How developers can use rapid user testing to build games that players love
Seth Savik, an indie developer and CEO of Psyonix, says that rigorous scale-testing is the best plan for success and that testing from the start should be a must to ensure the quality of any game. The wider gaming community could have a vastly different view of the game without these biases. GameDev.
Whether you are a one-person dream factory or a studio of a hundred, creating a successful game is arduous. Creative vision is crucial to put together a brilliant story and perfectly balanced gameplay. But even if the fundamentals of your game are spot-on, success is far from guaranteed. If your icon sucks, your screenshots are uninteresting, or your marketing copy doesn’t sing, chances are your game will struggle to break through.
Gaming is a giant industry serving arguably the most opinionated and passionate consumers. Still, many games launch without any kind of consumer testing. But only testing ensures that you’re getting the details right.
The usual approach to testing games involves granting early access or releasing a beta in exchange for feedback. However, most creative decisions are fixed by this stage, making it too late to revise the storyline or gameplay drastically. It’s much better to build testing into different phases, starting with the game concept itself, allowing for constant feedback and ultimately creating a game that players have had a real hand in shaping.
GAMEDEVTV for a 50% discount on your first PickFu poll!Note: This article was written by PickFu for the GameDev.tv community and we hope you find it useful. GameDev.tv received no incentives for publishing it. Lucy.