Research Techniques

Understanding the nature and purposes

of Research in the Games Industry
Donnelly, Kevin

Contents

Section 1- Types of research

Quantitative Research
Qualitative Research
Conclusion

Section 2- Methods and sources of Research

Primary Research
Secondary Research
Data Gathering agencies
Self-generated research

Section 3- Purposes of Research

Audience Research
Market Research
Production research

Research Techniques

There are different types of research and the types of research I will be
discussing about in this report which are very beneficial for research in the
gaming industry. Types of research that are important in the gaming industry
includes Qualitative and Quantitative, Qualitative is research that produces
information on peoples opinions, views on a game. Quantitative is research that
produces data and information that can be used for facts and can be used to
show how many copies did a certain game sell. Other types of research includes
primary and secondary; primary is do your own research and using it for a piece
of work and secondary is getting research from another source.

Types of Research
Qualitative & Quantitative Research

Qualitative research produces information on people`s opinions, views and

preferences about something. E.g. people`s opinion and view on a game would
be Qualitative research. A survey is a good way to find out qualitative research
about games because people write down what they prefer in a game and what is
their favourite game. An example of qualitative research would be things like
online game reviews like IGN, GameStop where people give their opinion on
what they thought of the game and where the game could improve. There is a
lot of pros and cons of qualitative research. Another example of qualitative
research could be a beta tester which is where people play the game and give
their opinion on the game in question so for example when the Black Ops 3 beta
came out people got to test the game and give feedback on what they liked
about the game and what they did not like about the game.
The pros of Qualitative Research are that you can get the views and opinions
from others. Another thing is that if you are thinking about getting the game you
like then taking on board the opinions from others who have played the game
gives you an idea of what it would be like to play. You could examine reviews and
decide whether it is worth the price tag.
The cons of Qualitative research is that reviews can be biased based on the
personality of the player and therefore cannot be fully trustworthy in making of a
final decision.

Quantitative research produces data and information that is measurable and

quantifiable and this data can represented numerically and is often presented in
the form of table and charts. An example could be asking the gamers how many
hours they play or how much they would spend on a game. Its basically finding
out the sales on games and how popular they are. For example Grand Theft
Auto 5 made 1 billion in the first 3 days breaking records. Below is an image of
a list of games which were the most expensive games ever to be produced and
Grand Theft Auto V cost the most at $265m. There are some pros and cons of
quantitative research as well.
Pros: Are numerical based and tend to be factual and therefore reliable and are
usually less biased.
Cons: There is too much focus on statistics and often does not consider the user
experience fully. It can also be expensive to collate data.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hQT0m_o73C4
This is a link to a
video review on
Grand Theft Auto V

This is a chart reflecting

Grand Theft Auto when it was
first released and how much
it made. This is quantitative
research as it is numerically
and factually based

http://www.gamespot.com/rocket-

league/

This is a review of
Rocket League than
was reviewed by
Game Spot which
was given a 9/10
which is qualitative
and quantative
research.

Methods of Research
Primary research- primary research is finding out the information for
yourself. In gaming industry this could look like interviews, creating your
own surveys or forming audience panels. The benefit of primary research
is that it is beneficial to you and you can ask what is relevant. The
disadvantages of primary research are that it can cost money and it can
take time to collect and analyse.

Secondary research- is research were you would source information

from other people and then you use it yourself. For example we had
Danny O`Dywer from Game Spot a video game review company in San
Francisco do a Q & A session through Skype and we gathered information
from him. This is primary research as we gathered our own research by
asking him questions that we made up. It will become secondary research
over time because it was recorded which can be used for future
preferences. Secondary research is easier to access and takes less time
and the disadvantage is that it could be biased and outdated.

Self-generated Research
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Self-generated research is carrying out your own research e.g. ideas for
making a game, making your own video, creating your own photographic
records of events.
There are both positive and negative sides to self-generated research. The
positive sides of it are that you can track your progress and look at what
can be made better. Another positive is that it is your own work and you
feel good about previous achievements.
The negative side to self-generated research is that it can be biased which
means it could be one sided. Secondly it can cost a lot of money and
finally can take up a lot of time needed elsewhere in game production.
When someone makes their own game or writes ideas for a game it is selfgenerated research. When you make a website about game development
it is your own research too.
Flappy birds was created by someone at home who had ideas for a
popular mobile game which ended up making millions for him because it
was so popular and addictive? Self-generated research for this game could
of come from examine market for trends in mobile gaming and then using
that knowledge for development of Flappy Birds.

