Fantastic article, Josh. This approach reminds me of how product designers in other disciplines measure the success of a specific feature - we use "funnels" to detect drop-off rates and to better quantify the points of friction in a design or a process.

It makes complete sense to me that you'd apply a similar model to video games. As you point out in your article - very wisely, I might add - these funnels don't tell the whole story. The numbers alone aren't so meaningful without understanding their context. But at least they give you an indicator to dig a little deeper!