UX and UI in a live service game never really finish. The HUD, menus, store, battle pass, event screens and onboarding all change with every season, and the interface has to stay readable and fast while it grows. Players spend a lot of their time in these screens, and they are also where much of a free-to-play game's revenue is earned, so the work has a direct effect on how long players stay and what they spend.
Plenty of teams can design good-looking screens. Fewer can build interfaces that hold up through years of live updates. These are the things we would look for in a UX/UI partner for a live service game.
Live service UI has its own problems: stores that rotate daily, battle passes with dozens of tiers, limited-time events with their own screens, and menus that keep gaining features. Ask a partner to walk you through live service interfaces they have worked on and how those interfaces changed over several seasons, along with how they looked at launch.
A design that only exists in a design tool still has to be built, and a lot can be lost along the way. Look for a partner whose team includes UI engineers and technical designers who can build in your engine, whether that is Unreal, Unity or your own technology, and who understand how UI affects performance and memory.
A live service game needs to change store layouts, event screens and offers without an engineer rebuilding the UI each time. Ask how a partner structures UI so that it is driven by data, how new content screens are added, and what tools your live ops team would use to make changes on their own.
Most live service games run on several platforms with different inputs and screens. The same menu needs to work with a controller on a TV, a mouse on a monitor and, for some games, touch on a phone. Check that a partner designs for every target platform from the start, and that they understand each platform's requirements for UI and text.
Accessibility options such as text scaling, colorblind modes, subtitles, remappable controls and clear navigation help a wide range of players and are increasingly expected. Ask how a partner builds accessibility into their process and how they test it.
Good UX decisions come from watching players use the game. Ask whether a partner runs usability testing, how they turn findings into changes, and how they work with your analytics to see where players get stuck or drop off.
Store and offer screens need to sell, and they also need to treat players fairly. Clear pricing, honest presentation of offers and easy-to-understand currencies build trust that keeps players spending over time. A good partner will push for interfaces that work for players and for the business together.
UX and UI touch almost every other discipline: design, art, engineering, monetization and live ops. Look for a partner who can embed with your teams, work in your tools and processes, and take ownership of the UX area they are given.
Rocket Science Group is a video games solutions company, and our UX and UI work is led by Atomic Theory, our studio for co-development, gameplay and UX. The team designs and builds interfaces in engine and works on live service games across console, PC and mobile. Because the wider group covers backend services, game server hosting and live operations, we understand how a live game's interface connects to the systems behind it, and we can support it through the whole life of the game.
If you are looking for UX and UI support on a live service game, talk to us.
Experience with live service interfaces, the ability to build UI in your engine, data-driven UI that can be updated without engineering work, support for all your platforms and input methods, accessibility, and player testing.
Data-driven UI is built so that layouts and content, such as store items and event screens, are set by data. Live ops teams can then change them without rebuilding the interface in code.
The best partners do. Look for UI engineers and technical designers who build directly in your engine and understand its performance and memory limits.