Impactful playtesting for studios and publishers
Secure lab-based and remote playtests with players who genuinely match your audience.
Every study is personally led by Steve Bromley, drawing on hundreds of studies for leading PC, console and mobile game teams.
Experience across leading game studios and publishers
Bringing together in-house research experience at PlayStation and independent playtesting for studios and publishers.
We have strong opinions about playtesting
Genuine player behaviour > opinions
Anyone can give you an opinion. Useful evidence comes from observing people who genuinely match your intended audience.
We recruit players based on a deep, validated understanding of their gaming behaviour – not whoever is easiest to find, or who ticks every box on the screener.
Player data should inspire creativity, not replace it.
Players are experts in their experience, not in designing your game.
Research should reveal what is working, what is not and where the opportunities are. The evidence informs the decision. Your team still owns it.
Decisions drives playtesting.
“What do players think?” is not the path to useful playtests. Impact starts with the decision your team needs to make.
Good research reduces uncertainty around a real choice your team needs to make.
Reports are not the point.
Too many research reports are read once and forgotten about. To inspire teams, we need to bring the player experience to life.
Seeing hesitation, confusion, excitement and frustration first hand changes the conversation. Bringing the team into the research creates shared understanding – and makes action much harder to avoid.
PLAYTESTING DONE RIGHT
Games User Research is a boutique agency led by Steve Bromley. Steve personally leads each engagement, supported by trusted research, recruitment and lab partners where required to run impactful playtests that inspire teams.
We apply scientific and psychological expertise and research-grade, individually screened player recruitment to remove the bias from traditional playtesting.
By combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, investing deeply in finding your genuine players, and drawing upon over a decade of industry experience, we give your team evidence it can trust.
Decision-focused research throughout development
We run playtests across the whole scope of game development, including:
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Concept Testing – Understand player reactions to early game ideas, themes and mechanics before committing significant development time.
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Prototype & Vertical Slice Testing – Evaluate core gameplay, features and design direction using early builds during pre-production.
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Alpha Playtests – Run regular milestone studies to identify usability, comprehension and engagement issues while there is still time to make meaningful changes.
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Beta Playtests – Refine balancing, progression and the overall player experience ahead of a confident launch.
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Retention Optimisation – Understand why players continue, disengage or churn, helping you improve engagement and long-term retention.
If you’re ready to release a game you know players will love, get in touch today.
HIgh IMpact Playtests For STUDIOS & PUBLISHERS
An essential part of plotting our course towards launch
SEGA Europe have partnered with Steve on a number of different projects where our core questions have centred on getting a deep understanding of player experience and expectation. Despite the variety in genre and audiences, Steve brings a level of expertise across all projects that is invaluable.
These in-lab playtests are an essential part of plotting our course towards launch, and Steve’s synthesis of insights along with his presentation within workshop-style debriefs have led to an actionable output for our studio teams to move forward with
validate key features before moving into production
I’ve done several multi-seat tests with Steve over the years, across different types of projects, from PlayStation to CI Games, and they have invariably produced very useful results.
A key ingredient, in my opinion, is Steve’s willingness to dig into the project and understand the game’s direction and needs, extracting key insights from the players. This was even more valuable in the earlier stages of development, when those insights allowed us to uncover issues that would likely have surfaced later down the line, as well as validate key features before moving into production.
Vital to us improving our game
I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Steve on our project and he was incredibly professional through two sets of playtests. His approach and engagement from helping us put together the questionnaires to organising the playtests, through conducting them, being on hand for support and hosting the discussions is first class. Between him and Emma, the playtests went smoothly and we got some great information and data back.
It was an absolute joy to watch Steve hosting the post-playtest discussions with players as he is able to work the group, pull on threads, make everyone feel included and get to the core of what each individual was saying. I have never seen someone do this as well as Steve and our team watched in awe as he conducted the room in the most inclusive and attentive way. Everyone felt heard and listened to and even the quietest in the group spoke up under Steve’s encouragement.
