Tony Corace

About Tony Corace

Currently, I am working centrally within Riot Discovery Studio as a Senior Researcher where I help teams explore their product space, pinpoint the target audience, and sharpen game loops. In my recent past at Riot I was imbedded within VALORANT\'s Core Game area as the Senior Researcher, working with product owners and designers on various initiatives across agents, maps, weapons, modes, and game balance. Additionally, I led all playtesting, validation, and anything else research for VALORANT\'s console release. This included extensive work on the new onboarding experience, updated console UI, gameplay validation, audience exploration, and non-verbal communication systems. I am also an award winning game designer, receiving the \"Defy the Limits\" award for innovation in the 2024 Riot Thunderdome game jam. Previously, I helped support many of the user research initiatives with the Age of Empires franchise while contracting with Xbox (XR & D at the time). In that role I rapidly became familiarized with UX research methodologies and best practices, all while leading and supporting other researchers on various projects across all points of product development. Before this, I worked as a Research Program Manager at Alaska Airlines, working closely with business partners throughout the system to improve our customer’s experience. Professional Summary - What do I bring to the table?Market and UX research professional with 10+ years of experience. In that time, I’ve developed skills in data driven marketing strategy, usability, playtesting, storytelling with data, account/client management, project management (both nationally and internationally), and collaboration with teams big and small. Self-starter and independent learner that takes pride in assuming responsibility and delivering results. Not settling for being told what to do, but actively seeking out what I should be doing to push toward business objectives. Lifelong gamer with in-depth understanding of the industry as a whole and specific franchises including Halo, Super Smash Brothers, Heroes of the Storm, Uncharted, and Final Fantasy. I am a former esports athlete that continues to follow multiple scenes closely. In a previous role I was the video game subject matter expert within my organization, in which I led and consulted on numerous projects with that focus. I also host, produce, edit, and market a gaming podcast about once a month and produce/host a 24hr charity stream once a year with about $17k raised lifetime for NAMI.

Experience

1. Senior R & d Researcher

   Riot Games

   Jun 2025 — Present

Education

• Oakland University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology

  2008 — 2011

• Wayne State University

  Master’s Degree, Industrial Organizational Psychology

  2012 — 2014

• Oakland Community College

  Associate's degree

  2006 — 2008

Skills

• Microsoft Publisher
• Spss
• Customer Service
• Qualitative Research
• Organizational Development
• Critical Thinking
• Job Analysis
• Social Media
• Psychology
• Prezi
• Marketing
• Data Analysis
• Data Collection
• Survey Design
• Surveymonkey
• Research
• Wordpress
• Analytics
• Psychometrics
• Human Resources
• Online Research
• Microsoft Office
• Sales
• System Administration
• Team Leading
• Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Survey Research
• Quantitative Research
• Microsoft Word
• Resume Writing
• Google Docs
• Teaching
• Time Management
• Photoshop
• Analysis
• Adolescents
• Research Design
• Market Research
• Outlook