Gathering information is the first step in understanding and improving player experiences. However, trying to pick and choose which data is important to hone in on can bring up challenges for a studio. 

In this 2016 GDC talk, 343 Industries' Tom Mathews discusses the challenge in identifying the most useful information from big data, as well as collecting large volumes of data without impacting gameplay in order to improve the Halo experience.

Mathews also provides insight into the how the studio transitioned to a new telemetry infrastructure, explaining additional challenges encountered along the way. 

Programmers may appreciate that they can now watch the talk completely free via the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.