Our Commitment to the Industry

At GameDriver, one of our core principles is that we aim to be a partner to the gaming industry. Over the last few months, many of us have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and here at GameDriver HQ things are no different. As a virtual company we’re lucky to be accustomed to a work-from-home situation but we know and appreciate the magnitude of the disruption that many are coming to terms with. Up until this point, we’ve been focused on helping and supporting our users adapt to their new working conditions and supporting them wherever possible as we all try to protect our families, friends and loved ones.

Now that we’re becoming adjusted to our new and temporary surroundings, we’re starting to take stock of where we find ourselves and the state of the industry we’re all a part of:

• As a whole, the video game industry is remarkably recession-proof, particularly when we’re under recommendations or order to stay-at-home or shelter-in-place

• More time at home means there’s new opportunities to reach out to the “lapsed gamer” - the person who may have played video games in the past but for various reasons stopped and are now returning

• Many studios operate on razor thin margins and during a time of uncertainty, many are needing to furlough or lay off employees

• Shelter-in-place and national quarantines create difficulties for traditional game testing practices that rely on people being at work

As a partner to the industry, we want to support you.

Adjusting to Work-from-Home

Some companies are reporting that work-from-home initiatives are actually resulting in higher levels of productivity than were forecast or expected. This is in part because of shortened commutes, fewer distractions and employees being better able to set their own priorities. 

Working Through the Quarantines

Social distancing and quarantine guidelines are making it incredibly difficult to perform manual testing outside of the home. Additionally, the shutdown of entire offshore testing hubs has ground the most common method of play-testing to a stop. 

Engaging a new Audience

Social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines are creating an opportunity for expansion for existing and new game properties. Without pre-existing loyalties, these players represent an opportunity for each and every game studio. The flip-side of this coin is that they’re not yet investing in your game, and producing a compelling and immersive experience is an even higher priority.

How GameDriver is Helping

GameDriver is all about finding the best way to help improve your testing practices. To support the industry we all rely on, we’ve decided to offer a 60 day license of our GameDriver Professional Edition for a period of 60 days.

• For game studios, GameDriver helps improve your ability to validate content, features, and new experiences while allowing your testers to stay away from the office.

• For game testers, whether working from home or temporarily inconvenienced due to furlough or layoff, we’ll provide the tools necessary to learn how to use GameDriver and give yourself a leg up on the competition.

Request your free trial license here today. To help you get started, we’ll be inviting users to join our community Slack channel and publishing a series of webinars and tutorials throughout the Spring and Summer of 2020.

And together, we'll get through this.