PC and Console Game Attribution FAQ

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Gali Housman
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PC and Console game attribution is an enterprise feature. To learn more about this feature, contact your Customer Success Manager.

 

PC and console game attribution is the ability to attribute users who visit and engage with a game's marketing site to a purchase and eventual game launch.

A marketing site is commonly used to ensure prospective gamers can learn about the game and be directed with call-to-actions to the stores and platforms on which the game is supported.

Game attribution is possible for all channels, including paid, social, and organic, with the correct planning and configuration through Singular.

FAQ

Requirements

What are the integration requirements to use Singular's PC and Console game attribution?

Game Integration Requirements

  1. Implement your PC or Console game to pass game data via Singular's PC & Console S2S API
  2. Add your PC or Console game to your Singular App Page. If you have multiple PC and Console games for the same title, be sure to add them all to the same Singular "App".

Marketing Site Integration Requirements

  1. Integrate your marketing site via Singular's web SDK.
What are the required steps to launch a marketing campaign for my PC or Console game?
  1. (One time per game) Implement Singular game and marketing site integrations.
  2. For supported partners, configure:
  3. Generate a Singular website link for the partner/source for your campaign.
  4. Traffic and launch the campaign with the website link.

General FAQ

How does Singular's attribution for PC and Console games work?

Singular's attribution for PC and Console games utilizes the following components to provide comprehensive measurement and game and ROAS analytics:

 

When a user visits a marketing site, Singular's Web SDK attributes the web session using Singular's web measurement links and UTM parameters. The enriched web session is then used to attribute a subsequent game launch for that user to the original referring website (source). 

  • Attribution information is included if a user engages with a direct CTA (store link) while on the marketing site.
  • Users who land on the marketing site organically are attributed to the marketing site.
  • Users who don't land on the marketing site and purchase the game are attributed to organic.
What attribution methods are supported with PC and Console games?

Install and re-engagement attribution matching can happen via any of the following methods:

  1.  Deterministic attribution is used when the user visits the marketing site and registers or logs in (authenticated user). The same user then launches the game and logs in when they play the game.



  2. Probabilistic attribution is used when the user visits the marketing site and explores the site anonymously without logging in (unauthenticated user). The same user then launches the game.

(New) PC/Console Singular Links

PC/Console Singular Links can be used to redirect users to Landing Pages where the Singular web SDK is not integrated, like Third Party Stores (e.g. Steam, Epic, etc.). When the user subsequently downloads and launches the game, and Singular receives the first game launch from the S2S integration, the PC/Console install can be attributed probabilistically to the PC/Console Singular Link click.

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  1.  Prerequisite: you must have PC/Console app sites configured in Singular's Apps screen, and at least one session sent for that app site to be eligible for PC/Console Singular Link creation.

  2. Create a PC/Console Singular Link: In Manage Links, select an App that has PC/Console app sites configured. Create a new link and select PC/Console from the Platform Tracking Type field. PC/Console links support a single redirect, re-engagement tracking, and customizable attribution windows. They also support both click and impression links. 

    Cursor_and_Manage_Links.png

Note: If you do not see the Platform Tracking Type field under Tracking Link Name, then the Prerequisites described in #1 above have not been satisfied.

Site: Individual PC/Console app sites can be targeted for attribution by selecting the respective PC/Console app site. If you want to track all PC/Console app sites using a single link, select the "Track all app sites under this app" option. 

Supported Link Types: PC/Console Links can be created for Custom Sources. Partner Integrations for PC/Console Singular links will be supported soon. 

Attribution:

This user flow does not require the Singular web sdk to be implemented on the Link Destination landing page. The user clicks the Singular link and is redirected to the landing page. They download the game, launch it and start playing. Singular receives the game launch through the S2S implementation, and attributes the launch to the PC/Console Singular link click. 

 

How does Singular report on PC & Console attributions?

Singular reports on PC and Console attributions and cost metrics in all of Singular standard aggregated and user-level reports. Reporting for PC and Console games can be broken down furthermore via the following dimensions that have PC & Console specific values:

Platform

OS

Installer Source
PC
Xbox
Playstation
Nintendo
Meta Quest		 any value passed to Singular in S2S API os parameter, including but not limited to:

windows
linux
macOS
steamOS
xbox_series_s
xbox_series_x
playstation_4
playstation_5
nintendo_switch

 any value passed to Singular in S2S API install_source parameter, including but not limited to:

steam
epicgamestore
microsoftstore
gog
humblestore
xbox
playstation
nintendo

 

Note: Platform, OS, and Installer Source combining is not supported, as spend typically tied to a game and not a specific platform/store.

What partners can receive PC and Console game conversion data?
Singular supports posting back game conversion data with many ad network partners, usually to their Conversions APIs or Offline Conversion APIs. Reporting game conversions to these APIs can be used to enrich existing web campaign conversions (also supported through CAPIs) with lower-funnel game conversion data for campaign optimization.

See our Conversions APIs help center article for more information and for a list of integrated partners.