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Studios rarely approve a game from a pitch alone. They reduce risk in stages: refine the idea, build a prototype or proof of concept, explore a playable draft, test it with players, examine market and shipping assumptions, and then use a production-like vertical slice as a possible gate into full production. Each stage answers a different question, and none guarantees commercial success.
Why studios test a concept in stages
A full game production commits a team to years of work, specialized staff, technology, marketing coordination and a release plan. An attractive premise can still fail because its core interaction is dull, the technology cannot support it, the scope is too large, or the intended audience is too small. Early testing makes those risks visible while changing direction is still relatively affordable.
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There is no single industry formula or universal pass mark. Ubisoft’s published process describes one studio’s sequence, while sessions from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) describe particular approaches from commercial indie and AAA practitioners. A 2021 survey of game-testing literature also finds that methods vary by game type and that developers rely heavily on manual playtesting and tester expertise. Treat these practices as a decision framework, not a guarantee or an industry law.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallStage 1: Explore and refine the idea before building much
Preconception is an iterative creative loop
Ubisoft calls its earliest phase “preconception.” The company says teams remain in an iterative spiral in which they can take risks, try and fail, test ideas and refine the vision until it is mature enough for conception. This is deliberately earlier than a formal production commitment. Teams can discard a weak direction, combine promising ideas or change the audience and scope before a large team is assembled.
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The practical output is not necessarily a playable build. It may be a clearer fantasy for the player, a sharper statement of what makes the game distinctive, or evidence that a proposed feature deserves further investigation. A concept that cannot be explained in terms of player actions and intended experience is not ready for expensive validation.
Conception turns the direction into a working brief
In Ubisoft’s description, a core team defines and solidifies the vision during conception. The team may conduct subject research, immerse itself in the setting, and develop prototypes or proofs of concept. Research can reveal rules, audiences, cultural details or technical constraints that a pitch omitted. A proof of concept demonstrates that a particularly risky idea can work; it is not automatically a complete game or a polished demo.
Because this account is Ubisoft’s own process, it should not be presented as a mandatory sequence for every studio. Smaller teams may combine these activities, while larger publishers may run several concept investigations in parallel.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesStage 2: Make the core experience tangible
What a prototype is meant to answer
An early prototype isolates a design or technology question. It might test whether movement feels responsive, whether a combat loop creates meaningful choices, whether a procedural system produces useful variety, or whether a network feature can work at the required scale. The build can use placeholder art, temporary interfaces and simplified rules. Its value comes from answering the risky question quickly, not from looking like the final product.
A proof of concept has the same risk-reduction purpose but often concentrates on feasibility: can the proposed interaction, toolchain, rendering technique or online service function at all? The team should state the hypothesis before building, define what evidence would support it, and record what remains unknown.
How a first playable differs
Ubisoft places a “first playable” later, in preproduction. The stated purpose is to let team members test and explore a work-in-progress draft of the core experience. That makes it broader than a narrow prototype: several systems begin operating together so the team can assess the game as a player would encounter it.
Do not collapse every early build into the term vertical slice. A prototype tests an idea; a first playable lets the team explore a draft of the core experience. The visual polish, content volume and production certainty may still be far below a vertical slice.
Stage 3: Ask whether the project can survive commercially and operationally
Market potential is one decision question
Ubisoft says its concept kickoff considers both the game’s market potential and plans for shipping the final product, alongside whether the concept is fun, innovative and well developed. In practice, decision-makers examine the intended audience, the platform and regional opportunity, the competitive landscape, the product’s positioning and the release window. These questions do not prove that people will buy the game; they expose assumptions that need evidence.
Commercial risk and budget flexibility
Adam Saltsman’s 2016 GDC session, “Deciding What to Make: A Greenlight Process for Commercial Indies,” frames greenlighting around commercial risk, whether an idea can survive surprises during development, and whether its budget can remain flexible. The session presents questions for hedging risk rather than a quantified forecasting model. A greenlight discussion should therefore identify the assumptions that would change the decision, the costs that are difficult to reverse, and the options for reducing scope without destroying the game’s identity.
Market potential and production readiness are separate tests. A concept may appear commercially attractive while the team lacks a reliable way to build it. Conversely, a technically feasible game may not have a sufficiently clear audience. No source establishes that one test answers both questions.
