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 premier partner for games user research. From our Brighton and Montreal studios we design and conduct award-winning UX research for video games: usability testing, expert reviews, engagement diaries, training courses… and so much more.
We work with game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, universities… As an external research studio we collaborate far and wide. Around one third of our projects are commissioned by games user research teams inside studios or publishers.
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, to toys-to-life; AAA full-playthroughs, to rapid expert evaluations for indies. Our consultant researchers are brought to the heart of design decision-making in projects of all types, be that spanning years of development or as one-off strategic research engagements.
We are exceptionally proud of our decade-long reputation for authenticity, transparency and rigour. And we’d love to make you a part of it.
Who do we work with?
Player Research is an exceptional place to work and grow.
Our team are a healthy mix of expert practitioner and academically-trained staff, each bringing unique perspectives and learnings to help us offer rich insight to our client studios, and one another.
We maintain a strong vision, 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.
About the role
Your previous experience of commercial games user research means you’re ready for a career ‘turbo-charge’ toward being a world-class individual contributor, a trusted partner, and project manager, to our wide variety of clients and stakeholders. We expect you to demonstrate hard-earned, practical research instinct earned from your prior experience of commercial game development, improving both Player Research’s’ protocols, and offering our clients the very best consultative advice.
All our Games User Researchers deliver smoothly-run and insightful studies that help developers and publishers understand their audience and improve game design. As an experienced GUR you will take on additional responsibilities of research strategy, training of peers, consultancy with high-level client stakeholders, and a leadership role in making all our research super effective.
You’ll lead longform and shortform research studies, advise and plan campaigns of research on high profile titles, and become a trusted ‘single point of contact’ for the leadership of our key partners: helping them map Player Research’s diverse capabilities to their business context.
Core responsibilities
You’ll advocate for GUR and advise on research approaches that will deliver actionable and affordable insights, alongside our Client Relations teams and as an individual contributor
Designing, scoping, managing and executing user research, on time and on budget
Carrying out user research activities including running large lab playtests, observing usability playtests, writing competitor and expert analyses, remote research studies, desk and secondary research
Analysing findings and writing compelling, actionable reports
Presenting findings and research-backed recommendations to clients, to effectively embed user feedback and player-centric design philosophy into their development processes
Maintaining long term high quality client relationships, being the trusted point-of-contact for advice and consultancy.
Proactively engaging with client strategy, focusing on campaigns of research and how each project matures understanding and feeds into the format and insight of the next
Using your initiative to improve our processes for the benefit of colleagues and clients
Applying continuous improvement of yourself through training, writing, and evaluating video game UX
Capturing your knowledge in training materials, articles, talks, and mentoring your colleagues. Acting as an ambassador, speaking, writing and educating the world on the importance of games user research
You’ll have two managers: a People Manager and a global Head of Research Craft, ensuring your professional and technical growth respectively
Skills/experience required
We are looking for:
3+ years’ UR commercial industry experience either in games or mainstream setting OR previous experience in a senior game development role
We are seeking candidates from diverse educational 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 experience
You have expertise in research design and a wealth of experience conducting user research across multiple research methodologies
An understanding of the game development process, & the role & limitations of usability testing at each development stage
Someone with a passionate interest in video games and applying research techniques to gaming
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to build trust and rapport with developers and communicate confidently and effectively
Good negotiation and influencing skills and be able to work well with cross-functional teams – e.g. game designers, producers, engineers and artists.
We are pleased to offer visa sponsorship to support international applicants for this role, where they have sufficient relevant experience to be eligible for visas. Please identify on your application whether you have an existing right to work in the UK and/or Canada.
To be eligible for a Canadian visa: three or more years of industry research experience (further information on immigration to Canada)
To be eligible for a UK visa: three or more years industry research experience plus professional-level spoken and written English (further information on immigration to the UK).
Please outline your location preference/eligibility in your application.
Location and starting
We’re willing to wait for the right candidate
The candidate can be located in Brighton (UK) or Montreal (Canada) in order to facilitate lab-based research; for those needing to relocate, the timeline and support available for relocation will be discussed according to your individual circumstances and goals
Our playtest lab is presently closed to in-person research in Montreal, when an appropriate location is identified we plan to resume in-person testing, at which point we are committed to flexible hybrid working practices. In the interim we’re working fully remotely in GMT-5 timezones, and can support remote Researchers
Salary, benefits and perks
Great salaries, always in-step with games user research pay
Generous annual leave allowance
Life assurance plan
Pension plan
Income protection plan
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Optional subsidised private medical cover
State-of-the-art research labs in Brighton and planned for Montreal
Relocation support for yourself and family
Region-specific perks and benefits
Friendly, inclusive teams with a range of interests and activities to join
In addition to base salary we include a modest personal/company performance-based annual bonus.
Brighton and Montreal are each beautiful cities, with vibrant game development communities, and afford a great standard of living.
How to apply
If you meet the foundational criteria for both locations, you’re welcome to apply to both positions. Please highlight on both your application emails that you’ve applied to the other also.
We are not accepting CVs from agencies at this time.
Due to the number of applications received, we are unfortunately unable to give detailed or specific 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 sending your CV/Resume, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and consent to your data being managed and retained in accordance with our data privacy and retention policy.
Stand out and be passionate. Good luck.
