Earlier this month we invited you to sign up to Deep Silver’s exciting new research lab – GamesLab – located at Dambuster Studios in Nottingham. Last week we got a sneak peek into what you’ll get up to if you’re invited in for playtests, as our gaming team ventured down to Canal Street for an exclusive look inside GamesLab.
Before we could get our hands on the controllers and get competitive – the whole team had to sign NDAs. This is something all playtest participants are going to have to do – as many playtests are focused on unannounced titles and secrecy is part of the drill to avoid any press leaks. So be prepared to keep quiet about what you get up to if you’re called up.
Once all the paperwork was out of the way we were led into the GamesLab – an LED lit room with four desks..Only four candidates can take part in a playtest at once – and the room has equipment to fit any type of gaming – from controllers to PC keyboards and mice.
Our gaming team got competitive with a co-op mission from Dambuster’s Homefront: The Revolution game, which was launched in May 2016. Throughout the playtest we had to wear finger sensors which monitored reactions to events throughout the game and GamesLab Manager Alex explained the science behind the graphs resulting from our gaming session when we were all done.
What you can expect
If you’ve signed up for GamesLab you’ll receive an email if your profile fits playtest requirements. Once you’re at the studio you’ll get a chance to test out games across all stages of production – from white box prototypes to builds a week from launch – you’ll be able to feed back and shape the next generation of AAA games.
Your feedback won’t just be collected verbally though. During the playtest you can expect to be hooked up to finger sensors or eye-tracking machines that will be used to analyse your responses and behaviour, to make sure the games are offering the best user experience.
In order to get involved with GamesLab and be eligible to be invited to the next playtest you need to make sure you take the following steps:
Make sure you’re eligible – You must fit a couple of criteria to qualify for GamesLab’s playtests
Sign Up – Make sure you have registered your interest on the GamesLab website
Check your emails – GamesLab will send you an email when your profile is right for a playtest – so keep an eye on your inbox!
Choose a timeslot – Once you received your callout – reply to the email and agree with the GamesLab team an appropriate timeslot for you to go down
Go and get paid for playing games!
Sound exciting? You can sign up to be eligible for the next playtest here: https://gameslab.dsdambuster.com/
Want to get involved in games development? We offer courses at both college-level and degree-level in both Games Technology & Games Art.