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Stage 4: Use playtesting to gather evidence about the player experience
What playtesting contributes
Graham McAllister’s GDC Europe session on implementing an in-house playtesting process describes playtesting as a way to reduce biased opinion and provide evidence for key design decisions. Instead of relying only on the loudest internal voice, a team watches intended players attempt the build and records where they understand, struggle, disengage or find unexpected strategies.
Playtests can investigate questions such as whether players recognize the objective, whether the first minutes communicate the game’s promise, whether a control scheme feels usable, and whether a mechanic produces the intended emotion. The test should be designed around a decision: what will the team change if the evidence points one way, and what will it do if the evidence points another?
Manual testing remains context-dependent
A 2021 survey by Cristiano Politowski, Fabio Petrillo and Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc reviewed academic and grey literature on video-game testing. Its search was conducted in 2019, and its scope covers game testing broadly rather than concept validation alone. The survey reports heavy reliance on manual playtesting and tester expertise, while emphasizing that game types differ enough that methods do not generalize uniformly.
That limitation matters at the concept stage. A puzzle game, competitive shooter, narrative adventure and virtual-reality title can require different participants, test tasks and interpretations. A finding from one audience or control scheme should not be treated as a universal verdict on every version of the game.
Stage 5: Build a vertical slice as a production-readiness gate
What the vertical slice tests
In the 2015 GDC session “The Vertical Slice Challenge,” Greg Donovan of Volition describes the vertical slice as a tool for deciding whether a team is ready to move from preproduction into production. The slice should serve internal and external goals and demonstrate that the team understands both the game it is making and how to make it.
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A vertical slice is therefore a representative, production-like sample rather than simply a longer prototype. It should exercise the content pipeline, tools, workflows, staffing assumptions and quality bar that full production will use. The exact contents depend on the project, but the decision-makers need enough evidence to judge whether the team can repeatedly create the intended experience, not just produce one impressive room or scripted moment.
Why the gate comes after earlier tests
Ubisoft describes preproduction as a stage for developing and evaluating the tools and processes needed for upcoming production. A vertical slice tests those processes under realistic conditions. If the team cannot make the slice efficiently, finds that its tools are unstable, or discovers that the target quality requires an unsustainable amount of labor, those problems are cheaper to address before content production expands.
The slice does not replace market screening or player research. It answers a production question: is this team, with this technology and workflow, ready to scale the game?
How the methods differ
| Method | Primary question | Who evaluates it | Evidence produced | How production-like it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | Does a specific design or technical idea work in play? | Core team and relevant specialists | Observed feasibility and feel for the isolated risk | Usually low; placeholder assets are acceptable |
| Proof of concept | Can a high-risk feature or technology function at all? | Technical and creative decision-makers | Evidence about feasibility, constraints and remaining unknowns | Low, focused on the critical risk |
| First playable | Does a draft of the core experience work when its main systems interact? | Team members and internal stakeholders | Exploration of the work-in-progress game loop | More integrated than a prototype; final polish is not required |
| Playtest | How do intended players understand and experience the build? | Representative players, observed by the team or researchers | Behavioral evidence for design decisions and sources of confusion or engagement | Any level needed to answer the test question |
| Market and greenlight review | Could the project find an audience and survive commercial surprises? | Studio or publisher decision-makers | Assumptions about audience, positioning, budget flexibility and shipping | Not defined by visual polish; financial and delivery assumptions matter |
| Vertical slice | Can the team reliably make the intended game at the required quality and scale? | Production leadership and other internal or external stakeholders | Evidence about pipeline, tools, staffing, quality and repeatability | High for a representative sample; it is a preproduction-to-production gate |
The cited sources do not provide comparable cost figures, universal schedules or a numerical pass threshold for these methods. Studios set those parameters for their own projects.
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- Write the decision question. State the uncertainty in one sentence, such as “Will players understand the stealth loop without a tutorial?” or “Can the procedural mission system generate enough usable variation?” Avoid a vague goal such as “make the game fun.”
- Define the smallest useful build. Choose the prototype, proof of concept or first playable that can expose the uncertainty. Use temporary assets when presentation is not part of the question, but include enough context for the observation to be meaningful.
