Event Tracking

GameAnalytics features the following event types:

Event	Description
Ad	Ads shown and clicked, fill rate.
Business	In-App Purchases supporting receipt validation on GA servers.
Design	Submit custom event id’s. Useful for tracking metrics specifically needed for your game.
Error	Submit exception stack traces or custom error messages.
Health	Automatically submits health metrics related to your game such as FPS.
Impression	Impression data from different ad networks
Progression	Level attempts with Start, Fail & Complete event.
Resource	Managing the flow of virtual currencies - like gems or lives

tip

Business

Business events are used to track (and validate) real-money transactions.

Many games are hacked and distributed illegally. Hacking an app will often involve faking/simulating all purchase requests. This will result in several Business events being sent to GameAnalytics for transactions that never occurred.

GameAnalytics provide the option of receipt validation for each purchase sent to GA servers. This process can ensure that revenue metrics reflect the actual spending in your game.

Some configuration is needed before receipt validation will be active.

tip

Read information about validation and requirements for different platforms here.

Getting receipts

To get receipts from In-App purchases in Android and iOS please look this integration guide and especially look here as you need the IAP receipts to send with your business events. Android

Android Receipt

When submitting a Business Event supply the following from the IAP procedure:

receipt (INAPP_PURCHASE_DATA)
signature (INAPP_DATA_SIGNATURE)

tip

Read more about retrieving these needed fields at the Google documentation here.

Add a business event when an in-app purchase is completed (Google Play Store only supported at the moment).

var devicePlatform = device.platform;

if (devicePlatform === "Android") {
  // Android - Google Play
  GameAnalytics.addBusinessEvent({
    currency: "USD",
    amount: 100,
    itemType: "boost",
    itemId: "megaBoost",
    cartType: "shop",
    receipt: "",
    signature: "",
  });
}

if (devicePlatform === "iOS") {
  // iOS - with receipt
  GameAnalytics.addBusinessEvent({
    currency: "USD",
    amount: 100,
    itemType: "boost",
    itemId: "megaBoost",
    cartType: "shop",
    receipt: "",
  });
  // iOS - with autoFetchReceipt
  GameAnalytics.addBusinessEvent({
    currency: "USD",
    amount: 100,
    itemType: "boost",
    itemId: "megaBoost",
    cartType: "shop",
    autoFetchReceipt: true,
  });
}

Field	Type	Description	Example
currency	string	Currency code in ISO 4217 format.	USD
amount	integer	Amount in cents.	99 is 0.99$
itemType	string	The type / category of the item.	GoldPacks
itemId	string	Specific item bought.	1000GoldPack
cartType	string	The game location of the purchase. Max 10 unique values.	EndOfLevel
receipt	base64 string	The transaction receipt. Null allowed.	null
signature	base64 string	The transaction receipt signature. Null allowed.	null

caution

If the receipt/signature is null (or is an invalid receipt) then it will be submitted to the GA server but will register as not validated.

info

The encoding of the receipt will be done by the GameAnalytics native Android library.

iOS receipt

Field	Type	Description	Example
currency	string	Currency code in ISO 4217 format.	USD
amount	integer	Amount in cents.	99 is 0.99$
itemType	string	The type / category of the item.	GoldPacks
itemId	string	Specific item bought.	1000GoldPack
cartType	string	The game location of the purchase. Max 10 unique values.	EndOfLevel
receipt	base64 string	The transaction receipt. Null allowed.	null

caution

If the receipt is null (or is an invalid receipt) then the GA servers will register that amount as not validated. Business event with auto fetch receipt (iOS7+)

Using an alternative method it is possible to let the SDK retrieve the receipt automatically when called directly after a successful in-app purchase.

// iOS - with autoFetchReceipt
GameAnalytics.addBusinessEvent({
  currency: "USD",
  amount: 100,
  itemType: "boost",
  itemId: "megaBoost",
  cartType: "shop",
  autoFetchReceipt: true,
});

Using this method on iOS6.x devices will cause the business event to be ignored. When supporting iOS6 you should retrieve and specify receipt manually.

tip

For more information on Business Events go here.

