Secure and Streamlined: PlaytestCloud launches Live Playtesting for Game Developers

Berlin-based PlaytestCloud’s newest addition lets game developers quickly and easily run live playtesting sessions thanks to its biggest feature update so far

PlaytestCloud, the dedicated platform for game developers to gather player feedback and insights for their mobile games, has launched the first live, moderated playtesting service built from the ground up to meet the specific needs of game companies. The new feature – simply called Live Playtesting – allows game developers to run live playtesting sessions over a secure video link with gamers drawn from a pool of more than one million pre-approved playtesters worldwide – or invite their own playtesters using the ‘Bring your own Player’ feature.

The new Live Playtesting feature is fully moderated, meaning that the developer or publisher can test directly with the players, guiding them through the playtest and asking questions as they go. All the logistics of recruiting and scheduling the sessions are handled by PlaytestCloud, including recording, transcribing and analysing the session to capture the key insights.

Testing and player feedback are crucial aspects of game development, and the ability to observe and interact with players in real time while they play is especially valuable. However, this has traditionally been costly and time-consuming to coordinate, making it inaccessible for many smaller and medium-sized developers.

PlaytestCloud’s Live Playtesting has been built from the ground up for the games industry; developers can specify what type of player they’d like to talk to and when, and PlaytestCloud takes care of logistics such as NDAs and payment for the testers and even ensure that game builds are pre-installed in a secure testing environment to make sure no time is wasted.

“Playtesting directly with your players and being able to watch exactly how they feel and react to your game in real-time is the best possible feedback tool – which is why this is possibly our biggest feature launch so far,” said Christian Ress, Co-Founder at PlaytestCloud. “Live playtesting has been our most requested feature from our customers, so when we found that there was nothing else like this available to developers, we set out to create the best possible service, fully integrating it into our platform so that it seamlessly works alongside all our existing features, from simple surveys to AI-Powered Analysis.”

Before today’s launch, PlaytestCloud has been trialling Live Playtesting with several existing customers, including UK studio Included Games:

“PlaytestCloud has been essential to our development process, and Live Playtesting itself is a game changer. The ability to just schedule and jump into a live playtest allows us to gather more insights than ever, making iteration and testing faster and more efficient. Along with that, the fact that everything happens with no work from our side and inside the platform makes it both easy to use and very, very convenient,” said Michael Heywood, Co-Founder and CEO at Included Games.

The new Live Playtesting feature is intended to be an extension of the existing PlaytestCloud platform, which is already the most comprehensive set of testing and feedback tools available to game developers. Live Playtesting is also designed to be collaborative, allowing colleagues from different teams or based in other locations to join in on live playtests and easily share the insights and post-session recordings.

Perhaps most importantly, Live Playtesting is linked to PlaytestCloud’s player panel, which has more than 1 million pre-vetted players from around the world. This means that developers can quickly set up live playtesting sessions with gamers that are specifically chosen based on demographics and game preferences, matching the right players to the game being tested.