Data Gathering Agencies

Audit Bureau of circulation (ABC) provides circulation information to
the newspaper and magazine industry (independent verification of
circulation and readership claims made by teams of newspapers and
magazines)
It
or

is good for advertising as people can read about things

such as upcoming games by reading a game magazine
when a banner is shown in the town or billboards
advertising a film. PlayStation magazines include
information from data gathering agencies.
This image is the poster for
the popular football game
FIFA 16

BARB is a data gathering agency that provides details for what TV shows
are popular and how many views it gets each week. This relates to what
game genre is popular etc. They do the research and collect it. When FIFA
16 was released it was advertised on T.V which should draw people to buy
it; BARB figures for potential figures could be helpful.

Purposes of Research

Audience Research- Audience research is defined as any communication

research that is conducted on specific audience segments to gather
information about their attitudes, knowledge, interests, preferences, or
behaviours with respect to prevention issues.
http://www.slideshare.net/AnnieRose95/audience-research-22808080
Very important when making a video game because you must look at the market
and see what game genres is selling and doing well. You must take into account
demographics, consumer behaviour, audience profiling.

Audience Data and Profiling

Collecting data from your audience (Gamers) is important because if you
are a developer and you are making a game it is good to get opinions
from other gamers and take on board what they like in games. Also you
need to know what is poor in games so you dont make that development
mistake. If you are making a game on an action/adventure like the
Uncharted series you could go on to fan sites or reviews sites such as IGN
or Game spot and pick and action game and look at what was enjoyed and
what could be improved. This is secondary research as you are getting it
from someone else but to could make it primary by creating a survey and
asks the population. Another factor to consider when making a game is
researching demographics; this considers who the game is directed at in
relation to age, gender and culture. A shooting game such as Call of Duty
would be more directed towards the male population because it is all
action and violence but the female population would play video games
where you can play in this virtual world and create your own avatar like
Sims.
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This image shows what

percentage of males play
Call of Duty more than
females

This is an image of Sims where

you can create your own
avatar based on your gender
and appearance.

Audience awareness- Audience Awareness relates to what your

audience are playing and if they are aware of the games on the market.
You will consider who the audience are in terms of age and gender and
what they like. Stereotypically action games with shooting and violence
will appeal more to males than females whereas a game which is about
fashion or makeup is more appealing to females. It is important to look at
audience awareness when making a game because this reveals who the
market is aimed at in terms of gamers. Audience awareness is about how
gamers come to know about the products on offer such as games,
freebies, extras like DLC`S.

Demographics- Demographics is age/gender which is a really important

factor when making a game because you need to research that who is
going to buy your game. You would look at what game genre is popular
and decide if it is more directed at males or females. It used to be that
playing video games was just for boys and not girls and now girls are
playing them a lot more such as mobile games. Age is important to
because you have to decide what age your game is for and popular
ranges of ages e.g. fifteen OR late twenties. Different game genres will
mostly likely determine what gender plays the game e.g. Call of Duty is
more for males than females due to its violence streak but a game which

includes emotion and is hard hitting could be more for everyone would be
The Last of Us.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/naughty-dog-demanded-the-last-ofus-be-focus-tested-with-women/

This image shows how The Last of

Us was made to be balanced for
both genders and to read more the
link is below the picture

This image shows how many more males play Call of Duty than Females
http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/december12010/Fig_03.png

GeodemographicGeodemographic is the study of where people live all around the world
and this is important when making a game especially when considering
diversity. A lot of video games are popular all over the world and some
just locally. I think it is important when making a game to consider who
the target market in terms of distribution is. It depends on the size or type
of game your making. For example game like FIFA will probably sell
worldwide because nearly every country plays football due it`s cultural
nature. If it is an indie game it might only be published in some countries
because the company is independent and will have a small budget and
are not recognised as much as for the likes of Ubisoft, or activison.
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Pschyodemographic
Pschyodemographic is the study of personality, values, opinions,
attitudes, interests and lifestyles.
This is important when doing audience research because you learn about
peoples lifestyle and what the gamers like and what games they are
interested in.

