Abstract

Game development market has become very competitive, so a game with bad usability can expect bad reviews and fewer sales even though the game design might be otherwise unique and captivating. This study investigates the views and practices of the North American game companies regarding game usability. A survey study was conducted in North American game companies to capture the meaning of game usability among practitioners, and the extent to which the game companies utilize usability methods, and the methods they use. The respondents, who had different roles in game development, regarded usability as being very important in games and defined game usability as the extent to which a game allows the users to complete their tasks with intuition and minimal frustration. The results were compared with results from Northern European game companies. North American game companies used multitude of usability methods, mainly playtesting, observation of live gameplay, usability testing and focus groups. Implications to research and practice are discussed.