Customer story How SEGA sped up live-ops decisions for P5X

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Find out why players quit.

The User Interview Agent holds one-on-one interviews with hundreds of players at the same time, asking follow-up questions as each conversation unfolds. Every finding in the report is backed by players' own words.

Players can start an interview any time
24/7
Interview languages
15+
From interviews to report
<24h
A player with headphones holding a phone during a mobile game
Emerging finding

Gear choice unclear after level 3

11 players
Portuguese

No nível 3 tentei várias vezes e não entendi que equipamento eu devia usar.

You ask the question, and the agent runs the interviews.

It drafts the guide, runs the interviews and prepares the report.

  1. 01

    Ask your question

    Describe what you want to find out in one sentence

  2. 02

    Draft the guide

    The agent writes and rehearses it

  3. 03

    Choose participants

    Select players by what they did

  4. 04

    Run live interviews

    Hundreds of one-on-ones at once

  5. 05

    Get the report

    Quotes and counterexamples behind every finding

The agent checks past findings first.

The agent answers from past findings and quotes in the knowledge base when it can. It adds every approved finding to the knowledge base.

1 / 5

Check existing evidence

The agent checks the knowledge base first. If the evidence is already there, you get the answer and skip a new round of interviews.

Research loop

Interview players in Japan, Korea and Brazil in one study.

Players answer in their own language, by text or voice. Your team reads it all in one report, where each quote keeps the original wording and a translation.

Every player, their own language

Share of answers by language

  • United StatesEnglish

    I couldn't find anyone to team up with

    31%
  • JapanJapanese

    チュートリアルが長すぎました

    18%
  • South KoreaKorean

    보상이 너무 적었어요

    14%
  • SpainSpanish

    Me encantó, pero es un poco caro

    11%
  • BrazilPortuguese

    Adorei o visual do jogo

    9%
  • GermanyGerman

    Das Tutorial war zu lang

    7%
  • FranceFrench

    J'ai arrêté au bout d'une semaine

    6%
  • TürkiyeTurkish

    Oyunu çok sevdim

    4%
Three friends playing games on their phones
長すぎましたun poco caro너무 적었어요

Players answer in their own language

Compare findings by market

Tutorial feels too long

JapanGermanyBrazil

Hear tone and emotion

“I mean… it's fine, I guess. I just stopped.”

Every market in one report

Answers in many languages, read together in one report

Follow-up questions find the reason behind a score.

You set the follow-up depth for each question, and the AI moves on when a player has nothing more to add.

Survey

How satisfied are you with this season's battle pass?

Very dissatisfiedDissatisfiedNeutralSatisfiedVery satisfied
3.1

A 3.1 average gives no reason.

Interview
Follow-up depth

You said you stopped partway through the battle pass. What was going on when you stopped?

“Getting from tier 12 to 13 took me like three nights of grinding.”

Follow-up

What made you put it down at that point?

“Work got busy, and I knew I'd never hit the last tier before the season ended. So why bother?”

Follow-up

Was there anything that would have kept you going?

“Maybe if the XP after tier 12 came a bit faster.”

The XP wall after tier 12 is the top reason players stall on the battle pass

092133157
33%

Every finding links back to what players said.

Each finding shows how many players said it, their quotes, and which players disagreed.

Just clearing my dailies takes forty minutes. After work I don't have time to play anything else.
Participant 055 · Inactive for 30 days · 02:36

Veteran players leave mostly because dailies take too long

Supporting quotes · 1 counterexample · 2 / 3

Approved by researcher
  • Follow-ups stop at the depth you set
  • Every interview gets a quality score
  • Findings come with quotes and counterexamples
  • Only approved findings reach the report
  • Triggered by behavior
  • Players can opt out
  • Frequency caps and quiet hours
  • Keeps running

Let player behavior trigger invites.

Set a trigger for 7 days without a login or for leaving a bundle page without buying. Frequency caps and quiet hours limit invites, and players can opt out at any time.

  1. 10:02
    Cleared level 3
  2. 10:15
    Opened the first-purchase bundle
  3. 10:16
    Closed the bundle page without buying
  4. “I couldn't tell what the stuff in the bundle actually does, and I didn't want to waste my money.”

    Participant 147

A woman on a train looking at a phone
Trigger

Got 5 minutes to talk about that bundle? Your answers help us make the game better.

Start
Frequency capOne invite per player every 30 days

Check what players say against what they did.

Select players by play history, and the AI uses that history in its questions. Findings are saved as user tags for building player segments.

What the player said

“I still love the game. I've just been busy lately.”

Said vs. did · Returning players study

What the behavior data showsDaily logins
Day 1Event endsDay 28

Logged in daily until the event ended, then dropped to once a week. Never opened the new mode.

New modeVisits0
  • The new mode's entry requirement put returning players offConfirmed
  • Event rewards felt weaker than last season'sUnproven
  • The battle pass price is the main reason for leavingOverturned

Researchers can step in at any point.

Researchers can listen in, pause or take over any interview, and they approve every finding.

It drafts the guide, then rehearses it with simulated participants before you publish.

  • A guide from a one-sentence goal
  • Follow-up depth for each question
  • Checks question order, length and wording that steers answers
  • Rehearse, then lock the guide on publish

Describe your question, and the agent drafts the guide

Interview guide
GuideRehearsal
Why new players leave in week onePublished · v1
About 15 min · 4 topics · 8 questions
  1. 1IntroWelcome and overview2 min
  2. 2Warm-upTheir last session3 min
  3. 3CoreWhen they wanted to quit6 min
  4. 4Wrap-upSummary check2 min
Core question

In your first week, when did you feel like stopping? What happened right then?

Get results in days, with interviews running in every time zone.

Players join from a link at any hour, and the agent writes the transcripts.

Traditional interviews
Several weeks
User Interview Agent
A few days
Get results in days, with interviews running in every time zone.
StepTraditional interviewsUser Interview Agent
Recruiting and scheduling1 to 2 weeks of finding timesPlayers join from a link
Running interviews3 to 4 a day, about 2 weeksHundreds at once, any time zone
Transcripts and notesAbout 1 week by handAutomatic, organized by theme
Analysis and reportAbout 1 weekAI drafts it, then a researcher confirms
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  • Findings quote the players
  • Interviews by text or voice
  • From ThinkingAI, which works with 1,500+ enterprises
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Hear why players left.

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