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CRM (customer relationship management) platform users have already seen Zurmo help take the drudgery out of customer relationship management. Now PlayRM aims to make it easier for online games developers to work out who their customers are and how they can retain them through profiling. Just like many CRM programs and sites, PlayRM offers a way for web-based game companies to reach out to those who use their products. However, Playnomics – the company behind the platform – has also produced software that can collect data on how each player interacts with games, placing them into one of a range of personality types. In order to help developers get into the mindset of the different demographics, the program records information on how long users spend playing, how often they play, how much they spend and whether they talk about the games on social networks – and filters the data through an algorithm which places them into a psychological category of gamer. These different segments can then be addressed differently – for example, one player type could be incentivized with points rewards, while another could be contacted via social networks instead of email. With companies such as Zynga and Rovio now dominating a large chunk of the gaming market, retention of web-based game players could prove vital for industry giants and startups alike. Games developers – one to look into? Spotted by: Katharina Kieck