- Set evidence and stop conditions. Decide what observation would support continuing, what would require a redesign, and what would justify abandoning the direction. Record technical constraints and assumptions rather than treating a single successful run as proof.
- Run internal exploration. Let the core team and relevant specialists use the build. This is where a first playable can reveal whether the systems form a coherent loop and whether the intended fantasy survives contact with implementation.
- Test with intended players when the question is experiential. Recruit participants appropriate to the game and observe behavior, not just stated enthusiasm. Use the results to make a specific design decision; the GDC playtesting approach is intended to reduce opinion-driven decisions, not to produce a universal score.
- Review market and shipping assumptions. Examine audience, positioning, platform, timing, budget flexibility and the ways development surprises could change the outcome. Keep these commercial questions distinct from the question of whether the game can be built.
- Choose whether to deepen, redirect or stop. A weak result is useful if it prevents a larger commitment or identifies a change that makes the concept stronger. Continuing should require explicit reasons and named unresolved risks.
- Construct a vertical slice before scaling content. Use a representative sample to test the production pipeline, tools, staffing model and quality bar. The gate is passed only when the team has evidence that it understands both the target game and the process for making it.
How decision-makers should interpret the evidence
Separate player appeal from buildability
A playtest can show that participants enjoy a mechanic while a prototype reveals that the mechanic is too expensive or unreliable to implement. Conversely, a technically elegant system may fail to create a compelling player experience. Maintain separate findings for creative appeal, technical feasibility, commercial opportunity and production readiness.
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Look for repeatable signals, not a single reaction
One enthusiastic tester, one internal demonstration or one successful technical experiment is not a forecast. Teams should repeat the relevant test, document the context and check whether the result holds across the intended audience or production conditions. The literature survey’s warning about game-specific methods is a reason to qualify conclusions, not to abandon testing.
Make uncertainty visible at the greenlight
A useful greenlight decision records what is known, what is assumed, what remains untested and what would trigger a change in scope. This makes the budget and schedule discussion more flexible when development surprises occur, which is the kind of commercial-risk question highlighted in Saltsman’s GDC session.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Polishing before proving the loop: Attractive art can conceal weak interaction. Test the defining action early, using placeholders where appropriate.
- Calling every build a vertical slice: A narrow prototype, a first playable and a production-readiness slice serve different purposes. Label the build by the decision it supports.
- Using internal enthusiasm as player evidence: Developers know the intended solution and may overlook confusion. Bring in intended players when the question concerns comprehension, usability or appeal.
- Treating market potential as proof of success: Market review exposes assumptions about audience and shipping; it does not guarantee sales.
- Ignoring the production pipeline: A one-off demo may be achievable only through unsustainable effort. The vertical slice should test repeatability, tools and workflow.
- Generalizing from the wrong game type: Testing practices that work for one genre, platform or control method may not transfer directly to another.
- Failing to define a decision before testing: Without a pre-agreed response to the evidence, teams can reinterpret every result as support for continuing.
What a well-tested concept looks like before full production
Before a large commitment, the team should be able to explain the game’s core experience in concrete player actions; show a build that demonstrates the riskiest design or technical assumptions; describe what intended players did and what changed as a result; articulate the audience, positioning and shipping assumptions; and demonstrate through a vertical slice that the team can produce the experience at the required quality.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →That package is stronger than a pitch because it combines creative intent, observed player behavior, feasibility evidence, commercial questions and production learning. It still cannot eliminate uncertainty. The purpose of staged testing is to make the remaining uncertainty explicit and keep the commitment proportional to what the team has actually learned.
Quick Recap
Sources and further reading
- Ubisoft, “Creative Process | How We Make Games” (company process description; page accessed October 13, 2026).
- GDC Vault, “Deciding What to Make: A Greenlight Process for Commercial Indies” (Adam Saltsman, Finji, GDC 2016).
- GDC Vault, “The Vertical Slice Challenge” (Greg Donovan, Volition, GDC 2015).
- GDC Vault, “Implementing an In-House Playtesting Process” (Graham McAllister, Player Research, GDC Europe 2012).
- Cristiano Politowski, Fabio Petrillo and Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc, “A Survey of Video Game Testing” (arXiv, March 11, 2021).
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