Interview design guide for games studios

Based on peer-reviewed research and what we see across studio hiring in India.

What the research says

A 2022 review in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens) rechecked decades of studies on hiring methods. Corrected estimates of how well each method predicts job performance:

• Structured interview: Validity: about 0.42

• Job knowledge test: Validity: about 0.40

• Work sample (art test, design assignment, code task): Validity: about 0.33

• Cognitive ability test: Validity: about 0.31

• Unstructured interview: Validity: about 0.19

Use structured interviews as the base and add one work sample.

A simple 4-step process

1. Recruiter screen, done by Playdawn. Background, pay, notice, location and motivation. We send detailed notes and flag risks such as frequent job changes.

2. Structured first interview, 45 minutes, with the hiring manager.

• 5 or 6 questions, the same for every candidate

• Each tied to a must-have in the job brief

• Each answer scored 1 to 5 against a written guide

• Notes taken during the call, scores given right after

3. Work sample, optional and short.

• Matches real work in the role

• 3 to 5 days for most roles, one week for senior art tests

• The candidate knows how it will be judged

• There is a plan for candidates whose current work is under NDA

4. Final conversation, senior or culture fit.

• For senior creative roles, check communication, leadership and how they give feedback

• Keep it to one round if you can

Sample structured questions

Game designer:

1. Tell us about a feature you owned from idea to launch. What changed after players used it?

2. Describe a time data showed your design was not working. What did you do?

3. How do you write a design document that engineers and artists use?

Artist:

1. Walk us through one portfolio piece from brief to final. What would you change now?

2. How do you work to a style guide that is not your own style?

3. Tell us about feedback you disagreed with. What happened?

UA or performance marketer:

1. Tell us about a campaign where cost per install went up. How did you find the cause?

2. How do you decide which creatives to stop and which to scale?

3. What changes when you move from Android first to a global iOS launch?

Scoring guide (example)

• 1: no real example, vague

• 3: clear example, describes their own part, reasonable result

• 5: clear example, own part, measured result, and what they learned

Timelines that keep good people

• CV feedback: 3 working days

• Interview to next step: 5 working days

• Final round to offer: under 1 week

• Tell candidates the number of rounds on day one

Common mistakes we see

• Changing must-haves after interviews start

• Long gaps between rounds while candidates collect other offers

• Long unpaid assignments for senior roles

• Not telling candidates whether AI tools are allowed in tests