Project Details

The Canadian computer game industry is the third largest in the world, behind the USA and Japan. The sector contributes $2.3 billion annually to Canada's GDP, it employs 16,500 people, and the demand for skilled talent in creative and technical roles is increasing. An essential area of the games industry is games user research (GUR). GUR focuses on understanding, measuring, analyzing, and designing the user experience in games. GUR draws from theoretical foundations to inform design principles that affect player enjoyment and immersion, and applies evaluation methods, data analytics, statistical analysis, predictive modeling, and visualization to assess player engagement. GUR aims to improve the gameplay experience by conducting usability and user experience (UX) evaluation often referred to as playtesting. Playtesting can be conducted by third parties or by an internal team as part of the same development studio. The HCI Games Group includes the leading researchers in this promising new field in the recent years, having helped define and advance the field. Not all independent developers could afford to hire a full-time internal user research team for their project or pay for third party consultancy fees. The challenge for small studios is to utilize the benefits of GUR while maintaining a strict budget, avoiding unneeded costs, resources, and tools. For this, an effective testing method at the lowest possible cost will need to be investigated. With this goal in mind, an effective user testing approach for indie studios should be delivered in a timely, accessible and, economical fashion. Thus the collaboration with XL to explore effective playtesting methods and tools specifically targeted at improving independent sized games.