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QA project management is one of my specialties, and I've been in a similar position before with a team that didn't value QA, CBA covered the main points really well, a couple things I'd add. Not all outsource QA teams are bad, I've worked with a great one and was briefly on a very capable one (along with several mediocre and outright bad ones), but its really a case of you get what you pay for and few studios want to pay more than they have to for QA testers even if higher quality would be cheaper in the long run. You really need to get buy in from your producers or the project leadership, without it you're going to be pounding your head against the wall. I've found the best way to get buy in is with a cost benefit analysis, it's a lot easier to convince people to support QA initiatives and resources when you can demonstrate in simple numbers how it affects the bottom line. I had a lead who did this masterfully once to push an initiative to embed testers in the dev team so they could test earlier in the dev process. He pointed out that if a bug goes live and needs to be hotfixed, it costs tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, time and backend deployment costs. If we found that same bug in the integration phase it would have cost a couple days of a programer time to fix If we found that bug during implementation it would have cost a few hours of programmer time to fix. If we had found the bug in pre-production it would have cost nothing to fix. It's hard to make people see the value of QA testing, but if you can get good at it you'll be able to get your team behind your processes, I've used this technique to get buy in for QA automation, Localization improvements, increased QA headcounts, improved tools etc. Also if you're not already a test lead you should be pushing for a promotion, I can't count the number of time's I've seen testers get thrown in the deep end and given lead responsibilities without getting recognized, it leads to burnout really fast.
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Jul 7, 2021 04:48
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thebardyspoon posted:Yeah I've worked with some good outsourced companies too. If that's the case, like Canine Blues Arooo said a SLA or something SLA-like is where you should be heading. When I was in this type of situation I built a system around gates with check-offs for each discipline at each gate, everyone was involved so they all got on board pretty easily and held eachother accountable. Speaking of game QA My company is looking for at least one more Deployment Project Manager, it's a mix of QA Management, Localization PM and release management for a single mobile game project. Ideal candidates would have strong PM skills and a lot of knowledge in one of the three areas (although QA Management is probably most desirable for the team involved). Remote work is possible, but they really want somebody who can be in person in LA at least part time.
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Jul 8, 2021 16:47
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At some companies "Associate" and "Senior" are used to give more granularity to the promotion ladder. You start as an Associate <Job Title>, then move on to just <Job Title> and finally to a Senior <Job Title>. As I recall back in the day Microsoft did this, my buddy got promoted from Senior Test Analyst to Associate Test Engineer, while I was just a Test Engineer.
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Jul 17, 2021 05:05
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My company needs multiple Deployment Project Managers. The role is a combination of QA Management, Localization Project Management and Release Management. An ideal candidate would have experience in all three areas but those are rare unicorns so we typically look for one or two area of expertise and train the others. QA being the preferred are of experience. Remote work is available on a team by team basis (at least one team is full remote) but being in/near LA or Barcelona would be a big plus for some teams. Scopely's a pretty solid place to work, pay is good, benefits are pretty standard for tech companies, culture has been a bit Edgy-Hollywood-Tech-Bro'y but they're trying to move away from that as they move into proper Big Company status. If you're interested or have questions drop me a PM.
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Oct 27, 2021 18:00
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Studio posted:Unrelated, but it's been pretty wild watching a huge chunk of MZ Liveops just reform in Scopely (largely as LiveOps!) I've noticed that happen for other liveOps teams. One guy comes over and then they bring in a bunch of others from the same source, probably because LiveOps is a relatively new discipline so the talent pool isn't huge and dispersed like other disciplines.
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Oct 27, 2021 23:33
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superh posted:I had one of the worst interviews I’ve ever had at scopely. TD laughed at my comp number - even though I made it clear I was willing to negotiate. Never got so much as a “thanks but no thanks” email. Jokes on them, I’m making more now anyway! Did they at least offer you a spear gun and some bacon wrapped cash?
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Oct 28, 2021 00:11
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Chainclaw posted:my partner does UX/UI mostly for non games and looks at game stuff every once in a while. Yeah, everyone in games wants UI/UX people but most places don't actually know how to utilize them properly. Almost every UI designer I know is continually frustrated about their job.
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Jun 25, 2022 06:19
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Anyone got any suggestions for working with game industry recruiters? Or recommendations for specific recruiters to work with? Just learned that my company is "making a pivot", which will likely involve layoffs and this seems like a good time for me to jump ship. I'm a lead producer/project manager in mobile.
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Jul 13, 2022 14:11
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Studio posted:drat they've been expanding pretty massively too haven't they. That suuuuucks. Oh, I'm not at Scopely anymore. I moved to Tilting Point late last year to lead their distribution and deployment team.
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Jul 13, 2022 17:01
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fargom posted:I know a place........ As long as you admit that a Wookie can't be a Jedi. Mah boy Gungi says you get get bent. 