Custom Event Fields

It is possible to use a set of key-value pairs to add extra fields but it will only be available through raw data export. Here is an example of how to use it:

var fields = {
  test: 100,
  test_2: "hello_world",
};

GameAnalytics.addBusinessEvent({
  currency: "USD",
  amount: 100,
  itemType: "boost",
  itemId: "megaBoost",
  cartType: "shop",
  autoFetchReceipt: true,
  customFields: JSON.stringify(fields),
});

Ad Events

The GameAnalytics ad event needs to be called when certain events happen for the implemented ad sdk’s. An ad sdk has callback methods activating code when certain things are activated (like ad show or ad clicked).

To use the ad event it is need to call the GameAnalytics SDK when these delegates are called.

Rewarded Videos

Showing a rewarded video

If a rewarded video has failed to be shown due to some reason, you can track this by using the following method:

if (rewardedVideoAd != null && rewardedVideoAd.isLoaded())
{
    // ...show ad
}
else
{
    GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
        adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.FailedShow,
        adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.RewardedVideo,
        adSdkName: "admob",
        adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]"
    });
}

Tracking rewards

Once the player has finished watching the video, you can use the following method to register that the reward has been received:

function onRewarded(reward) {
  // send ad event - reward recieved
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.RewardReceived,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.RewardedVideo,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

And subsequently track that the rewarded ad has been closed:

function onRewardedVideoCompleted() {
  if (that.get().currentRewardedVideoPlacement != null) {
    GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
      adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Show,
      adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.RewardedVideo,
      adSdkName: "admob",
      adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
    });
  }
}

Interstitials

Showing an Interstitial Ad

If the ad has failed to load or be shown due to some reason, it is recommended to track it using the following method:

if (interstitialAd != null && interstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
  interstitialAd.show();
} else {
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.FailedShow,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Interstitial,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

If the interstitial has been showed succesfully it can be tracked by using the next method:

function onAdOpened() {
  // send ad event
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Show,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Interstitial,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

Tracking Interstitial Clicks

You can track if an user has clicked an interstitial ad and has subsequently left the application to visit the advertiser's site with the following method:

function onAdLeftApplication() {
  // send ad event
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Clicked,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Interstitial,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

In similiar fashion to rewarded video ads & interstitial ads, you can track if the ad has been shown succesfully or not. The example below will show how you could track this:

function onAdLoaded() {
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Show,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Banner,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

And if the banner has failed to load:

function onAdFailedToLoad(int errorCode) {
    // OR .. if you don't want to track errors
    GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
        adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.FailedShow,
        adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Banner,
        adSdkName: "admob",
        adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]"
    });
}

You can track if an user has clicked a banner ad by sending a GAAdAction.Clicked event as shown below:

function onAdOpened() {
  // send ad event
  GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
    adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Clicked,
    adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Banner,
    adSdkName: "admob",
    adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  });
}

Custom Ad Event Fields

It is possible to use a set of key-value pairs to add extra fields but it will only be available through raw data export. Here is an example of how to use it:

var fields = {
  test: 100,
  test_2: "hello_world",
};

GameAnalytics.addAdEvent({
  adAction: GameAnalytics.EGAAdAction.Clicked,
  adType: GameAnalytics.EGAAdType.Banner,
  adSdkName: "admob",
  adPlacement: "[AD_PLACEMENT_OR_UNIT_ID]",
  customFields: JSON.stringify(fields),
});

Field	Type	Description	Example
adAction	enum	A defined enum for ad action (for example clicked).	GAAdAction.Clicked GAAdAction.Show GAAdAction.FailedShow GAAdAction.RewardReceived
adType	enum	A defined enum for ad type (for example interstitial).	GAAdType.Video GAAdType.RewardedVideo GAAdType.Playable GAAdType.Interstitial GAAdType.OfferWall GAAdType.Banner
adSdkName	string	Name of the Ad/Ad mediation SDK.	admob
adPlacement	string	Identifier of ad in the game or the placement of it.	level_complete_ad
adPlacement	string	Identifier of ad in the game or the placement of it.	level_complete_ad
duration	int	Optional. Only used for video ads to track how long the user watched the video for.	10
noAdReason	enum	Optional. Used to track the reason for not being able to show an ad when needed (for example no fill).	GAAdError.Unknown GAAdError.Offline GAAdError.NoFill GAAdError.InternalError GAAdError.InvalidRequest GAAdError.UnableToPrecache

tip

For more information on Ad Events go here

Resource Events

Resource events are used to register the flow of your in-game economy (virtual currencies) – the sink (subtract) and the source (add) for each virtual currency.

caution

Before calling the resource event it is needed to specify what discrete values can be used for currencies and item types in the Configuration phase.

