Games Insights Researcher

About Liquid & Grit

Liquid & Grit (https://www.liquidandgrit.com/) provides research and analysis for the world's leading mobile game developers. We break down games to understand what makes them work and help make them even better. Our work shapes decisions at some of the biggest studios in the industry.

We're based in California but are fully remote.

About the Role

We're hiring a Games Insights Researcher to work on our private client research. These are custom projects where studios bring us real questions and we deliver answers that shape their games.

Projects answer questions like:

• Why does this genre's top performer keep players coming back when its rivals can't?

• Is a title's economy too generous, or not generous enough?

• Which competitor handles onboarding best, and what's worth borrowing?

You'll own questions like these end to end and write your findings up as clear, persuasive reports clients can act on.

What the Work Looks Like

Most projects run on two-to-four-week cycles. You'll get a brief, scope what's really being asked, and decide how to investigate it. Investigations can include playing comparable games, analyzing data, tearing down mechanics, and tracking market trends. Once you've got the data, you'll write and deliver a report with concrete recommendations.

You'll have analysts you can pull in to help gather data on larger projects, and editors and managers who help guide your projects and sharpen the final product. But the research, the analyses, and the arguments will be yours.

What We Offer

• $40/hour, including during your paid trial period

• A 100% remote role

• The ability to set your own schedule

• Recurring assignments with reliable, consistent hours

• A collaborative team that respects your time

• Room to grow

Hours start around 15–25 per week and ramp toward 25–35 as our working relationship develops. This is a contract role, built for ongoing work.

Who We're Looking For

• You do the whole job. You can take a fuzzy question, investigate it rigorously, and write it up so a busy decision-maker immediately gets it.

• You're comfortable with ambiguity. A brief is rarely as clear as it looks. You scope it, decide what "good enough" means under a deadline, and move.

• You're curious about why things work. You love figuring out what makes a game succeed or fail.

• You're comfortable with numbers. You don't need to be a statistician, but data shouldn't scare you.

• You work autonomously and take pride in what you put out.

Experience: At least one year in work that combined investigation and writing for decision-makers. Examples could include consulting, equity or industry research, analytical journalism, market or UX research, or policy research. We care about evidence you've done the full loop, not a specific job title or a degree.

Games experience is a plus, but not required. If you've worked in gaming, great. If you haven't but know games well and are a strong researcher and writer, we still want to hear from you.

How to Apply

Apply by filling out the application here.

The application includes a short scenario question that asks you to outline how you'd approach a client brief. It's a preview of the actual work and the main thing we read, so give it your attention.

If you have a writing sample that shows your research and writing together, there's an optional space to upload it. We know a lot of work is confidential, but if you can share something, we'd love to see it.

Our Hiring Process

We hire on ability, not credentials, which is why the scenario question matters more than your résumé. If you seem like a good fit, we'll reach out for a conversation, then a paid trial at the full $40/hour rate. Strong trials turn into ongoing work.