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Jul 19, 2022 20:09
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I landed at Maxis and I'm super happy here. The team is great, positive atmosphere, super diverse, and they're really committed to work/life balance and avoiding burnout. It feels really good working on projects that are not as predatory as mobile free-to-play. We are in desperate need of a highly experienced technical animator. https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/175624/technical-animation-director-maxis If anyone fits the bill send them my way, we need to fast track this role. On-site, hybrid or remote from many locations around the world are all available.
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Nov 10, 2022 06:45
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Hughlander posted:I joined while crunching on an MMO ‘cuz half the engineering team had accounts. yeah my QA buddies told me it was a good place to talk about 40k.
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Mar 19, 2023 05:02
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This is really common in mobile games, but I don't know about web games. There's multiple publishers that scout out small indie games, identify ones that could benefit from a monetization strategy (exploit the hell out of it), then partner with the studio and if successful eventually buy them. It can be a pretty good deal for a small studio as long as you're efficient and smart about managing the contract (get a lawyer) but it can be a death sentence if you negotiate a lovely deal or make bad business decisions.
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Jun 14, 2023 07:27
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I need a couple of project managers at Maxis. Remote available outside of the west coast, priority given to Austin, Atlanta, Toronto areas. Need Agile experience and leet JIRA skills for basic roles, plus people management for the more senior roles.
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Jun 21, 2023 20:53
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I'm surprised all the VC money hasn't moved to the new AI buzzword.
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Jun 22, 2023 14:11
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BizarroAzrael posted:Got all of that, is that remote only in North America or could they consider someone in the UK, or relocation support? We have a couple people in EU so... maybe? Not sure when the reqs will be posted, we just go the go ahead to start hiring again, but we need people asap.
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Jun 22, 2023 17:42
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The in demand skills right now are UX/UI design. So if you've already got the Graphic Design skills then I'd make the move into XD and you can write your own ticket.
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Jun 29, 2023 07:58
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Solus posted:I've been working in TV/Film for the last 3 years so I'm no stranger to instability. I have no idea how you learn those skills, but putting together a good portfolio that demonstrates that kind of work should be a top priority. Also get really good at pointing out why everything you see is broken, that seems to be the consistent trait of all the good XD people I've worked with. 
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Jun 29, 2023 23:44
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Frosty Mossman posted:Hey, I see Maxis also has a couple of design positions open in Europe and I seem to meet the requirements. I gather you seem to be in the US, so I'm of course not sure how much the experience differs., but is it OK to DM you with some questions about applying and working there anyway? Sure. The EU targeted positions are not on my project so I won't have a ton of specific information, but generally the studio culture and expectations are consistent.
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Jul 7, 2023 14:32
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Leif. posted:Surprised this thread is as quiet as it is given the sheer number of layoffs and studio closures we've seen on a daily basis recently. I have a ton of positions opening up next month (prod, GD, XD, eng). I'll post the JDs once they're online.
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Sep 23, 2023 20:05
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I know there's a lot of layoffs going on. You know who's not laying off people? Maxis. We're turning on the hiring spigot for both The Sims 4, and "Project Rene". I am in desperate need of multiplayer focused Engineers, designers and producers. Current openings for both projects are here: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/maxis/careers Specific roles I need to fill are here: https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/178382/multiplayer-gameplay-software-engineer-the-sims?locale=en https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/180331/lead-producer-multiplayer-the-sims?locale=en These are the current open reqs, but more will be posted in the next couple weeks, Including Multiplayer designer and Multiplayer design director. Edit to add: These roles are all remote friendly, and not available in California. Bucnasti fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Sep 29, 2023 |
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Sep 29, 2023 17:52
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We just opened some more Game Designer roles on my project. https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/180947/game-design-director-multiplayer-the-sims https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/180944/game-design-director-creative-tools-the-sims https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/180949/senior-game-designer-multiplayer-the-sims https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/180357/senior-game-designer-the-sims
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Oct 18, 2023 22:29
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BizarroAzrael posted:I think the current Producer roles listed at Maxis are only offering remote within the US, not the UK, is that right? It depends on the team. My team is NA only, but the The Sims 4 team has been ramping up an EU team so they might be available there, I don't have much visibility into their roles. On my team we're being encouraged to hire outside of California for anything below director level. Most US states and Canada are eligible with a few weird exceptions, like specific places in Colorado or states like Minnesota where we don't have a business entity. Relocation assistance to get out of those places is possible.
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Oct 19, 2023 05:41
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Leif. posted:The Maxis jobs are real -- I'm gonna be joining y'all next month! Congratulations! Edit: We still have a bunch of openings. https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/maxis/careers Bucnasti fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Nov 17, 2023 |
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Nov 17, 2023 02:05
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