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Summary
In just fifty years, video gaming has transformed from a childhood hobby into a global $200 billion industry that is set to eclipse film and TV in both revenue and cultural impact. This meteoric rise has led The Economist to predict that “[w]hoever dominates gaming is going to wield clout in every form of communication.” Gaming franchises have expanded beyond just being popular products to become influential media brands that have cultural impact beyond the console. Legacy media firms and tech companies are responding by building gaming divisions or acquiring independent gaming studios in order to capture a piece of this new attention economy. With gaming set to change how people consume media and engage with products and brands, what will this mean for the broader business landscape—and for UX researchers in particular? How should we think about understanding game players, their preferences, and habits? Join Dane DeSutter and experts from leading gaming companies for an interactive discussion on how mixed-methods research and big data are shaping popular gaming products and company strategies and how we all might start to think about the gamer experience in our own industries. Panelists: Natalie Gedeon, Deborah Hendersen, Cheryl Platz; Moderated by: Dane DeSutter
Key Insights
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Gaming UX research uniquely requires balancing desirable challenge with usability, unlike traditional software.
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Mixed methods research—telemetry data combined with qualitative insights—is essential for understanding player experience.
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Emotional impact measurement is fundamental in gaming UX and differs from standard software metrics.
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Gaming’s player base now exceeds 3.2 billion globally, spanning all ages, genders, and cultures.
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Representation and localization, such as regional character design and Arabic language support, drive higher player engagement.
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Gaming has transitioned from a niche pastime to a dominant media powerhouse, predicted to eclipse paid TV spending by 2026.
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Playtesting is integral and universally valued by game developers, but large-scale research infrastructure is often a luxury.
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Accessibility efforts have made many games fully playable by blind and deaf players, incorporating auditory and control remapping innovations.
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Transmedia adaptations like Arcane and Pokémon help legitimize gaming culture and expand audiences beyond traditional gamers.
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The distinction between game design and UX design centers on optimizing good friction vs. minimizing bad friction.
Notable Quotes
"Games have really grown up from this childhood pastime into a media powerhouse set to dominate every aspect of media."
"Gaming UX is not just about polished UI; introduction of the right kind of frustration and challenge is part of the experience."
"Feelings are emergence; you need to measure emotion at scale, not just one-on-one usability."
"Good friction is what makes a game engaging; removing all friction means it’s no longer a game."
"The framework we tend to use is just, do you play games? Cool, you’re in—stop asking questions."
"Many games are fully playable by the blind, despite being highly visual, through clever auditory cues and remapped controls."
"The rise of Arcane legitimized something very important to players, showing how storytelling impacts emotional connection."
"At Riot, a whole discipline called player dynamics studies how groups of players behave unpredictably in shared spaces."
"Gaming’s emotional impact and cognitive shaping differentiate quality experiences beyond simple accessibility or success metrics."
"People who were gamers growing up are now the ones making the IP adaptations, ensuring authenticity."
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