EXASOL’s in-memory analytic database enables Candy Crush Saga developer, King Digital Entertainment, to deliver the best gaming experience

Game provider complements Hadoop with EXASOL to deliver rapid analytics on data generated by 1.5 billion game plays per day

London/Nuremberg, 22 April 2015 – Developer of the world-famous Candy Crush Saga, King Digital Entertainment, has chosen EXASOL to power its data analytics in order to deliver a superior gaming experience to its 149 million daily active users. The company, which offers more than 195 games in over 200 countries and currently generates over one petabyte of data a year, understands that analysing data and acting on insights generated by 1.5 billion game plays per day gives King the edge over its competitors. To power these analytics, King has chosen to use a combination of open source Hadoop and the fastest Loading...in-memory analytic database in the world, EXASOL’s scalable, self-tuning EXASolution.

King started life as a pure Hadoop player, but the unprecedented levels of data it was receiving placed exceptional demands on its infrastructure and it needed to scale to meet the challenge, and fast. It was at this point that King realised that Hadoop alone was not the solution. “Hadoop was working for us to an extent, but it became clear very quickly that it was not the whole answer,” explains Andy Done, Data Platform Lead at King. “Hadoop is very good at some things like cost-effective storage of vast quantities of data, but not so good at rapid analysis. So we went looking for something that could complement Hadoop and address its weaknesses.”

Any new technology needed to co-exist with Hadoop and be able to ingest data from the Hadoop File System. It also had to be easy to evaluate as King did not want to waste time or money setting up expensive test infrastructure. Ideally the data had to remain on site and once the database was in operation, King did not want to have to hire database administrators simply to run the database; it needed to run itself. The new technology also had to be fast. After a period of testing, King opted for EXASolution, the in-memory analytic database from EXASOL.

“The other databases tested were, at best, half as fast as EXASOL on equivalent hardware, and while extensive tuning and optimisation may have closed the gap, this was not the path we wanted to take,” continues Andy. “King is a fast-moving business and the queries required to uncover vital information are difficult to predict in advance, making a self-optimising database a very attractive proposition.”

EXASOL has exceeded King’s expectations. Andy comments: “EXASOL allows my team to serve the business better, providing them with the data they need, in turn giving our players an incredible gaming experience. By using EXASOL to analyse our data, we continue to place the customer at the very heart of everything we do –not just a philosophy, but as a working practice. We’re enjoying our partnership with EXASOL and look forward to seeing what else it can deliver in the future.”

Aaron Auld, CEO, EXASOL comments: “Companies across all industry areas are increasingly acknowledging the benefits that fast analytics can bring to effectively harness rapidly growing mountains of data to make smarter business decisions, enhance customer loyalty and drive new revenue streams. King is an excellent example of how simple, smart and super-fast in-memory, Loading...analytics databases make good business sense and we look forward to working with King in a long-term partnership to ensure it remains at the very forefront of the global, mobile gaming world.”

About King

King Digital Entertainment plc (NYSE: KING) is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world. It has a network of 356 million monthly unique users as of fourth quarter 2014, and offers more than 195 exclusive games in over 200 countries and regions through its king.com and royalgames.com websites, Facebook, and mobile distribution platforms such as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Amazon Appstore. King has game studios in Stockholm, Bucharest, Malmo, London, Barcelona, Berlin and Singapore along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai.

About EXASOL

EXASOL is passionate about helping companies to run their businesses smarter and drive profit by analysing data and information at unprecedented speeds. The company develops the world’s fastest database for analytics and data warehousing, EXASOL, and offers first-class know-how and expertise in data insight and analytics. The in-memory analytic database is the first database to combine in-memory, columnar compression and massively parallel processing, and is proven to be the world’s FASTEST, topping the list in the TPC-H Benchmark tests for performance. Companies that depend on EXASolution to analyse their data in real-time include Adidas Group, GfK, IMS Health, King, Olympus, myThings, Sony Music and Xing. Follow EXASOL on Twitter at @EXASOLAG.