3,024
If it is GaaS, rip NT. Holy crap that would be some major downgrade. NT are best at single player story driven games. I doubt it is GaaS though. MS is smarter than that.
 

Deleted member 18951

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,531
Have high hopes for whatever Ninja Theory produce, especially now with the funding and backing of Microsoft in place.

Wonder when we see it? Also Nirolak, can you summise how many projects they are working on, can you see that info from the different roles you are seeing?
 

sibarraz

Prophet of Regret - One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
18,086
To be fair, if this is a single player game with an MP included I wouldn't mind it, although I think that this will be more like SoT where they are going to add updated through time, after all, they still need to make their games with Game Pass on their mind, so they must have something that makes people play again
 
Mar 23, 2018
2,654
Yeaaaaah, if Ninja Theory is making a GAAS, this would tooooootally be Microsoft's idea; it's not like they would be taking advantage of MS' tools and resources to make a game that they wouldn't be able to do previously, as an independent developer, without the help of someone like MS/Sony/Nintendo/EA/Ubisoft...
 
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Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
NT isnt probably gonna work on one game. They have 3 teams i believe.
Also Nirolak, can you summise how many projects they are working on, can you see that info from the different roles you are seeing?
It's not exactly clear.

Prior to acquisition, they had five teams, but they were talking a lot about potentially putting everyone on one project after they got acquired (they only had ~100 staff, so it wouldn't be ridiculous to do so).

What they actually did... it's not clear based upon their jobs.
 

wapplew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,163
It kinda basic to have user behavior analysis these days, does't mean it will be service type game.
 

SnatcherHunter

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
13,470
Everyone Calm down.....

Am sure NT is still making what they want. Worst case, it would be a game like DMC5 with microtransactions. Everyone still wants to get DMC5, so it doesn't really matter.
 

xrnzaaas

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,125
MS is all over GaaS and the Game Pass launch pushed them even further in that direction, nothing new here.
 

zedox

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,215
LOL at the MS comments.
MS bought the studio a couple months ago and they'll have a game out next year that is GAAS. LOL.
So it's a 12month contract. The job will have the person still working after the game as launched. Deductive reasoning would lead one to believe the game will be coming out next year...
Oh but let's focus on GAAS. LOL.
Also, you can have analysis on behavior for any type of game. It helps to learn what works and what doesn't.
 

bsigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,536
The lack of any monetization terms in the listing doesn't lead me to believe it's necessarily GaaS. Seems more like a general engagement analyst to help NT figure out how people interact with their games and report on that.
 

Dyashen

Member
Dec 20, 2017
5,155
Belgium
I really think some of you shouldn't be jumping to conclusions.
If this means f.e. a hack and slash game with a really well done sp campaign and a multiplayer/coop mode, count me in for sure.
 

jroc74

Member
Oct 27, 2017
28,989
Here we go...

I know it's too early to read anything into this...but isn't this what ppl were afraid of happening?

Hopefully it's not something that takes away from what NT does best.
 

Zappy

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
3,738
Games as a service means games get continued post launch support and support their communities for longer. They are a great thing. And virtually every single game released is now "game as a service" in some respect or another.
 

ToadPacShakur

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,446
Can't wait to see what this is about. A persistent, living world that changes whether you're playing or not (like SoT and Forza Horizon 4) with a campaign you can play alone or co op with friends would be cool.


NT wanted complete freedom as part of the purchase, so this is part of THEIR idea/plans. Let's at least wait for the announcement of this project before you start spouting "oh no Microsoft is ruining Ninja Theory"
 

Deleted member 19924

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,543
Jeez I don't know, maybe Ninja Theory want to have multiplayer as part of their next game. Hardly a cause for concern.
 

Jiraiya

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,270
Here we go...

I know it's too early to read anything into this...but isn't this what ppl were afraid of happening?

Hopefully it's not something that takes away from what NT does best.

I swear y'all are petty. Folk really act developers themselves hate being able to work on their project after release.
 

DMVfan123

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,361
Virginia
Games as a service means games get continued post launch support and support their communities for longer. They are a great thing. And virtually every single game released is now "game as a service" in some respect or another.
THIS
My stance on GaaS: "A game that I purchased and enjoyed is getting more content? AWESOME"
Plus I think ERA is jumping to conclusions, like always
 

Camonna Tong

Member
Mar 2, 2018
1,449
This doesn't automatically imply GasS. Can it? Yes, but that's not always the case.

Anyways, according to their job postings, they have several teams (a couple or so look to just be starting up). For GaaS, you need more than a team of 30.
 

Gestault

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,348
GaaS primarily means ongoing support (ideally with the hope of building player engagement post-launch). It's also a pretty ideal model for longer-term job security for a studio. No, it doesn't inherently mean gatcha or micro-transaction mechanics. It's more common, but it doesn't even need to be multiplayer. I really hope more hobbyists get a grip on these terms.
 

Deleted member 18951

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,531
It's not exactly clear.

Prior to acquisition, they had five teams, but they were talking a lot about potentially putting everyone on one project after they got acquired (they only had ~100 staff, so it wouldn't be ridiculous to do so).

What they actually did... it's not clear based upon their jobs.

Cheers, it is a funny set up they have for sure. Hoping they get all hands on deck for the next game though!

Also, to anyone worrying about Ninja Theory + Xbox + GaaS then have a look at this video to allay any fears you may have..... who am I kidding, fear away lol.

 
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Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
Cheers, it is a funny set up they have for sure. Hoping they get all hands on deck for the next game though!
They basically had four teams on work-for-hire type projects to fund one team on Hellblade.

They were doing stuff like Disney Infinity, random VR projects, or even largely uncredited contract work so they could make one IP they really wanted to do.

Obsidian was similar with Armored Warfare, where they were making that game so they could pitch making AAA RPGs again instead of shrinking down to the size of only doing Pillars of Eternity.
 

Khrol

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,179
The overractions in this thread are hysterical. Most games these days will have GaaS features. Probably best to wait for more info first.
 
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Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
So we're expecting a game from them in the next 12-18 months?
The 12 month contract is probably more that they want to trial the person and not have to necessarily give benefits or severance if they don't work out.

I wouldn't necessarily expect the game within the next 12 months.

For example, Rocksteady had 2 year contract jobs for their next game 4 years ago.
 

memoso

Member
Nov 6, 2017
59
Data analytics doesn't imply gaas, and the job offer don't say anything about monetization.
They will just track the consumer behaviour and that is a common thing used in all industries understand what they users, they could use this info for put microtransactions ( in a gaas) or they could use it as a feedback for a new game . So i think the title of the thread is a little alarmist xD.
 
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see5harp

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
4,435
GaaS primarily means ongoing support (ideally with the hope of building player engagement post-launch). It's also a pretty ideal model for longer-term job security for a studio. No, it doesn't inherently mean gatcha or micro-transaction mechanics. It's more common, but it doesn't even need to be multiplayer. I really hope more hobbyists get a grip on these terms.

Yea, that's true. It doesn't inherently mean that it even has to be multiplayer. Every single dev is going to want analytics about player engagement and interest.