The Underground QA Podcast

Dedicated to empowering QA Professionals to have an active voice in the video game industry. Our weekly discussions feature guests from around the industry and active dialogue with the audience on a variety of topics, from general career advice to practical QA tips and strategies. Audience members interested in joining us as guests are encouraged to reach out to us on Discord.

Career Growth for Outsource QA 02/24/2025

Career Growth for Outsource QA In this episode, Ariel Smith (Test Manager at Bungie), David Benefield (QA Lead at Obsidian Entertainment), and Marcin are joined by special guest Adam Rush (QA Solutions Manager at Keywords Studios) to give tips on how outsource/ex-dev QA folks can level up and grow their careers. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies, employers, clients, customers or any other third parties and the opinions expressed here are their own. Nothing in the podcast is intended to be tax, legal, financial, or employment advice. This production is presented for information and entertainment purposes only. For professional advice, seek out a professional. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/35397480

Working with Outsource Partners 01/16/2025

Working with Outsource Partners Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) and David Benefield (QA Lead at Obsidian Entertainment) are joined by special guests Tommy Dieterich (Sr QA Manager at Experis Games Solutions) and Jakub Dudkowski (Lead QA Project Manager at QLOC) to talk about how to get the best out of a partnership with outsource/external QA teams. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies, employers, clients, customers or any other third parties and the opinions expressed here are their own. Nothing in the podcast is intended to be tax, legal, financial, or employment advice. This production is presented for information and entertainment purposes only. For professional advice, seek out a professional. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/34823845

Unions in Game Dev 09/02/2024

Unions in Game Dev Marcin Pieprzowski hosts special guests Autumn Mitchell (ZeniMax Workers United), Heather Cameron (Game Workers Alliance - CWA Albany), and Paula Mackiewicz-Armstrong (Polish Gamedev Workers Union) to discuss the pros and cons of unionization and what impact they may have on the industry. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies, employers, clients, customers or any other third parties and the opinions expressed here are their own. Nothing in the podcast is intended to be tax, legal, financial, or employment advice. This production is presented for information and entertainment purposes only. For professional advice, seek out a professional. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/32865552

Getting Started with Automation 08/15/2024

Getting Started with Automation Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie), Marcin Pieprzowski (Test Software Project Manager at Ubisoft), and David Benefield (QA Lead at Obsidian Entertainment) are joined by special guest Dani Paul (Quality Engineer at Mabl) to talk about how you can get started in automation in QA to improve testing, processes, and workflows! All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. Follow us on LinkedIn: Twitter: Twitch: Spotify: Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/32587252

2024 Game Industry Predictions 07/06/2024

2024 Game Industry Predictions Season 5 kicks off with a wrap on 2023 and the predictions for 2024! We talk unions, golden paths, agile, pesticide paradox, Marcin talks about selling his organs and we even have some bloopers! All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/32030667

Mental Health & Dealing with Workplace Stressors 06/29/2024

Mental Health & Dealing with Workplace Stressors Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), Chelsea Curran Adams (QA Director at Hypixel Studios), and Diarmaid "Water" Malone (QA Analyst at Hypixel Studios) are joined by special guest, Ashley Levers (Therapist, MFT, PMH-C) to discuss safeguarding your mental health from workplace stressors and practical tips to deal with layoffs. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. This a special podcast on health topics but this is not medical advice. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your condition. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/31940727

QA Mock Interview 06/29/2024

QA Mock Interview Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie), Marcin Pieprzowski (Test Software Project Manager at Ubisoft), and David Benefield (QA Lead at Obsidian Entertainment) are joined by special guest Evgeny Kim, mock interviewer and community builder. In this episode, we conduct and break down a mock interview for a QA role at a fake company with red flags galore. Check out Evgeny's work and community at or on LinkedIn - All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/31939962

Digging Deeper into the ISTQB Game Testing Syllabus 04/21/2024

Digging Deeper into the ISTQB Game Testing Syllabus Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie), Marcin Pieprzowski (Test Software Project Manager at Ubisoft), and David Benefield (QA Lead at Obsidian Entertainment) break down the ISTQB Game Testing syllabus, covering what it does well, what it doesn't, and ways to improve it. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/30918483

2022 Year in Review 04/21/2024

2022 Year in Review Chelsea Curran Adams (Director of QA - Fortnite at Epic Games), Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), and Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) are joined by Myron Parks (Founder of Human Sense Coaching) to wrap up 2022 with a review of this year's episodes, Underground QA community highlights, and the video game industry as a whole and share insights from our community. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/30918313

Test Case Management Tools 04/21/2024

Test Case Management Tools Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), and Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) discuss Test Case Management tools, what the benefits of using one are, and what to think about when choosing one for your team. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/30918258

Escaped Defects 09/19/2023

Escaped Defects Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft) and Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) are joined by special guest Trevor Page (Senior Test Manager at Bungie) to discuss escaped defects and best practices for parsing and using the data about them. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/28056978

