Vertical Slice to offer services for free

Brighton usability testing lab Vertical Slice is to offer its services free to any developer or publisher that ‘believes they deserves it most’.

The competition, open to any company from any country with some kind of permanent staff in the UK, will grant its winner services worth thousands of pounds, which include usability testing, UX playtesting, review prediction and more.

Entrants can also be at any stage in the development of their game, and will be free to customise the services included in the prize.

As listed by Vertical Slice, the services that are available to the winning company include:

· Playtesting
· Thorough behavioural analysis of gameplay
· Biometric data and analysis (emotional understanding)
· Biometric storyboards: a minute-by-minute annotated graph of player reactions to the game’s key beats.
· Player interviews
· Video highlights reel, which includes: video of actual gameplay, video of facial expression, video of body posture and real-time biometrics data
· Report with review score prediction produced by a team of prestigious & experienced professional journalists
· Bespoke participant recruitment of players, each carefully selected with the winner’s desired criteria in mind
· Focus groups and discussion sessions
· Structured and indexed breakdown of specific game problems, alongside potential solutions specially suggested by a professional game designer
· A full team presentation of our findings alongside a tailored developer workshop at the winner’s workplace
· Access to our raw data upon request
· Potential inclusion of client’s work in publicity materials and in Vertical Slice’s renowned conference and academic journal content

To enter, developers and publishers must pen a brief paragraph detailing why they think ‘usability testing is important in the future of the games industry’. Contact joel@verticalslice.co.uk for more details, or to submit your entry.