The final reports we received were well put together and considered and have been vital to us improving our game. I recommend Steve and Emma to any team looking for playtests and player insights to improve their games.
concrete, actionable findings
Steve clearly understood our goals from the outset, and to gather the most thorough feedback, he recommended a mix of lab and remote playtesters with a targeted recruitment profile. This thorough approach resulted in clear data that validated our assumptions with genuine insights.
Steve skillfully transformed our hypotheses into concrete, actionable findings, which have had a direct impact on both our strategy and the user experience we’re creating. Thank you Steve!
10/10 would do again!
Steve helped us get much better insights into our sales funnel, understanding where potential buyers leave, where we can improve our marketing message and what untapped potential there might be. 10/10 would do again!
fast, actionable insights to help us develop a strategy
When we approached our game’s positioning, we had several gameplay features we could focus on, but we needed to figure out how significant each was to the player. We sat down and discussed the problem with Steve, who devised a plan. The result was a series of in-depth player interviews that delivered fast, actionable insights to help us develop a strategy, putting the most compelling game elements at the centre of our campaign.
external, unbiased viewpoint
We contacted Steve after conducting some playtests, as we wanted a more objective viewpoint on our data that didn’t come with the biases we had after working on the game for so long.
After a quick chat, we sent over all our footage and data to Steve, and he quickly generated a full report which exceeded our expectations in terms of detail and execution time.
Steve was able to provide an external, unbiased viewpoint which was invaluable to us!
Fed directly into the team’s next iterations
Bigger Games have partnered with Steve to run user research on a mobile casual puzzle title, at a point where we needed clear answers about player expectations and how players are experiencing the game. Steve owned the whole process end to end: structuring the research around the questions that mattered to us, ran the test, and brought his experience to interpreting the results.
Rather than a pile of observations, he came with a clear picture of what was working, what wasn’t, and what to do about it with actionable insights, which fed directly into the team’s next iterations. The whole engagement was smooth and low-effort on our side, and we’d happily work with Steve again.
produced strong insights
Steve is an absolute professional. Working with him was a great experience from start to finish.
He brings positive energy to every conversation and delivers real results. The user test he ran for us produced strong insights, and everything was delivered on time with personalized & thoughtful support. As a small team, his responsiveness and efficiency made a huge difference.
I’d confidently recommend working with him, no matter the size of your company.
timely and thorough
We worked with Steve on a playtest for our early beta, and he was incredibly helpful and adaptable to our needs.
The process was timely and thorough, providing us with valuable insights. These insights are now shaping Spellscaper according to our players’ needs and desires.
We highly recommend Steve’s expertise in user research to anyone looking to improve their product.
an expert in his field
Steve is an expert in his field, and his exceptional manner is very suited to working with a range of clients. I don’t hesitate to recommend him.
the experience was exceptional
We asked Steve Bromley to help playtest and analyze the FTUE of our game to improve it, and the experience was exceptional. Steve’s attention to detail and keen observation skills during the playtest gave us valuable insights into the user experience and what was lacking in the game.
What sets Steve apart is not only his expertise but also his clear and insightful communication.
The analysis report we received was comprehensive, highlighting strengths and suggesting actionable improvements. We are very happy and grateful to have worked with him.
Allowed us to move forward with confidence
Steve supported us in conducting research for one of our competitive studies across our portfolio. Working with him has been an absolute pleasure.
He was able to take on most of the work independently, based on the briefs we provided, and was extremely thorough throughout both the study design and execution. His support took a significant load off the team’s shoulders and allowed us to move forward with confidence.
In addition to the excellent work he delivered, we also greatly appreciated the mentoring and perspective he brought to the team. During one of our on-sites, we invited Steve to share his point of view on how the industry has evolved over the many years he has been active in it. Hearing his stories, experiences, and reflections as such a seasoned researcher was highly valuable and very much appreciated by our research team.
