Become a Games User Researcher
Learn how to run professional quality playtests, improve the UX of games and make games players love.
Get the best-selling, 5-star rated book today.
START A CAREER IN GAMES UX
Making video games is hard. Making successful games is harder still.
Games user researchers run professional quality playtests to ensure games are understandable and enjoyable. This is a key part of making games that people love.
The video games industry is full of passionate people who care about making fun experiences. If you love games, and want to make them better, consider a career in games user research.
Drawing upon ten years of experience working on top games and helping people start their career in games How To Be A Games User Researcher is the essential guide on how to run professional quality playtest studies and get a job in the games industry.
Breaking into games user research is hard
The games industry is very competitive, and it’s difficult to stand out from other candidates. Getting through to the interview stage, or even getting your CV read can be hard – and very discouraging when you hear nothing back from your applications.
You have questions, including
- What research methods do I need to know?
- How do I convince people my academic or work credentials are relevant?
- What should I do to get experience before I have a job?
- How do I run reliable playtests, and convince others I know what I’m talking about?
To be a games user researcher, you need to know the industry:
- How games development works and where research fits in
- How to plan, run, analyse and debrief high-quality playtest studies
- Tactics to build relationships with game teams
- How to start a career in user research
- The skills you need to show to excel at job interviews
I’ll guide you to your first job as a games user researcher
I have been in the games industry for over a decade. In that time I started and ran the official IGDA games user research mentoring scheme, which partnered hundreds of students with industry professionals from top companies such as Sony, EA, Valve, Ubisoft, and Microsoft.
Within the mentoring programme we helped many people get their first job in games. I continue to work with game studios and universities to help them run better playtests and start a career in games user research. This book covers everything I know students need to know to get their first job.
Get the bestselling, 5* rated book
A must-read for UX/UR professionals & teams looking to include UR as part of their development
Helping researchers get their first role at…
This bestselling book is for:
- Students looking to get their first job in games user research
- UX researchers looking to transition into games
- New games user researchers learning the craft
- Game designers and developers who want to improve the quality of their playtests
- Academics studying games design, development, or HCI who need to understand industry better
This book is an introduction to the core knowledge you actually need to run games user research. It’s not fluff, it’s crunchy
Essential reading for anyone aspiring to work in games user research and those who are early in their careers…
This is a book I sincerely wish I had at my disposal when I was a grad student.
About The Author
Steve is an expert user researcher, who has worked with the games industry for over a decade.
He runs playtests and teaches user research to game studios of all sizes. Before this he 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.
Steve started the 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.
Steve Bromley’s book is an exceptional catalogue of professional advice, purpose-built to develop your skills in this domain. Every page is filled with Steve’s hard-won lessons and examples from the day-to-day realities of game development… I wish I had had this resource in my early career.
Become a games user researcher today
The ultimate resource for aspiring or junior researchers who want to start a career in games. Learn how to run professional quality playtests, improve the UX of games and make games players love.
Start running playtests, getting job interviews, and making games better today.
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