Bug Prevention 09/17/2023

Bug Prevention Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), and Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games) chat about bug prevention including tools, processes, and the unique role QA plays in preventing bugs. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/28056480

ISTQB Game Testing Syllabus and Certification - Intro 02/19/2023

ISTQB Game Testing Syllabus and Certification - Intro Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie), and Chelsea Curran Adams (Director of QA - Fortnite at Epic Games) begin a series on Certifications in our industry. We’re going to be focusing on the newly created ISTQB Game certification. We’ve been discussing this around the community - what are the benefits, what are the drawbacks, and is this something you would ask of your teams. Are we achieving the goals, as an industry and discipline, that we need to be better? All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/25979025

Interviewing for a Junior QA Role 01/17/2023

Interviewing for a Junior QA Role Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie) and Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft) are joined by Leland Dantzler (Senior Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) to offer insights into what to expect in an interview for an FTE Junior-level QA role. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/25624695

Test Plan Live! Pt. 2 10/10/2022

Test Plan Live! Pt. 2 In this episode, Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), and Sarah Gallardo (Senior DevQA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios) continue their live creation of a test plan. Using Slither.io as a fictitious example, they discuss timeline, headcount, and testing activities. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24557589

Test Plan Live! Pt. 1 10/06/2022

Test Plan Live! Pt. 1 Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), and Sarah Gallardo (Senior DevQA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios) create the beginnings of a test plan live on stream! Using Slither.io as their example product, our hosts use the FLURPS framework to analyze the game, what testing needs it may have, what questions they will need to ask of the broader development team, and what risks may be faced during/after development. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24557571

2021 Year in Review 10/03/2022

2021 Year in Review Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) wrap up season 2 with a review of the year, including insights from our community members on what they love about QA. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24557562

Speedrunning as a QA Technique 09/26/2022

Speedrunning as a QA Technique In this episode, Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack) and Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie) are joined by Joe Leiter (Senior Tester at Bethesda Softworks) discuss how orgs can incorporate speedrunning techniques to improve their testing and test processes. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24410091

Career Growth 09/22/2022

Career Growth Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) are joined by Grant Ervin (QA Analyst at PUBG Corp), discuss what career growth is and practical ways to achieve it. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24410073

Women in Games 09/19/2022

Women in Games Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Sarah Gallardo (Senior Dev QA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios), Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) discuss what it's like to be a woman in games and in professional settings. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/24410052

Test Cases - But How Tho? 11/26/2021

Test Cases - But How Tho? In the second part of our two-part miniseries on test cases, Myron, Chelsea, Ariel, and Chris discuss test case management and reporting. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/21088184

Test Cases - But Why Tho? 11/24/2021

Test Cases - But Why Tho? In episode 1 of a 2-part miniseries, Chris, Myron, and Ariel chat about what makes a good test case so important to QA. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/21088130

QA Compensation 11/22/2021

QA Compensation In this episode, Myron, Chris, Chelsea, and Ariel discuss the always-important topic - compensation! They provide practical tips for knowing your worth, finding roles that meet your compensation criteria, and negotiating pay. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/20199323

Quality in Quarantine - 1 Year Later 11/19/2021

Quality in Quarantine - 1 Year Later In this episode, Ariel, Chris, and Myron reflect on a year of working remotely during the COVID pandemic. They take a look back at discussions in the Underground QA Podcast's very first episode and also look forward to what the pandemic could mean for the game industry and remote work. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/20199290

Strategic Crunch 11/17/2021

Strategic Crunch Chris, Myron, and Chelsea kick off the first episode of Season 2 with a discussion on one of the industry's spiciest topics, crunch. All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/21088253

Live QA 08/23/2021

Live QA In this episode, Ariel, Myron, and Sarah are joined by special guests Chiril Russu and Melissa Russell to chat about QA on live products. They cover the live testing mindset, key partners for live QA teams, public test servers, hotfixing, and more! /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/20199251

Risk Assessment 08/23/2021

Risk Assessment In this epsiode, Chelsea, Ariel, and Myron discuss one of QA's most important functions, risk assessment. They break down the conversations that all game teams need to have about risk and provide a practical example of how to visualize and prioritize risk. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/20199218

Quality Bars 08/15/2021

Quality Bars In this episode, Chelsea, Ariel, Myron and Chris talk about Quality Bars, or the things we agree to do, before we ship an experience with users. A key thing they talk about is how important it is for the entire team (i.e., within and without quality) to own these Bars. Check us out in this amazing episode to learn more today! /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/20147273

Test Plans Part 2 - How to Do! 09/16/2020

Test Plans Part 2 - How to Do! In this episode, Chelsea, Myron, Chris and Ariel talk about how to actually do Test Plans and what it means for an organization working together to bring amazing products to life. This is part two of a two-part series on test plans where we finish with the "what" of building test plans. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/16038680

Starting the Discussion on Test Plans 08/02/2020

Starting the Discussion on Test Plans In this episode, Chelsea and Myron talk about the need for test plans and the point in one's career that they begin thinking about them a lot more. /episode/index/show/undergroundqaconf/id/15448052

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