PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab has launched a new initiative that’ll enable players to opt-in and help independent researchers from Oxford University’s Internet Institute gather data for its research on gaming and mental health.
From today, Steam players that select the ‘research-edition – Research Edition 2022’ drop-down option under PowerWash Simulator’s Properties > Betas menu will gain access to what FuturLab calls a “one-of-a-kind anonymous research study centred around the well-being of PowerWash Simulator’s players [that] also aims to deliver insights into the larger discourse of gaming and mental health.”
FuturLab says two types of anonymous, de-identified data will be collected from players that opt-in to the PowerWash Simulator’s Research Edition: ‘base telemetry’, which includes player progress and other general gameplay activities that’ll be provided to the researchers for analysis, plus a second type made up of responses given directly to researchers by players.