Embedded Games User Researcher

• Salary: Annual fixed
• Format: Full-time or Part-time hours possible, 1 year fixed-term contract
• Location: Canada Montreal
• Reports to: People Manager & Head of Research Craft
• Applications close: January 15th 2026

About us

At Player Research we want the world to experience brilliant games; ones full of adventure, surprise and intrigue – the ones you can’t put down, and those you talk about for days.

Across the world we partner with game development teams to realise their creative visions by providing meaningful insight into how real players experience play.

We are the world’s premier partner for games user research.  From our Brighton and Montreal studios we design and conduct award-winning user experience studies for video games: usability testing, expert reviews, engagement diaries, full playthroughs, training courses, accessibility testing… and so much more.

We uncover insights that drive game development forward.

As an external research studio we collaborate far and wide: game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, indies, and beyond. Around one third of our projects are commissioned by games user research teams inside studios and publishers to extend their reach and capabilities.

Hundreds of game development studios rely on our insights into usability, UX, appeal, and play.

Our projects come in all shapes and sizes, from testing user interfaces to interviewing super-fans; game console UI improvement, to toys-to-life; AAA full-playthroughs, discovery research, difficulty balancing, narrative comprehension, and so much more. Our consultant Researchers are brought into the heart of design decision-making in projects of all types. Some spanning years of development, some as one-off studies. We are exceptionally proud of our decade-long reputation for authenticity, transparency and rigour.

Our team is a healthy mix of expert practitioners and academically trained staff, each bringing their unique perspectives; each offering rich insight to our client studios, and one another.

We maintain a strong vision of company culture and values: rooted in deeply-held trust and empathy among peers, deliberate communication, self-determination, and taking pride in the work we deliver together.

We are looking for an experienced Games User Researcher to join our team in an embedded role at a Montreal-based game studio.  This embedded role will be a 1 year Fixed Term Contract, with intent to extend.

Do you fit the role?

You are an experienced games user research specialist, with demonstrable success in game-wide research strategy and project management, earned through your ownership of impactful games user research in a commercial setting. You are hungry to implement your battle-tested instincts to improve the way developers apply research, and to deliver our clients the very best insight and consultative advice.

You’re able to consult and plan campaigns of research, compile repositories and manage multi-study findings, and become a trusted ‘single point of contact’ for the developers and decision-makers within a prominent mid-size game development studio in Montreal.  You’re looking for an opportunity to own the research on a game, end-to-end.

You are a convincing advocate for user research values and processes, can challenge and support the game studio team to deliver smoothly-run and insightful studies that reliably help them understand their audience and improve game design.

You will lead the execution of internal ‘play sessions’ and external playtests as part of the internal game studio team, partnering with our highly-experienced, world-class games user researchers based in Montreal.

Learn more about our values & culture

Core responsibilities

• Leading the planning and execution of player research that supports the development of an unannounced early-stage AA PC/console game in Montreal
• Own the collaboration between our client studio and Player Research’s team in Montreal: working together to plan and run insightful routine playtests
• Become our clients’ trusted partner for advice and consultancy, nurturing long-term, high-quality relationships
• Building capacity within the game studio to conduct end user research.  Nurturing relationships, and increasing awareness and interest in research activities providing expertise to ensure high standards of execution.
• Applying our client-centric strategy, focusing on meeting client needs through campaigns of research; overseeing how each project matures our clients’ understanding of research, and joining-up both processes and insights from one project to the next
• Building a research roadmap and ongoing proposals for insightful individual studies, promising extraordinary business and creative value: wowing our clients
• Designing, scoping, project managing and delivering exceptional games user research, on time and on budget
• Executing internal and external testing using a variety of methods including large lab playtests, usability playtests, writing competitor and expert analyses, remote research studies, desk and secondary research
• Owning the responsibility to effectively embed our research findings and player-centric design philosophy into their development processes
• Acting as a crucial link between Player Research and the game studio, fostering collaboration between internal and external stakeholders.

Management: You’ll have two managers: a People Manager and a global Head of Research Craft

Skills/experience required

• 4+ years’ commercial User Research experience either in a games or mainstream technology setting OR previous experience in a commercial game development role
• We are seeking candidates with diverse academic backgrounds, such as human computer interaction (HCI), psychology, interaction design, or product design. Providing that you have the commercial experience, we will review all candidates regardless of university degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD) or equivalent industry experience.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with a demonstrable experience of rapidly building trust and rapport, collaborating effectively and problem solving with confidence.
• Good negotiation and influencing skills. Work well with and win-over our cross-functional stakeholders, including designers, producers, engineers, artists and studio leadership.
• A strong understanding of the game development process, and the role (and limitations of) user research at each development stage
• Expertise in research design and a wealth of experience conducting a wide range of user research methodologies
• Excellent written and verbal communication adaptable to a range of environments and levels within an organisation

This is a 1 year Fixed Term Contract.  We are open to applications from people looking for full and part time roles (minimum of 12 days per month).  Flexibility in part time days is expected in order to execute during playtest weeks.

Location and starting

• For immediate start.
• Our team work hybrid to conduct in-person testing.  To facilitate lab-based research, commuting distance to Montreal (Canada) is required.
• An existing right to work in Canada is essential.

Salary, benefits and perks

• Great salaries, in line with regional games user research pay
• Insurance coverage
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Extra pay for occasional research run on weekends and/or on national holidays
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO): 1 day per year paid for all employees
• Discounts and offers with STM, BIXI, Telus, Bell, Dell, Nautilus Gym, Dialogue, Bonjour-Santé, and more
• Employee and Family Assistance Program.
• Friendly, inclusive teams with a range of interests and activities to join

How to apply

Please submit your CV and covering letter outlining your career goals via the Apply button.

We are not accepting CVs from agencies at this time.

Due to the number of applications received, we cannot commit to giving feedback on unsuccessful applications.

We are an equal opportunity employer and strongly value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, parental status, or disability. Player Research doesn’t simply accept differences — we actively celebrate and support it for the benefit of our job applicants, our employees, our services, and our community.

Your personal data

Player Research is strongly committed to protecting your personal information. By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice.

Stand out and be passionate. Good luck.