Duration: 43:12

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Formal playtesting sessions are becoming more integrated into game development cycles. However, conducting these sessions is not always feasible or affordable for smaller independent game studios, as they often require specialised equipment and expertise. In this talk, I reflect on my own experiences from working with Execution Labs’ studios in playtesting their games. Using recent, real-world examples such as Pewdiepie Legend of the Brofist, I discuss the relationships, approaches, methods and equipment used to build an effective playtesting setup to help indie game developers optimize the player experience for their titles.

Pejman Mirza-Babaei
Pejman is the Director of User Research at Execution Labs (Montreal). He ensures that gameplay experiences meets designers’ intent, and he is responsible for UX research and playtesting for projects developed at the Labs. Before moving to Canada, Pejman worked in the UK at Vertical Slice and Player Research Ltd. He has been involved with the #GamesUR community since 2009, he has published more than 40 articles, co-organized workshops and courses, and is currently co-editing a book on games user research. He has contributed to more than 22 commercial games, including awards winning titles such as Pewdiepie Legend of the Brofist, Crysis 2, and Weirdwood Manor among many others. Pejman is also an Assistant Professor at UOIT (Toronto).

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