How do you replace your game analytics provider without losing your player data history?

Most studios do not plan to change analytics provider. It usually happens because the provider is shutting down, the pricing no longer works at their player numbers, or the tool cannot answer the questions the live ops team now needs answered. Whatever the reason, the hard part is the same. Years of player data, dashboards and reports sit inside a system you are about to leave, and the people who use them every day still need answers while the move happens.

We went through this with a AAA studio whose analytics provider closed ahead of their launch. We delivered a full AWS data platform for them in under four months, with data flowing in close to real time from day one. This post covers how to approach the same kind of move.

What do you risk losing when you switch analytics providers?

The raw event data is the obvious part, and most providers offer some form of export. The less obvious parts are often the ones that hurt:

• Event definitions and the history of how they changed, which you need to read old data correctly
• Derived metrics such as retention cohorts, session lengths and lifetime value, which may be calculated inside the provider's tool
• Dashboards and scheduled reports that producers, product managers and finance teams rely on
• Integrations with other tools, such as ad attribution, CRM or player support

If you only export the raw events, you may find months later that nobody can reproduce last year's retention figures, which makes it very hard to tell whether a new season is performing better or worse.

How should you plan the migration?

Start with an inventory

List every event the game sends, every report people use and every tool that reads from the analytics system. Talk to the teams who use the data, because they will know about the spreadsheet that finance builds from a weekly export or the alert the live ops team watches during events. This list becomes your definition of done.

Get the history out early

If the provider is closing, export everything as soon as you can, in the most complete format they offer. Store it somewhere you control, such as cloud object storage, before you decide what the new platform will look like. Exports from a closing service can get slower or less reliable near the end.

Decide what the new platform needs to do

This is where you choose between another hosted provider and a platform you own. A platform on your own cloud account, built on services such as AWS, gives you full control of the data and can be shaped around your game. A hosted tool can be quicker to start with. The right choice depends on your data volumes, how much custom analysis your teams do, compliance needs and whether you have people to run it.

Run old and new side by side

Where you can, send events to both systems for a period. That lets you compare numbers directly and fix differences before anyone depends on the new platform. If the old provider has already gone, you can still validate by loading historical exports into the new system and checking that key reports match what people remember seeing.

Rebuild the reports people actually use

Start with the reports on your inventory that teams check daily, and get sign-off from the people who own them. Less used reports can follow. Some will turn out to be unused, which is a good chance to tidy up.

Cut over and keep the history connected

Once the numbers match and teams are working from the new platform, switch off the old feed. Historical data should sit in the same platform as new data, mapped to the current event definitions, so anyone can look at a trend across the whole life of the game.

How long does a game analytics migration take?

It depends on the volume of data, how many reports need rebuilding and whether there is a hard deadline. Our AWS data platform for a AAA launch took under four months from start to live data, and that included building the pipelines and storage from scratch. Smaller migrations onto an existing platform can be quicker.

How Terminal Velocity helps with data modernization

Terminal Velocity builds data platforms, telemetry and observability tools, and handles analytics migrations for game studios. When we move a studio off an older or discontinued analytics tool, we keep the historical data and existing reports working so teams do not lose sight of how the game has performed. Our platforms deliver data in close to real time to the engineers, analysts, producers and product managers who use it.

If your analytics provider is closing or no longer fits, see our data modernization work or start a conversation with us.

FAQ

Can we keep our historical data when we change analytics provider?

Yes, as long as you export it while you still have access. The data then needs to be mapped to your current event definitions in the new platform so old and new data can be compared.

Should we build our own data platform or move to another provider?

Building on your own cloud account gives you control of the data and room for custom analysis. Another provider can be faster to set up. Data volume, compliance requirements and the team you have to run it usually decide it.

Can Terminal Velocity build a data platform on AWS?

Yes. We delivered a full AWS data platform for a AAA launch in under four months after the studio's analytics provider closed.

How do we make sure the numbers match after the move?

Run both systems in parallel where possible and compare the reports your teams rely on most. Where the old system is already gone, load the historical exports and check them against known figures.