In this GDC 2018 talk, Ubisoft's Jason VandenBerghe takes a crack at refining his five domains of play theory to better account for the realities of game design.

VandenBerghe starts off by admitting that the the five domains model (which he introduced last year) needs restructuring, explaining how he streamlined the theory to include a complete set of player archetypes (and the games they would play) for each set of facets primary for gaming.

He goes on to discuss how developers can apply the five domains model (and every other psychological model) to game development by developing accurate empathy. Accurate empathy, he argues, makes for better game developers and thus better games.

It was an informative talk that's still definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn't miss the opportunity to do so now that it's freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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