Natalia Kolokolnikova, PhD

Worked across the publisher’s portfolio of idle tycoon and idle RPG games (incl. Gold and Goblins, Idle Lumber Empire, Idle Outpost, Legend of Slime). Co-produced a new idle tycoon project. Key achievements: - Part of the product team that launched LiveOps in Legend of Slime, establishing a stable event cycle that led to a significant LTV increase. - Designed the meta layer and improved FTUE for a new project, resulting in D1–D7 retention above genre benchmarks. - Built a data-driven production roadmap for a new project, with KPI targets for each milestone, improving development predictability and feature validation. - Conducted cross-portfolio research on core genre features, influencing product decisions and future project direction. Responsibilities: - Product analytics: pre- and post-release feature analysis, decision support for producers and PMs, exploratory data analysis. - Game design and producing: data-driven design of game systems and monetisation based on player behaviour analysis, feature performance metrics, and LiveOps results; translating analytics and competitor research into concrete design decisions, balance changes, and new feature concepts. - A/B testing: experiment design aligned with development stage and budget constraints. - Predictive modelling and dashboard development. - Collaboration with international developer teams.

Primary data owner for a web collectible card game, responsible for all analytics, data infrastructure, and decision support. Key achievements: - Built the game’s data infrastructure from scratch: selected database architecture, tools, and processes for reliable and cost-efficient analytics. - Improved tutorial match win rate by 20% by redesigning the tutorial flow based on player behaviour data. - Designed the event tracking specification for in-game events, enabling reliable feature and economy analysis. - Implemented automated reporting and alerting via Python Slack bots. - Built a Tableau dashboard system used by product and marketing teams for day-to-day decision making. Responsibilities: - Product analytics: game balance, economy, UX, and engagement optimisation through player behaviour analysis. - Decision support for game economy and feature design. - Data engineering and analytics pipeline ownership. - Web analytics (GA4) and behaviour tracking for the company website.

Product analyst for a mobile and web city builder game Impact areas: - Identified economy and balance issues through exploratory analysis; provided player behavior insights that informed a new feature improving late-game experience. - Designed and analysed A/B tests using both frequentist and Bayesian approaches to validate feature and balance decisions. - Contributed to feature design by translating player behaviour data into concrete design inputs. - Improved data reliability through systematic data cleansing and validation. - Built dashboards for ongoing product and feature performance monitoring.

Product analyst for a mobile casual sports simulator game Impact areas: - Exploratory data analysis: Identified economy and balance issues through player behaviour analysis. Replaced several in-game store items with more desirable options, increasing revenue of that shop category by 30% in the first week after the update. Designed a player skill metric and analysed its relationship with monetisation and player experience. - A/B testing: Formulated hypotheses and ran experiments using both frequentist and Bayesian approaches. - Game design: Contributed data-driven input into new feature design, including a monthly subscription, based on player behaviour insights. - Dashboard development: Built dashboards for ongoing monitoring of product and feature metrics. - Data quality: Performed data cleansing and validation to improve reliability of analytics.

Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Mathematics Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship recipient

PhD student and teaching assistant at the Department of Mathematics Prix E. Gans (Best Master's Thesis) prize recipient Subside Tremplin recipient

Subside Tremplin Grant Early Postdoc Mobility Grant

Best Master's Thesis of the Dept of Mathematics (Prix E. Gans)