Customer story

Crafting New Frontiers For A Next-Gen MMO

Client Playable Worlds
Company size 51-200
Genre MMO
Use case Product Market Fit
Playable Worlds used Solsten's insights to balance innovation with audience expectations to create a next-generation MMO.
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With Solsten, we gain a deep understanding of our audience, can pinpoint the features that matter most, and tailor gameplay to resonate with diverse play styles.

Raph Koster

CEO

The challenge

Playable Worlds, led by renowned game designer Raph Koster, set out to create Stars Reach, a groundbreaking MMO that reimagines sandbox gaming. In this ambitious title, players explore vast alien galaxies, build thriving settlements, and govern entire planets. However, creating a next-generation MMO that resonates with a diverse audience posed a significant challenge. While the game promised unparalleled creativity and freedom, the team needed to:

• Identify key audience personas.

• Validate player interest to secure investment.

• Design features aligned with diverse player motivations while maintaining innovation.

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The solution

To tackle these challenges, Playable Worlds partnered with Solsten to leverage advanced player psychology tools and iterative research methods.
Solsten’s Navigator tool identified core player personas by analyzing gamers from similar MMO and sandbox titles, validating initial design decisions and uncovering opportunities for new features.

Resonance studies provided a psychological lens to evaluate playtest sessions, collect feedback, and identify usability challenges. Meanwhile, Solsten’s Typing Tool segmented players into detailed psychological profiles, ensuring features resonated with diverse playstyles.

Armed with these insights, Playable Worlds refined gameplay elements, optimized marketing messaging, and validated their design decisions with confidence.

The result

The collaboration with Solsten revolutionized the development process for Stars Reach, delivering impactful results across multiple dimensions. Player segmentation provided clarity on the personas driving engagement, allowing the team to tailor design and messaging to their preferences.

A remarkable 96% intent-to-download rate validated the game’s strong product-market fit, even as playtests expanded to broader audiences.

Solsten’s insights into player spending preferences enabled strategic design adjustments that balanced appeal for both high- and low-spending players, enhancing monetization opportunities. Additionally, refined messaging cascaded through the game’s website, ads, and press materials, significantly amplifying interest and reach.

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