Market Research:
Market research is the collection and analysis of information about the
market within a particular product which is game. It is also will the game
compete with other games and who is the target audience is and how
much revenue your game makes. Market research is important in the
games industry because you need to know what the market looks like; so
who is your target audience either male or female, teens, adults or
children. Another factor when doing market research is who your
competitors such as other game companies are. The is most important
factor when doing market research revenue which is money, will my game
be a success and how much profit will I earn. All of these factors are
important because you know who likes what and what is doing well and
what isnt. Genre is really important when researching the market because
you can look at what genre is popular and then you can brainstorm ideas
on the game you want and if you think it will do well. Researching is good
but actually receiving feedback from the customers who buy and play

Game Market
The Game Market is a market where all the top selling games are listed
based on sales and which game made the most money. Before you start
developing a game you should look at the game market to see which
genre is the most popular and who your competition is so you can get an
idea on what to focus on during development. This should include
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researching your audience so who will buy your game, demographics

which is age, gender and culture so what is a popular age for games, what
gender is playing the most games and what genre are they playing and
culture so if the game market is going globally. Competition is important
because as you are competing to be the best company and make the
most revenue.

Competition
Competition is important in market research because you need to be
aware of the other competitors in the market and you want to be the best
developer and make your game the best game of the year and do well in
the market by selling the most copies. If you want to be better than
another studio you should make your game ideas original and make it new
rather than developing the same genre as your competitor. But if you are
making the same genre should look at the games that have been released
and see what was good about that game and what could be improved. EA
sports competition would be Konami because EA develop FIFA whereas
Konami develop PES (Pro evolution soccer).

Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis is knowing who your competitors are and what they
are doing different and if the product sells more by the technique they are
using to persuade buyers to purchase the game. Researching what the
gamers want and like should be taken into consideration because after all
they are the people who buy the game and give the money. Try different
ways to promote the game such as in-game advertising like FIFA as they
promote their games and other products like the PS4 so a gamer will look
at that product and think well it must be good if it is advertised in the
game. Sony and Microsoft are big competitors when it comes to releasing
a new product such as consoles, headsets, and deals anything that will do
well. So when the PS4 and Xbox one came out Ps4 sold the most copies by
selling over 25 million copies worldwide on release whereas Microsoft only
sold 14 million copies.

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The link below is of how

many sales ps4 made
compared to Xbox One and
Wii U.

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/211302-sony-has-sold-more-ps4sthan-the-xbox-one-and-wii-u-combined-report

Advertising placement
Advertising placement is the way in which the Company promotes the
Games and this is really important because if you want the game to sell
advertising it by any way possible is a big advantage. Advertising
placement can be done through advertising on TV, like after the Walking
Dead is on a break Call of Duty is advertised. It can be done in the game
like FIFA sponsors PS4 and even their game. When Uncharted 3 was
released they did a TV advert to sponsor subway while the trailer was
shown as on TV.

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Advertising effects
Advertising effects is way the company advertises the game so ads on T.V,
billboards, buses, radio. When you are advertising you game or product
you should take into account whether your ad is effective so this can be
the logo because your game logo needs to stand out even have a
meaning to the studio name like Naughty Dog as their logo is of a dog
footprint. The next factor is that how much will it cost to make and if you
want it be professional you need to be willing to pay the money. Where is
the Logo shown? In the game, TV internet, electronic billboards Gaming
events E.G E3, Gamescom.

Production ResearchProduction research is the collection and analysis of information for the
content and production of a media product. When developing a new
game you would need to carry out production research. So in doing this
research you will be able to identify what resources are needed in order to
launch the end product and consider whether your game would be
profitable within the current market. Production research will give you an
idea of what factors will affect the production of your game. There are lot
of areas you need to cover during the production of your game.

