SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched the final episode of “The Tester 2”, stop reading and jump over to PlayStation Store to download the season finale and see for yourself who takes home the winning prize. Otherwise, look out below…
It was an exciting second season of “The Tester” and after the intense challenges, rivalries, and competitions, one victorious winner will soon be working for Sony Computer Entertainment America.
Please join me in congratulating Matthew Brown (aka Gaymer) on his victory! Throughout the series, Matthew demonstrated consistent performance and leadership, beating out the 11 other dedicated gamers who were all fighting for this unique opportunity to join the PlayStation family. His quick thinking and gaming skills in the season finale helped bring home the winning prize: a job at SCEA’s San Diego Studios as a Quality Assurance Tester, a $5,000 signing bonus, a limited edition ‘The Tester’ PlayStation 3 signed by all guest panelists, and a brand new 46” Sony Bravia 3D HDTV.
Brent Gocke caught up with Matthew after the conclusion of season to ask him about the experience, what the show was like, and what he’s most looking forward to on his first day of work. Check out the interview!
And, if you’re looking for more about Season 2, we’re getting select members of our cast back together for a special reunion episode, presented by Ford. We’ll relive favorite moments of the season and find out what they thought of the series. Look for more details on the reunion episode coming soon.
Matt will be following in the footsteps of several noteworthy players in the video game industry when he begins his career as a QA Tester. There are countless opportunities. We talked with a few folks that started in QA testing and found out where they are now.
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Will Powers |
“The gaming industry is a very strange beast. Most every position requires at least X amount of years experience within the industry. When it comes down to it, being a Tester in QA fulfills these qualifications and can be a very rewarding opportunity. My favorite aspect of the job was getting my hands on games more than 6 months before they are released. So, to anyone looking to break into the gaming industry that doesn’t know where to start, QA is a great option!”
Currently working on: Killzone 3, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Dead Nation |
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David Jaffe |
“Testing games was a stepping stone for me because it gave me access to the people who could allow me to design my own games, namely Sony game producers and executives. Once I was in, I used my creativity and my ambition to pitch ideas, design maps and suggest new games. Eventually, that caught the eye of a few producers within the company who promoted me out of test to be their assistant. From there, it was more of the same: hard work, not keeping quiet and working on designs for the company with no guarantee they would get made or even read. All of that eventually put me in enough ‘right place, right time’ moments that I was able to get my first game to design. I worked hard and long and brought all my abilities to the table and that, along with working with an amazing team, gave me a hit. After enough hits and enough good relationships, Sony rolled the financial dice on Eat Sleep Play and I am now the proud owner the company!”
Currently working on: Twisted Metal |
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Kyle Shubel |
“I was lucky enough to start my video gaming career by getting into QA. As a tester, I was able to leverage communication skills, not only through bug writing and email, but also through developing relationships with the development staff. Attention to detail and organization skills also proved to be indispensible once I moved from QA to production. I truly feel that my experience in QA has made me a better producer and a better game developer, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world.”
Currently working on: LittleBigPlanet 2 and Killzone 3 |
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Edward Kim |
“When other kids aspired to be astronauts or ninjas, I often dreamt of working in the video game industry since my early childhood. I got my first taste of the industry when I was 12 and became an unofficial tester for Tecmo providing feedback and reporting bugs for flagship titles such as, Tecmo Bowl and Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2. It was at this point that I realized that spending five hours a day playing videogames while my parents yelled at me to do my homework could actually lead to career opportunities.”
Currently working on: Resistance 3 |
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Sam Thompson |
“When I started testing for SCEA back in 1997, I was honestly shocked that Sony was going to pay me to break their games, and I really didn’t know what to expect. What I quickly realized was that getting into QA didn’t always require a College degree in computer engineering; you simply had to have an aptitude for gaming, be an effective communicator and thrive in a team oriented environment. Through it all, I still look back on those days with a sense of pride and accomplishment and to this day I still enjoy improving consumer experiences. As a Producer, in addition to managing a wide variety of aspects relative to the development process, we spend a lot of time sorting through player metrics, game play feedback, and applying different usability strategies in order to provide our development teams with useful data that will help them refine and improve the overall game play experience within our products. I can’t begin to express how incredible my job is; not only do I get to work on some of the greatest first party franchises in the industry, but I also get to work with industry leading development teams like Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, Sucker Punch Productions, Nihilistic, and Bend Studio. These experiences have been instrumental in defining my role in the industry and continue to shape the type of person I am today, and I couldn’t have accomplished any of this without the years I spent in First Party Quality Assurance.”
Currently working on: UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception |
Finally, one HUGE thank you to all of you who watched “The Tester 2” this past season. We hope you enjoyed the season as much as we enjoyed producing it!
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