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PocketGamer.biz MasterClass: Save Your Game From Disaster: Playtesting Secrets From a Former Ubisoft Expert

Mon 13th - Mon 13th September 2021

This event listing is from Ukie partner PocketGamer.biz.

Playtesting is the quality insurance of its gameplay, but why do so many studios fail to use them effectively? What are the pitfalls to avoid? How to make them cost-effective?

In a nutshell, how to run them?

This MasterClass will cover the pros and cons of the different ways to playtest your game, based on the experience of a former Ubisoft playtest expert. It will focus on how to set up your own in-house playtest structure and how to run a playtest campaign while remaining affordable, even for very small studios. Using the tips in this class, you will be able to save your game from disaster!

Key takeaways include:

Pros and cons of the various ways to playtest your game
Step-by-step method to prepare and manage a playtest campaign
Best practices to recruit the playtesters most adapted to your needs
Sample documents for the preparation of a playtest session, and its debrief.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Project leaders, production directors and creative directors that need to organise or manage a playtest campaign.

MEET THE MENTOR

Pascal Luban is a game designer and creative director. With over 25 years of experience, he has led design teams on both triple-A console games (Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory, Alone In the Dark - The New Nightmare, Wanted - Weapons of Fate, etc.) and mobile titles (Wars and Battle, The One Hope). He set up and managed the playtest facility at the Ubisoft studio in Annecy where the multiplayer mode of Splinter Cell games was developed.

CONTENT BREAKDOWN

Part 1: Pros and cons of the various ways to playtest your game

Part 2: How to set up your in-house playtest structure:

Organisation
Integration into the production pipeline
Finding the playtesters you need.

Part 3: How to manage a playtest session:

Typical planning for a playtest session
Defining relevant content for your session
Logistics.

Part 4: How to make playtest debriefs effective:

The various debrief formats
Using playtest debriefs to make your publisher happy.

TEACHING FORMAT

This MasterClass will give attendees the opportunity to put in practice key learnings by working on case studies. Each group will work on a different case study and will share its work, supported by Pascal, with the entire class.

Parts 1 & 2:

Lecture (30 minutes)
Case studies (group work): Finding the right playtesters (20 minutes)
Review and feedback (20 minutes)

Part 3:

Lecture (30 minutes)
Case studies (group work): Defining the content of a playtest session (20 minutes)
Review and feedback (20 minutes)

Part 4:

Lecture (30 minutes).