Viability
The first thing you need to cover is viability which is whether your game
sells and how much profit can be made. If a games budget was 8 million
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and it only made 6 million then the game company would not be making
much if any profit at all. Grand Theft Auto V budget was $265 million
dollars which is 170 million pounds which made it and made over $800
million worldwide in revenue over 24 hours of its release making it one of
the top selling games of all time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_V

This image shows how much Grand Theft Auto V made

over 24 hours

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/19/investing/grand-theftauto/

Content and materials

In production research it is important that the game company looks at the
content of what is in the game such as the soundtrack, game effects etc.
so they would need to have the right materials for this. Different types of
resources and software will be needed for this to happen such as Foley
effects, 3D max for modelling. For databases and budgeting costs could
be done on Microsoft Word by using spreadsheets. Unity or Unreal Engine
4 can be used for building the game such as level design, animations so it
where you build the structure of the game. This all costs money so you
must do research beforehand so you everything is ready and organised for
production.

Placement Media is an advertising technique used by companies to

subtly promote their products and it usually done through TV adverts.
When a new game is coming out the game company will pay the
advertisers to promote their product either on TV or posters. When
Uncharted 3 was released a TV ad was made for the game promoting
subway which was meant to be funny. In- game advertising is another way
to promote products and an example of this is the FIFA games which
promote the game on the billboards on the sidelines and it also promotes
consoles such as PS4 and Xbox One. Placement media is how game
companies promote their game and also to make profit in some cases.

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Research on Finance- Finance is really

important during the production of a
game because you need money to
produce your game, getting the right
materials,
hiring
personnel.
The
Personnel needed to make a game are programmers who program the
game; designers who are responsible for level design, animations, terrain
design; artists who are responsible for concept art which is drawing
everything out first then it is modelled on the computer which is then put
into game. There is lots of other roles to such as audio, in charge of the
soundtrack, effects; the writers who write the script for the game. There is
so much planning that has to be done first before you can even start
which is why you must research how much it will cost and how much you
have left over. Equipment is needed as well e.g. hardware. Without money
a game cannot be developed or be successful.

Technological resources
Technological resources include things such as hardware, software and
copyright which is important in production research because these are
needed to make a game. Hardware includes processors, graphics cards,
fans, Ram chips, sound card and they need to be high quality when
making game so when you run the game it has great graphics, smooth
frame rate, that the RAM can handle the engine running it and
multitasking. Software is how the game is made because software is the
game engine e.g. unity, unreal engine 4; Maya or 3D max for modelling or
audacity for soundtrack. Finance is part of getting all these resources
because your budget does not just cover hiring for personnel but for the
hardware and software.
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Personnel
Personnel are the people who work for a company or organization and
this is really important during production research as they are the talent
behind the game. In a development team there will be artists who are in
charge of drawing out characters, environments; programmers are
responsible for coding the game; designers who create levels, animations;
audio team who are in charge of soundtrack, Foley effects etc. Naughty
Dog an American development studio will have a massive team of
designers, programmers, artists, writers so it is a big industry and some
roles will get a better pay than others
like a programmer will earn more than a
designer. Without personnel the game
cannot be made. Every company will
have a person who is not full time as
some are freelancer so only come in
when they are needed, hot seating
which is where one employee E.G. Artist
comes in for a short time; leaves and
another comes in.

This is the naughty dog studio

where hundreds of personnel work

Locations
Locations is where the game is being produced and this important
because you must get the facilities needed to start production. The
facilities needed are offices for development which is where computers
are stored and where all the hard work happens and these offices can
include hundreds of employees doing different roles. Other work spaces
are needed to such as the motion capture stage where the actors do
acting for the game; trailers for the actors and producers to stay in;
recording studio for the voice overs and this costs a lot of money so this is
tied to finance and where to get money from. This is really only needed for
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independent developers because they will not have that much money but
they can always get a loan form the bank or crowdfunding such as
Kickstarter. Other studios mostly the bigger ones such as Naughty Dog or
Treyarch have their own studios as their publishers pay for a lot of it so
Sony publish Naughty Dog and Activision publish Treyarch.

Conclusion
This
overall
conclusion is
a
summary of all
the
key parts of
research thats needs to be done before you start any game. So why do
we need the different types of research such as quantitative and
qualitative the purposes of research like market research, production
research and audience. It is really important to do research to make sure
your game is a success.

References
Miguel Concepcion. (7th July 2015). Rocket league review.
Available: http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rocket-leaguereview/1900-6416186/. Last accessed 24th October 2015.

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