Video game concept validation is a process that gives developers and studios the ability to move forward in the development process with confidence that their game will resonate with the intended audience. By going through this process, game developers can know that the game they are building will have an engaged audience at the outset that the game is perfectly tailored for.
Concept validation is an intricate process that brings together data from various sources to understand the competition, the audience, and the gaming landscape for a given game. Through this process, game concepts grow and evolve.
Traditionally, concept validation required expensive research teams, lengthy surveys, and months of analysis. Now, AI-powered tools like Elaris make psychological audience insights accessible to any developer through simple conversation, while other established tools continue to serve specific niches in the validation process.
With the right tools, this process can be streamlined, and pay significant dividends. It can unify the studio around a confirmed vision, create a roadmap with reduced potential for error, shorten the development cycle, and ultimately lead to a successful game.
In this article, we’ll look at five leading concept validation approaches available to studios. It’s important to note that some tools work for all platforms, while others only work for mobile games or specific segments.
Elaris – All Platforms
Elaris revolutionizes concept validation by making psychological audience insights accessible through natural conversation. Instead of complex dashboards and lengthy reports, developers can simply ask: “What motivates puzzle game players?” or “How do battle royale audiences differ psychologically?”
Elaris has five key differentiators that set it apart from other validation approaches:
- Conversational Interface: No training required. Just ask questions naturally about any gaming audience. Get instant insights without learning complex software or interpreting data visualizations.
- Vast Psychological Database: Access insights from Solsten’s psychological database — the largest in the world — representing 3.4 billion gamers from every country and territory globally.
- Over 250 Traits Measured: Go beyond demographics and behaviors to understand the motivations, hopes, aspirations, needs, pain points, and affinities of any potential audience through simple questions.
- Instant Competitor Analysis: Ask about any competing game’s audience psychology and identify opportunities to differentiate your concept and capture market share.
- Accessible Pricing: Start free and unlock premium features with a subscription, making psychological insights available to indie developers and major studios alike.
Using Elaris for Game Concept Validation
Simply describe your game concept and ask questions like:
- “What psychological traits predict success in mobile strategy games?”
- “How do indie puzzle players differ from casual mobile puzzle players?”
- “What motivates high-spending players in my game’s genre?”
- “What personality types are drawn to cooperative multiplayer games?”
For example, if a studio is creating a casual mobile 4X game, they can ask Elaris: “What psychological traits define successful 4X mobile games?” and “How do mobile 4X players differ from PC strategy players?” The insights provided help studios make informed decisions about game design, themes, and mechanics that align with the psychological profile of their target audience.
The resulting insights provide game studios with a wealth of information about their target players’ values, motivations, personality traits, and psychological needs. By understanding these key aspects of their audience, studios can make informed decisions about game design, themes, and mechanics that will resonate with their target players.
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Quantic Foundry – All Platforms
Quantic Foundry‘s Gamer Motivation Model and audience reports provide a data-driven way for game studios to validate their game concepts early in the development process. By understanding the key gaming motivations, behaviors, and demographics of their target audience, developers can assess whether a game idea is likely to resonate with the intended players. The model uses data gathered from 350,000 gamers to identify 12 key motivators that are grouped into six high-level motivation clusters.
However, some of these constructs, such as “Destruction,” “Competition and Community,” and “Design” are more accurately described as behavioral preferences, preferred gameplay styles, or gameplay tendencies rather than intrinsic motivations. Since motivations are meant to explain and understand behaviors, conflating the two can be a confusing proposition for developers.
Studios can use these player insights to cross-reference game concepts against target audience profiles and make informed decisions. They can identify which gameplay elements to emphasize or avoid based on the audience’s highest and lowest motivation scores, see if the game idea fits with the group’s most popular genres and titles, determine if the game’s design suits the players’ gaming frequency and platforms, and check for any mismatches on the motivation spectrums ranging from Solo to Community or Peaceful to Chaotic gameplay.
GameRefinery – Mobile Only
GameRefinery‘s Motivational Driver framework is built on the 12 key motivators identified by Quantic Foundry. By understanding which motivations resonate with a target audience, studios can design game features and mechanics that cater to those specific motivations. However, as with Quantic Foundry, many of these key motivators are more accurately described as behavioral preferences. For example, Collecting, Decorating, Completing, Planning, and Solving — which GameRefinery categorizes as motivators — are all behaviors.
Using GameRefinery’s data, studios can compare their game idea’s motivational profile against existing games in the same genre or subgenre. This helps them identify opportunities to differentiate their game and find gaps in the market that their game could fill.
