Games User Research

edited by Anders, Drachen, Pejman Mirza-Babaei, & Lennart E. Nacke

Presenting Games User Research

A Holistic, Community-Driven GUR Ecosystem
Games User Research is not just another book on how to do generic UX for games. It’s a thoroughly detailed GUR Practitioner’s Strategy Handbook: The first unified, authoritative guide edited and contributed by leading industry experts and academics. Here’s what makes it uniquely indispensable:

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What You'll Learn (And What You'll Gain)

Part I: Games User Research in Production

Features

Benefits

Part II: A Detailed Method Toolkit

Deep Overview of GUR Methods

So you can...

Part III: Case Studies & Examples

Focus Topics

It'll help you...

What Your Peers Are Saying

“Games user research has come a long way in the last 2 decades, and this book is a testament to that progress. With chapters on lab setup and recruiting all the way to doing research on VR, this book covers it all. It will be a great resource for those getting into the field as well as industry veterans. I can confidently say that if you are involved in games user research there will be something of value to you in this book.”

— Bruce Phillips, PhD, Xbox Research at Microsoft

“Game user research is a vital part of game development, but getting a handle on how to work with players to improve the game experience can be challenging. This book is loaded with wisdom from dozens of professionals across industry and academia, and provides an invaluable resource on how to build the best strategy for user research.”

— Ian Livingstone CBE, Chairman, Sumo Digital

Transform Your Game Development with Data-Driven Player Insights

Stop flying blind. Every day you rely on gut feelings and ad-hoc feedback, your game risks launching with frustrating usability flaws, low retention, and wasted effort. Games User Research is your one true strategic guide that takes you from guesswork to systematic, player-centered design. So you can confidently build games that thrill your audience and elevate your studio’s reputation.

Why You Can't Afford to Ignore Games User Research

Imagine instead that you can present player data to stakeholders, identify core usability issues before they become viral nightmares, and iterate rapidly; all while building a culture where player insights drive every key decision in a game's development. That’s the promise of Games User Research.

Praise & Endorsements of the book

“The Games User Research book gathers a broad spectrum of methods from the perspective of experts from both industry and academy. It will no doubt prove valuable to anyone interested in getting up to speed on this important topic.”

— Katherine Isbister, Professor of Computational Media, UC Santa Cruz and author of Game Usability

“If you have an interest in understanding the science of interaction design in games, just read this book.”

— Mike Ambinder, Experimental Psychologist, Valve Corporation and Affiliate Assistant Professor, University of Washington

"So many books, so little time: this is the must read for anyone in industry working on gameful experiences."

— Regina Bernhaupt, Director User Experience Research, Ruwido Austria GmbH

“Over the last 15 years, game user research has evolved into a distinct and innovative field, spearheading methods like data analytics or biometrics. Yet researchers and students in HCI and games had no easy entryway into this body of work—until now. Games User Research is poised to become the reference handbook and default textbook of the field: comprehensive, succinct, and accessible.”

— Dr. Sebastian Deterding, Reader, Digital Creativity Labs, University of York, UK

Games User Research is the authoritative, community-driven guide you need. Whether you’re just starting or looking to deepen your expertise.

Who Should Read This Book?

Buy the Print Edition at Oxford University Press. Now only $39.90 (30% off)

At less than $40, you’re investing in a resource that can save you tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours by identifying UX issues early, convincing stakeholders with data, and delivering games that players love. The cost of inaction? A launch littered with negative reviews, low retention, and expensive post-mortem patches.

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About The Editors

Anders Drachen

Anders Drachen, Ph.D. is a Professor at the DC Labs, University of York, UK and a veteran Data Scientist. His work in the game industry as well as in data and game science is focused on game analytics, business intelligence for games, esports analytics, monetization, data mining, blockchain for games, game user experience, industry economics, business development and games user research. His research and professional work is carried out in collaboration with companies spanning the industry. He writes about analytics on andersdrachen.com. His writings can also be found on the pages of trade publications such as Gamesindustry.biz and Gamasutra.com. His multiple-award winning research has been covered by international media, including Wired, Kotaku and Forbes. He is one of the most published scientists worldwide on game analytics, virtual economics, user research, game data mining, and user profiling, having authored >100 research publications on these topics. He is also editor of “Game Analytics – Maximizing the Value of Player Data”, a compendium of insights from more than 50 top experts in industry and research, as well as “Games User Research”, the de facto reference for user research across industry and academia. He is a former member of the board of the IGDA SIG on Game User Research. For some reason, sharks have tried eating him three times. He likes ice-cream and has written a book about it.

Pejman Mirza-Babaei

Pejman Mirza-Babaei, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of User Experience (UX) Research and the Associate Dean Industry Relations at the Faculty of Business and Information Technology. His research and teaching are focused on the design and evaluation of user experience in interactive entertainment systems. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and frequently speaks at academic conferences and industry events. His research and professional work are carried out in collaboration with companies spanning the industry. He also served as UX Research Director at Execution Labs (Montréal, Canada) from 2015 – 2017 and was a UX Researcher at Vertical Slice/Player Research (UK) from 2009 to 2013. Pejman has worked on pre- and post-release evaluation of more than 25 commercial games including award-winning titles such as Crysis 2, PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist, and Weirdwood Manor.

Lennart Nacke

Lennart Nacke, Ph.D., is the director of the HCI Games Group and an associate professor for human-computer interaction and game design at the University of Waterloo. He is a world-leading authority on the cognitive and emotional aspects of player experience in video games, with a special focus on physiological metrics and gameful design. He has authored more than 100 research publications on these topics, which have been cited more than 8,000 times. He can be found on LinkedIn, X (@acagamic) , Threads, BlueSky and is also working as a gamification and user experience consultant. He chaired the Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) PLAY 2014 and Gamification 2013 conferences and was the chair of the CHI PLAY steering committee from 2014-2018. He is an editor of multiple research journals and was a subcommittee co-chair of CHI 2017 and CHI 2018 and a full papers co-chair of INTERACT 2019. He has served on the steering committee of the International Game Developers Association Special Interest Group on Games User Research and loves the GUR community. His research group writes articles at hcigames.com, teaches a heuristics course at gameful design, publishes YouTube videos , and they also tweet from @hcigamesgroup. He loves karaoke, chocolate, and beaches, not necessarily in combination.

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