The Challenge

Often when I overhear people talking about the game industry it is with a sense of amazement and mystery. While I enjoy working on games over any other job I have had, I can assure players that the work is difficult, stressful and most rewarding after release through the positive reactions of our customer.

Granted the office environment is often more relaxed then working at a bank for instance, which I have also had the displeasure of doing for many years. While most tasks are assigned based on skill sometimes to lighten the mood we use other methods.

Our dreams of long storylines revealing game world history while putting players face to face with terrors only imagined in the nightmares of mere mortals are quickly becoming a reality. Today we had to choose which internal testers would be the first to experience the new content. The only fair way was to hold a contest. Those testers who volunteers had to eat not 1 but 2 One Pound burgers from my favorite restaurant Fuddruckers. The toppings were piled high and drinks chosen, and in the end...

No winner emerged.

Sometimes I suspect we ask too much of our team. After multiple 12 hour days testing code our testers seemed unstoppable, however 2 pounds of meat and all the trimmings finally brought them down. They did however give it the old college try and will be rewarded with a few more 12 hour days testing the new, larger than life super bosses.