We would gladly work with Steve again at any time and highly recommend him.
well-structured, informative, actionable feedback
When Wish Studios created the PlayLink concept for PlayStation, we developed a new gameplay paradigm in which casual players would use mobile phone apps as controllers for console games. Such a radical shift, aimed at a non-technical audience, naturally required in-depth playtesting to ensure we got it right.
Steve’s test team provided the answer, delivering well-structured, informative, actionable feedback for our development team to work with.
practical unbiased tests
I have found Playtesting to become a vital tool in making good development decisions at different times in the project from concept to finishing. It is an additional data point that helps prove out and support ideas and assumptions we have created. It gives me additional information and insight I didn’t have before which is useful both for internal and external discussions around the game.
I worked with Steve on a title where we had many thorny issues that only playtesting could aid us to make headway on.
He has a real clarity of understanding of how to translate your questions and needs into practical unbiased tests and programs to get the understanding you seek.
improved overall quality and player comprehension
We approached Steve in the middle of our dev cycle to validate our controls and difficulty on a platform that we were unfamiliar with.
Working with Steve was incredibly easy and very useful, watching the testing and reading the breakdown gave us great insight into how players were reacting and what they were learning. This led us to make great strives, improving overall quality and player comprehension.
shaped our future roadmap
Steve ran a study for one of our games to understand the impact that usability and accessibility issues were having on our players. Steve’s work was excellent.
He made a huge positive impression with our team and helped shape our future roadmap for game improvements.
Steve’s support throughout the whole project was amazing and we’re looking forward to possible future collaborations
Our signature milestone playtest
Reach your next milestone with confidence
Designed to bring publishers and developers together around clear player evidence and practical priorities.
Our milestone playtests are planned around your production schedule, with live observation, daily debriefs, key findings within 24 hours of testing ending and a full report. An optional action workshop helps your team agree what follows.
Playtests that inspire your team
Expert-led throughout
Your study is led from brief to action by Steve Bromley, bringing 15+ years of games user research experience to every stage.
Understanding your vision
Learn things you didn’t already know – We’ll work with you to understand your vision and your most critical development decisions.
Your genuine players
Our participants are double-screened by phone to validate their experience and that they genuinely match your players
Confidential and controlled
Our secure playtest lab, screened participants and NDAs are a safe space to test unannounced projects.
Flexible when plans change
Builds slip. Priorities move. We don’t lock you into an upfront subscription or long-term commitment, and our late cancellation policy gives you more room to adapt.
Watch players live
Live stream sessions, or watch live in our London based labs and observation rooms
Immediate results
Game development doesn’t stop. We debrief at the end of each day, and send a top-line report 24 hours after the study ends.
Full reporting
A comprehensive user research report, suitable for sharing with your wider team and stakeholders.
Leading to action
Reports are too easy to ignore. We end each study with an action workshop, to help you decide how to move forward.
The Boutique Games User Research Agency, led by Steve Bromley
I’ve spent more than 15 years helping game teams understand their players – and more than 25,000 hours directly observing people play games.
I work with publishers, platforms and studios of all sizes from indies to AAA to run playtests, and integrate user research into the game development process.
Prior to this I was a senior user researcher for PlayStation and worked on many of their top European titles, including Horizon Zero Dawn, SingStar, the LittleBigPlanet series and the PlayStation VR lineup.
I wrote the best-selling 5-star rated book Building User Research Teams.
I started the IGDA’s Games User Research mentoring scheme, which has linked hundreds of students with industry professionals from top games companies such as Sony, EA, Valve, Ubisoft and Microsoft. This inspired my bestselling book How To Be A Games User Researcher which shares the expertise needed to work in the games industry, and has over 50 5-star reviews on Amazon.
Looking for more than a playtest report?
We work best with teams that want to watch real players, understand how their game is experienced and make better development decisions.
If you want research that inspires creativity, let’s talk.