Source (add)

Source (add) gem currency from an in-app purchase.

GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Source,
  currency: "Gems",
  amount: 400,
  itemType: "IAP",
  itemId: "Coins400",
});

Sink (subtract)

Sink (subtract) example of substracting a Gem currency to buy an item.

GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Sink,
  currency: "Gems",
  amount: 400,
  itemType: "IAP",
  itemId: "Coins400",
});

Sink (subtract) gem currency to source (buy) some amount of another virtual currency.

GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Sink,
  currency: "Gems",
  amount: 100,
  itemType: "Boosters",
  itemId: "BeamBooster5Pack",
});
GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Source,
  currency: "BeamBooster",
  amount: 5,
  itemType: "Gems",
  itemId: "BeamBooster5Pack",
});

Sink (subtract) 3 BeamBooster currency that were used during a level.

GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Sink,
  currency: "BeamBooster",
  amount: 3,
  itemType: "Gameplay",
  itemId: "BeamBooster5Pack",
});

Custom Resource Event Fields

It is possible to use a set of key-value pairs to add extra fields but it will only be available through raw data export. Here is an example of how to use it:

var fields = {
  test: 100,
  test_2: "hello_world",
};

GameAnalytics.addResourceEvent({
  flowType: GameAnalytics.EGAResourceFlowType.Sink,
  currency: "BeamBooster",
  amount: 3,
  itemType: "Gameplay",
  itemId: "BeamBooster5Pack",
  customFields: JSON.stringify(fields),
});

Field	Type	Required	Description
flowType	enum	yes	Add (source) or subtract (sink) resource.
currency	string	yes	One of the available currencies set in GA_Settings (Setup tab).This string can only contain [A-Za-z] characters.
amount	float	yes	Amount sourced or sunk.
itemType	string	yes	One of the available item types set in GA_Settings (Setup tab).
itemId	string	yes	Item id (string max length = 32)

danger

Be careful to not call the resource event too often! In a game where the user collect coins fairly fast you should not call a Source event on each pickup. Instead you should count the coins and send a single Source event when the user either complete or fail the level.

tip

For more information on Resource Events go here.

Progression Events

Progression events are used to track attempts at completing some part of a game (level, area). A defined area follow a 3 tier hierarchy structure (could be world:stage:level) to indicate what part of the game the player is trying to complete.

When a player is starting a progression attempt a start event should be added.

When the player then finishes the attempt a fail or complete event should be added along with a score if needed.

Add a progression start event.

GameAnalytics.addProgressionEvent({
  progressionStatus: GameAnalytics.EGAProgressionStatus.Start,
  progression01: "world01",
  progression02: "stage01",
  progression03: "level01",
});

It is not required to use all 3 if your game does not have them:

progression01
progression01 and progression02
progression01 and progression02 and progression03

Custom Progression Event Fields

It is possible to use a set of key-value pairs to add extra fields but it will only be available through raw data export. Here is an example of how to use it:

var fields = {
  test: 100,
  test_2: "hello_world",
};

GameAnalytics.addProgressionEvent({
  progressionStatus: GameAnalytics.EGAProgressionStatus.Start,
  progression01: "world01",
  progression02: "stage01",
  progression03: "level01",
  customFields: JSON.stringify(fields),
});

Field	Type	Required	Description
progressionStatus	enum	yes	Status of added progression (start, complete, fail).
progression01	string	yes	1st progression (e.g. world01).
progression02	string	no	2nd progression (e.g. level01).
progression03	string	no	3rd progression (e.g. phase01).
score	int	no	The player’s score.

tip

For more information on Progression Events go here

Error Events

Error events are used to track errors in the game code. You can group the events by severity level and attach a message.

