The Company
Soedesco, a developer based in Rotterdam, is known for publishing a diverse range of engaging and immersive games. Their portfolio features unique titles like Truck Driver, Orange Season and Garden Witch.
Soedesco reached out to Antidote for playtesting assistance with their recently released title, Albatroz, a game centered on survival and exploration.
The game unfolds a captivating narrative where players embark on a breathtaking journey to find the protagonist’s lost brother, leading them to the mythical mountain named Albatroz.
The gameplay challenges players to navigate various landscapes – from scorching coasts to frigid mountains – requiring strategic resource management and skill development.
The Challenge
The Soedesco team aimed to conduct a qualitative study to examine the following aspects of their game:
🔸 The time it takes for players to complete the game
🔸 Insights from players’ experiences and perceptions of the game
To achieve this, they required help with executing the full playthrough playtest to gain First Time User Experience (FTUE) feedback from their target audience:
When asked why the studio decided to seek external assistance for these studies, Laura, the Lead Producer at Soedesco, explained:
“We often work with closed betas as well to receive FTUE feedback, but are aware that those players often don’t want to fill out long questionnaires, and have trouble explaining why they like/dislike certain elements or why they do certain actions.”
The team’s main challenges were recruiting the right player demographic, managing communication and receiving relevant insights. Laura added:
“To make sure we got the in-depth data we required for the design tweaks on this title we believed it was more useful to go with a professional company instead of a closed beta.”
After the initial discussion, the aim was to find 8 participants within the Antidote community that matched the target profile. Each tester had to meet certain criteria such as age, gaming preferences and PC specs.
Furthermore, each player needed to be able to complete the entire game across multiple sessions.
Due to the timely nature of the study, it was important to monitor that all the participants were engaging with the game and received help whenever needed. To mitigate any potential delays due to no-shows, arrangements for additional backups were made.
In addition, at the end of the sessions, players had to complete a tailored survey that provided valuable feedback to the team.
To ensure that the maximum value was extracted from these surveys, Antidote was asked to provide advice and suggestions that were used to adjust the questionnaires.
The Solution
Once we understood the goals and requirements of the project, the first step was to launch a recruitment campaign within our player community.
Antidote’s team designed a custom survey that was used to vet and filter the right players, who were then invited to join a private Discord server for the duration of the test.
We were responsible for handling participant onboarding, continuous player communication and monitoring daily activity to check the progress of the gameplay.
We also managed the distribution of the game to players by providing them with Steam keys via the Antidote platform.
This ensured that the team from Soedesco got insights from their target audience and delegated the complexities of playtest moderation to our experienced UX researchers.
The study was then divided into two separate stages:
Stage 1 – Uncovering the FTUE
The initial phase aimed to capture participants’ first impressions through a 2-hour gameplay session featuring live gameplay recordings and Think Aloud Comments. This setup enabled the team to monitor user behavior and interactions with the game during the early stages.
Following this initial session, participants were asked to complete a survey detailing their experiences and thoughts on the gameplay thus far.
Stage 2 – Completing the Journey
After the initial stage, the participants were tasked with completing the entire game, allowing as many sessions as necessary for a full playthrough. The focus here was to document the time required to complete the game and to observe how players’ experiences evolved throughout the game.
The players were also invited to fill in two surveys, one after the 7-8 hour playing mark and one upon the completion of the study, gathering comprehensive feedback on their overall gaming experience with Albatroz.
To improve the effectiveness of the survey questions, we advised the following changes:
🔸 Maintain a balance between open-ended, ranking and selectable options in the questionnaire to prevent player fatigue.
🔸 Structure the initial 2-hour session for general queries on clarity and accessibility while addressing specific questions on difficulty and game design in later playtest stages.
🔸 Include some open-ended questions in the survey, particularly in the accessibility section, to gather more detailed feedback from the participants.
Adjustments to the questionnaires aimed to increase the number of ‘golden nuggets’ that could be elicited from the participants, enhancing the quality of the insights.
The Result
When it comes to game development, we know things can get stressful.
That’s why our goal was to lighten that load and deliver actionable insights to improve the game experience.
The first step was to provide all playtest feedback in one centralized place using our research platform:
“We were also really satisfied with the way the results and playthrough videos could be viewed via the portal per title.”
Additionally, we made sure to be responsive and supportive, addressing any questions or requests related to the two research studies. As Laura noted:
“All the questions and feedback we had on the results were answered/addressed very quickly.”
This allowed the team to keep things moving forward smoothly and confidently without major delays.
A sample recorded session from the Albatroz playtest. The platform showcases gameplay footage, transcripts from player comments and sentiment analysis.
Most importantly, the playtest insights led to significant in-game improvements:
“The playtests mostly resulted in design changes on the levels, and additions to the UI such as hints for the player and a little more handholding through the dialogue.”
An example of in-game dialogue
An example of a game offering tips and hints to the players
These adjustments were crucial from a UX perspective: they reduced player frustration and increased clarity, making it easier for players to understand game mechanics and objectives.
Clearer UI hints and structured guidance in dialogue helped players feel more confident and immersed in the game world, preventing confusion and ensuring a more enjoyable experience without unnecessary hurdles.
Why Soedesco Recommends Antidote
We asked Laura why she’d recommend Antidote to other game studios and here’s what she had to say:
“Fast professional communication, and the portal that provides a very clear overview of the testing results, footage and materials.”
Her key reasons included:
- Effortless communication with our UX team, who took care of both playtesting sessions from start to finish.
- A dedicated platform that neatly organizes all the recordings, survey responses and other data, making the analysis process a breeze.
If you’re looking for a way to streamline your entire research process – from recruiting players to analyzing valuable feedback – Antidote has got you covered.
Because hey, game dev’s tough enough – research shouldn’t be!
