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SERVICES

Game Playtesting
& Player Research

FROM FIRST PITCH TO LAST PATCH

When We Work With You

Every stage of
development

01

Conception

PITCH - CONCEPT ARTS

Challenge ideas, evaluate uniqueness, gather inspiration from genre experts, test concepts with target audience

CONCEPT VALIDATION

02

Pre-Production

Prototype

Test early mechanics and prototypes before costly decisions. Validate your USP

Prototype Testing

03

Production

Alpha

Assess your vertical slice.

Fine-tune mechanics and usability with experienced players and expert analysis

Vertical Slice · Alpha

04

Pre-Launch

Beta

Test marketing materials, trailers, key art, naming,  with genre experts

Beta · Marketing

05

Post-Launch

Live Ops

Validate updates, features, and DLC with your audience; balance mechanics for meta shifts

Live Ops · DLC

How We Work

Three ways
we work with you

01

PLAYER RESEARCH

put your game in front of the right players, structured, observable, and designed around the specific decision you're trying to make.
 

What We Do: We handle everything: participant recruitment, session design, facilitation, and analysis. Moderated and unmoderated formats, remote or in-person, at any development stage. Your team stays focused on building.
 

What You Get: A ranked list of friction points by severity. Validated or invalidated assumptions about player behaviour. A clear brief for the next iteration cycle.

02

EXPERT CONSULTING

Our seasoned practicionners test mechanics, narratives, core loops, and market positioning.

Expert analysis goes beyond what players say, we map what they do, where their mental model breaks down, and what specifically needs to be true for your concept to land with the right audience.

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What You Get: Teams use expert analysis when choosing between directions, preparing a publisher pitch, or building internal alignment on a game's identity. 

03

Custom Research

Not every challenge fits a standard format. We design the research around your specific question. Methodology, timeline, and deliverable format included.
 

What We Do: Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methodology. Cultural resonance testing, accessibility audits, marketing asset validation, community development research, cross-territory analysis. If the question matters and a standard playtest won't answer it, this is the engagement.

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What You Get: Research scoped precisely to your decision, not a package that approximates it. We'll tell you during the discovery call whether a custom approach is actually necessary, or whether a Pulse Check would answer the same question for less.

How We Work

Clear pricing.
No surprises.

PULSE CHECK

€3,000

Playtest organisation with a research summary. Ideal for quick validation at any stage of development.

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  • Participant recruitment

  • Player compensation

  • Research summary

  • Key findings

DEEP DIVE

€5,000

Full report and deep analysis of key mechanics. Actionable design insights your team can act on immediately.

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  • Participant recruitment

  • Player compensation

  • Full written report

  • Key mechanics analysis

  • Edited video highlights

Full Play

€8,000

Full report, live dashboard access, and expert assessment. Full-scale decision support across your team.

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  • Participant recruitment

  • Player compensation

  • Full report

  • Dashboard access

  • Expert assessment

  • Edited video highlights

  • Team debrief

CUSTOM

ON REQUEST

Talk to us about your project. We'll scope and price accordingly and tell you honestly if a smaller engagement would serve you better.

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  • Tailored scope

  • Any methodology

  • Any timeline

  • Research plan in 24h

All playtests include participant recruitment and player compensation. We don't charge based on session length — we focus on delivering the insights you need.

CASE STUDIES

HOW WE HAVE DONE IT

Real engagements. Real results. Anonymised only where studios have asked us to.

MOBA - COMMUNITY

SPELLCASTERS
CHRONICLE

NETEASE - QUANTIC DREAM

CHALLENGE

Build an innovative creator programme that would directly shape key elements of the game experience  while simultaneously informing marketing strategy. Both workstreams had to move in parallel.

Approach

Designed and ran a structured research programme bridging game development and go-to-market strategy. Embedded with the team across both workstreams, running player research for design while validating messaging with content creators at each stage.

Result

The programme directly influenced key elements of the game and the marketing campaign. Clear, actionable insights delivered after every phase.

MOBA - COMMUNITY

EVERSIEGE
 

DEAR VILLAGERS - TINDALOS

CHALLENGE

A new title blending RTS, tower defense, and roguelike mechanics needed players to quickly understand a complex system mashup — before the public announcement.

Approach

Two-hour moderated playtest with 10 expert QA players across France, Canada, and the US. Full gameplay recording, post-session surveys, and structured analysis of every onboarding friction point.

Result

20-slide report with 5 key FTUE insights, supported by 6 edited video highlights. Redesigned onboarding, revised terminology, and new UI recommendations. All implemented before launch.

MMO - FTUE

EVE ONLINE

CCP GAMES

CHALLENGE

Modernise the first-time user experience to attract new players without compromising the complexity that makes EVE iconic. Reduce early churn without dumbing down the mechanics.

Approach

Interviewed veteran players to identify what new players actually needed to learn first. Identified that the absence of narrative was the primary barrier to early emotional engagement. Shifted from mechanics-first to story-first tutorial structure.

Result

Validated increase in new player retention and session times. Higher conversion rate of new users to Omega (premium) subscriptions.

NOT SURE WHERE
TO START?

Tell us where you are in development and what decision you're trying to make. We'll tell you which approach makes sense  and if we're not the right fit, we'll say so.

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