To add a custom error event call the following function:

GameAnalytics.addErrorEvent({
  severity: GameAnalytics.EGAErrorSeverity.Critical,
  message: "Something went bad",
});

Custom Error Event Fields

It is possible to use a set of key-value pairs to add extra fields but it will only be available through raw data export. Here is an example of how to use it:

var fields = {
  test: 100,
  test_2: "hello_world",
};

GameAnalytics.addErrorEvent({
  severity: GameAnalytics.EGAErrorSeverity.Critical,
  message: "Something went bad!",
  customFields: JSON.stringify(fields),
});

tip

For more information on custom event fields & raw export go here.

Field	Type	Description	Example
severity	enum	Severity of error	EGAErrorSeverity.Debug EGAErrorSeverity.Info EGAErrorSeverity.Warning EGAErrorSeverity.Error EGAErrorSeverity.Critical
message	string	Error message (can be null)	`“Error when entering level12”`

tip

For more information on Error Events go here.

Design Events

Every game is special. Therefore some tracking needs might not be covered by our other event types. The design event is available for you to add your own event-id hierarchy.

Please note that custom dimensions and progression filters will not be added on design and error events. Therefore you cannot (at the moment) filter by these when viewing design or error metrics.

GameAnalytics.addDesignEvent({
  eventId: "Kill:Sword:Robot",
});

It is also possible to add a float value to the event. This will (in addition to count) make the mean and sum aggregation available in the tool.

GameAnalytics.addDesignEvent({
  eventId: "BossFights:FireLord:KillTimeUsed",
  value: 234,
});

Field	Type	Description	Example
eventId	string	The eventId is a hierarchy string that can consist of 1-5 segments separated by ‘:’. Each segment can have a max length of 32.	“StartGame:ClassLevel1_5”, “StartGame:ClassLevel6_10”
value	float	A float event tied to the eventId. Will result in sum & mean values being available.	34.5

danger

It is important to not generate an excessive amount of unique nodes possible in the event hierarchy tree.

A bad implementation example: [level_name]:[weapon_used]:[damage_done], level_name could be 100 values, weapon_used could be 300 values and damage_done could be 1-5000 perhaps. This will generate an event hierarchy with: 100 * 300 * 5000 = 1.5M possible nodes.

This is far too many. Also the damage should be put as a value and not in the event string. The processing will perhaps be blocked for a game doing this and cause other problems when browsing our tool.

The maximum amount of unique nodes generated should be around 10k.

tip

For more information on Design Events go here.

Event Tracking

Business

Getting receipts

Android Receipt

iOS receipt

Custom Event Fields

Ad Events

Rewarded Videos

Showing a rewarded video

Tracking rewards

Interstitials

Showing an Interstitial Ad

Tracking Interstitial Clicks

Banner Ads

Track banner clicks

Custom Ad Event Fields

Resource Events

Source (add)

Sink (subtract)

Custom Resource Event Fields

Progression Events

Custom Progression Event Fields

Error Events

Custom Error Event Fields

Design Events

Event Tracking

Business​

Getting receipts​

Android Receipt​

iOS receipt​

Custom Event Fields​

Ad Events​

Rewarded Videos​

Showing a rewarded video​

Tracking rewards​

Interstitials​

Showing an Interstitial Ad​

Tracking Interstitial Clicks​

Banner Ads​

Track banner clicks​

Custom Ad Event Fields​

Resource Events​

Source (add)​

Sink (subtract)​

Custom Resource Event Fields​

Progression Events​

Custom Progression Event Fields​

Error Events​

Custom Error Event Fields​

Design Events​

Business

Getting receipts

Android Receipt

iOS receipt

Custom Event Fields

Ad Events

Rewarded Videos

Showing a rewarded video

Tracking rewards

Interstitials

Showing an Interstitial Ad

Tracking Interstitial Clicks

Banner Ads

Track banner clicks

Custom Ad Event Fields

Resource Events

Source (add)

Sink (subtract)

Custom Resource Event Fields

Progression Events

Custom Progression Event Fields

Error Events

Custom Error Event Fields

Design Events