Quick answer: Average frame time hides bad frames. Percentile budgets (P50, P95, P99, P99.9) ensure your worst case meets a known bar.
Players quit on the P99.9 frame, not the average. Budget for the worst case explicitly.
Set per-percentile budget
P50 = 10ms; P95 = 12ms; P99 = 16ms; P99.9 = 20ms. Each tier has its bar.
Alert on budget exceeded
Per-session, if any percentile exceeds budget, alert. Investigation follows.
Telemetry per build
Per-build, per-platform percentiles. Trends over releases are visible.
Compare across releases
Each release ships when percentiles meet budget. Regressions block release.
“Percentile budgets capture worst-case quality. Worst case is what users feel.”
Mean times are reassuring; percentile times are honest. Track both; act on percentiles.