Ross Fifield

University of York

I am a user-centred games designer and researcher working across the practical and theoretical dimensions of play. I hold both a BA and MA in Games Design from Falmouth University and have experience teaching further and higher education courses in games development. My work explores the relationship between design innovation, player psychology, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on how players discover, evaluate, and sustain meaningful play experiences.

Currently undertaking a PhD through the iGGi programme, my research investigates matchmaking beyond conventional skill-based or algorithmic systems. I am interested in how social context, player motivation, behavioural patterns, and lived experience influence whether a game feels “right” for a player at a given moment. Through this work, I aim to develop more nuanced approaches to player matching and game discovery that better account for the emotional, social, and contextual dimensions of play.

My practice draws on speculative and disruptive design methodologies to challenge established, top-down models of game development. I am particularly interested in how live and contextual player data can support more adaptive, empathetic, and sustainable systems for player engagement, retention, and community building. Alongside this, I maintain professional interests in affective psychology and digital heritage.

As a player, I take an agnostic approach to genre, though I have a particular affinity for First Person Shooters, MMOs, sandbox games, and live-action roleplay. I welcome opportunities to discuss research collaboration, applied matchmaking systems, and future-facing approaches to player experience design.

I am seeking placement opportunities with studios and organisations that are open to collaboration on live, data-driven projects focused on social play, player engagement, matchmaking and game discovery. My goal is to contribute meaningfully to real-world game development while refining methodologies that support more empathetic, inclusive, and dynamic player experiences.