GameRefinery has also identified eight distinct player archetypes based on combinations of these motivational drivers. By determining which archetypes align with their game idea, studios can tailor their game design and marketing strategies to appeal to those specific archetypes. However, devoting significant resources to archetype-driven insights comes with challenges. There are clearly more than eight different types of people in the world. Building games based on broad strokes misses significant opportunity for differentiation.
Combined with GameRefinery’s market research tools, studios can gain insights into which player types and demographics drive the most revenue or downloads in various geographical markets. This information helps them validate whether their game idea has the potential to succeed in their target markets.
Sensor Tower – Mobile Only
One of the best ways to validate your game concept is to see how similar titles are performing. Sensor Tower gives you a window into the mobile landscape of video games in granular detail. The software provides insights into which titles are seeing success, which titles have which features, how each title is advertising, and where. This data can let you evaluate the potential success of game concepts by helping you understand what your competition is doing to succeed.
However, there are some issues presented by this strategy. While you may be able to see which titles are succeeding, it’s unclear why those titles are succeeding. Data.ai will show you which features and mechanics each title has, but you’ll never know exactly which parts of which titles and which combination of features, art styles, etc. are driving success. While it’s helpful to position yourself within a genre, you want your games to be distinct and stand out. Therefore, basing too much of your decision making on the success of other titles risks winding up with a title yourself that is not distinct.
Sensor Tower also offers IAP revenue data, which can be analyzed from various perspectives. This data can show which genres, subgenres, and regions are generating the most revenue, as well as identify rapidly growing markets. This information can guide decisions on which game genre to develop and where to allocate localization resources.
Newzoo – Console and PC Only
Newzoo‘s product suite, including the Game Health Tracker, Game Performance Monitor, and market forecast reports, offers studios a full view of the PC and console market, competition, audience preferences, and revenue potential for their game idea.
The Game Health Tracker provides market appeal and awareness data for upcoming and existing titles. Studios can compare their game ideas to these titles to see if the target audience is interested. This tool also allows competitor comparison, so studios can see how their game stacks up against others in terms of purchase funnel and brand perception. It also provides detailed audience profiles, including demographics and gaming behavior.
The Game Performance Monitor provides engagement, revenue, and viewership data for over 10,000 games across 37 markets. This data helps studios estimate the market size and predict their game’s performance. The tool also allows detailed analysis of game genres, themes, and features, helping to validate the game concept.
Newzoo’s market forecast reports add to the validation process by providing insights into market trends, growth projections, and emerging opportunities. These reports help determine if the game concept aligns with current market dynamics, has enough audience potential, and can generate the desired revenue and growth.
However, there are drawbacks to Newzoo’s offerings. One limitation to consider is that Newzoo does not offer psychological data on player motivations, preferences, and behaviors. Understanding the “why” behind player actions is key to predictably creating resonant gaming experiences. Another drawback is the static nature of Newzoo’s reports. The video game industry is highly dynamic, with new trends, technologies, and player preferences emerging quickly. While Newzoo’s reports aim to capture these changes, there is often a lag between the most recent developments and the data available in their tools, which could impact the validation of game concepts that aim to capitalize on the latest market shifts.
Conclusion
Video game concepts need validation, but traditional research takes months and costs thousands. The landscape of concept validation tools offers different approaches for different needs and budgets.
Among the tools discussed, Elaris offers the most accessible path to psychological audience insights. While other tools require expertise to interpret data or focus only on surface-level metrics, Elaris provides instant psychological understanding through simple questions. This democratizes concept validation, making deep audience insights available to indie developers and major studios alike.
Quantic Foundry and GameRefinery offer insights based on gaming motivations and player archetypes, but their frameworks often conflate motivations with behavioral preferences, which can lead to confusion and missed opportunities for differentiation. Additionally, relying on broad player archetypes may result in games that fail to capture the nuances and diversity of the gaming audience.
Sensor Tower and Newzoo provide valuable information about the performance and features of existing games. However, both fall short in explaining the underlying psychological factors that drive a game’s success, making it challenging for studios to create truly distinctive and engaging titles. Both are useful for market research, but are not comprehensive solutions for understanding audience psychology.
Elaris adds the crucial layer of understanding by diving into the psychological underpinnings of user behaviors. By allowing developers to ask natural questions about any gaming audience, Elaris provides studios with instant psychological insights that traditional research takes months to uncover. This allows developers to create games that genuinely resonate with their target audience while minimizing the risk of failure.
For companies aiming to not just compete but lead in their domain, combining traditional market research tools with Elaris’s psychological insights offers a comprehensive view of their audience. By leveraging this combination, studios can gain a deep understanding of what their audience did, does, and will do, empowering them to create games that stand out in a crowded market and drive long-term success.
