BUILD | PROFILE: TESTOLOGY
The Testology team cosy up before another day of QA
Testing time N
eatly symbolising the growing relevance of the QA and consultancy sector in the global games industry – as well as its expanding presence within it – Testology took away the trophy in the Services category of the 2010 Develop Awards held at the Brighton Hilton Metropole hotel last month. The firm has had something of a defining year or two up to this point. As well as having provided services for the likes of LittleBigPlanet, Fable 2 and DJ Hero, it has been able to boast an expansion of its client list and a continued strong association with the UK tech licensing firm amBX. An impressive new client has also appeared on Testology’s books in the form of Channel 4’s education department. Being able to branch out into the educational, social networking and browser-based markets is an oppourtunity that the firm has gladly leaped upon, intent on diversifying expertise on progressive platforms and online mediums. Departmental growth with this kind of targeted expansion was an inevitability for Testology. With the help of QA manager Justin Amore, the company has set up a compliance department that looks to reflect the success achieved since 2006 in functionality testing. Having racked up over ten years of industry and development experience, Amore joined the ranks at the after working with the likes of Bullfrog Productions and Sega Europe. His substantial awareness of the compliance process has seen him perfectly placed as the individual to 70 | AUGUST 2010
oversee the development of the department, ensuring that the level of quality that Testology look to achieve is translated into the compliance sector. This preservation of quality was something that was seen as very desirable for the firm when assembling
We have assembled a compliance team that has a proven track record of getting titles through the submission process first time, on all platforms. We have the ability to make a title as complaint as possible. Justin Amore, Testology a compliance team, as Amore explained to Develop. “We have assembled a comliance team that has a long, proven track record of getting titles through the submission processfirst time, on all platforms,” he explained. “Testology has an unparalleled reputation for producing functional testing to the highest quality and we aim to maintain this standard in the comliance department. We have the capabilities to make a title as compliant
as possible, making us supremely confident that our client’s titles will have a strong chance of passing first time. There is no doubt in my mind that Testology will prove to be the industry leader in compliance testing.” COMPLY OR DIE Testology has, as a firm, structured itself on the idea that complaince testing is a core component of the QA developmental process and is often overlooked when considering this. It is widely recognised that titles will often fail submissions because of insufficient understanding of complaince guidelines and inadequate factoring of them into QA schedules. Testology has sought to acknowledge this possibility, within the QA cycle, and now offers a service that seeks to ensure adequate attention is given. When referencing the company’s compliance department, MD Andy Robson took the time to outline the new services available from Testology: “We offer a full and very comprehensive compliance check on all Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft platforms,” he explains. “We can replicate the platform holders testing environment and are well versed in using all of the required testing tools.” Further outlining his personal faith in the new services his company is offering, Robson outlines an “earlybird” promotional offer that will be coinciding with Testology’s latest expansion into compliance QA: “To show how confident we are that excellence is the defining feature of our compliance service, we are offering the
first five clients a 25 per cent discount. This is a reduction on an already competitive rate”. A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN As one of the first operational changes to have occured at Testology, the firm hopes that the complaince department will complement the existing functional service that has risen to industry recognition so rapidly. Amore, who has worked on an impressive number of titles that have passed with first time submissions, recognises the importance of strong candidates when a title can fail over just one bug. This limited room for error is not something Testology shys away from, however. In fact, the department has made first time passes a central objective in what it refers to as its “pursuit of quality.” Meticulous attention has also been focused on the compliance department’s recuitment process, seeking to ensure that the job would be completed as Robson himself would have done it. “Our interview process is extremely thorough. The importance of recuitment can never be overstated when considering the standards we strive to reach,” Robson states. Testology sees this as an oppourtunity to combine excellence in functionality testing with compliance. The fear of re-submission is something that the firm is striving to ensure will be greatly reduced inside a compliance department that works so consistently towards first time passes. www.testology.co.uk