Live game operations (Live Ops)

Live Operations (Live Ops) is a style of game management and operations that treats a game as a live service and continually delivers new features, updates, promotions, in-game events, and improvements to the launched game to improve the experience for the player community.

Traditionally, games were delivered as products rather than services, and new content and features were frequently incorporated into subsequent releases or sequels rather than into the launched product. With a Live Ops approach to game management, a game operations team can launch a game and maintain an engaged player community through experimentation, promotions, in-game events, and new innovations to keep players entertained. Although this approach has the benefit of unlocking new player engagement strategies and delivering recurring revenue streams, it requires more operational expertise. For example, to implement a successful Live Ops strategy, a developer might need to integrate with cloud services or operate their own backend technical infrastructure, and require an effective way to identify and respond to issues that arise in the game, or within the player community, that can negatively impact the player experience.