S
ometimes overlooked and underappreciated, quality assurance is arguably one of the most critical aspects of video game development. That is because player experience is paramount in video games. And still, people might see QA as a back-end process that occurs only after most of the “heavy lifting” is done. This perception sometimes leads to starting testing quite late in the process, resulting in less time to cover the test surface and gain confidence within immovable deadlines. Our goal is to change this perception and bring exceptional quality to quality assurance.
EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY Long ago, Room 8 Group started with an art-only approach. Since then, we have expanded to cover practically every stage of the game development pipeline with best-in-class co-dev and full-cycle services. Since 2011 we have been involved in the creation of hundreds of PC, console, and mobile titles of different scales. We know how crafting a AAA title can be a lengthy, challenging, expensive endeavour, spanning over the course of years (in some cases, over a decade).
Rooted in game development, we saw the
frequent pattern of potentially excellent games suffering from inadequate QA. Talking to our clients, partners, and competitors, we felt the market need for high-quality quality assurance. Still, options were limited. In our conversations, we often heard, “We need high quality. We are not getting it right now, but frankly there’s not much to choose from” or “We really want to switch to a higher quality alternative, but we probably will not be able to find it, at least with the scope we need and the budget we have.” Our mission is to approach testing in a more intelligent way: methodology, data driven decisions, AI, technology. We strive to augment talented QA specialists’ ability to stay passionate about every single detail.
THE TEAM THAT HAS BEEN IN THE CLIENT’S TRENCHES
Most brands in Room 8 Group’s portfolio didn’t start from scratch. In some cases, as we accumulated knowledge and took challenging projects, we evolved and learned to apply the skills in new areas. In other cases, we expanded our portfolio with specifically-targeted teams of specialists that fit the needs of our clients through M&A deals. This time we felt that we needed to look for a team that was literally in clients’ shoes.
We believe that the key to delivering quality is understanding the people we work with. And no one knows it better than clients themselves. Most of our team, including Martyn Sibley, our Director of QA, have spent their entire careers in quality assurance and worked on the customers’ side. This puts them into an unrivalled position, where they know exactly how to do great QA and what partners need and want. Octavia Vasilescu remembers the synergy between her QA team at Electronic Arts and the developers at Maxis on her favourite project of all time, The Sims 4.
“While teams had different reporting lines, were in different locations and time zones with limited overlap, the entire operation was a well oiled machine. Dev communication on upcoming changes flowed organically, and QA adjusted and planned for the best testing strategy. Concerns were identified early and
resolved amongst stakeholders, each specialist in their own discipline trusted to own quality delivery in their respective area. There was tremendous respect and accountability among all the team members, allowing us to bring our best selves to the office every day. The teams were engaged and genuinely passionate about what we were all working to create—a fantastic iteration to a game loved by millions of people, and the passion showed.
Passionate QA professionals saw an opportunity to
create a different kind of service and business, where we compete on quality rather than price. We managed to add value by designing test coverage strategies that fit the bill and executing with surgical precision while monitoring project health using advanced KPIs.” Octavia Vasilescu
With such exceptional leaders on board, we spent the last year building muscle for our QA Service Line and investing heavily in this direction. As of today, we are close to landing several exclusive QA deals with our partners, some of which are among the world’s 10 largest game publishers.
March 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 25
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