Meet the Team is a regular feature in which we interview members of the Pipeworks team working on Terraria to give you a brief introduction to the people working behind the scenes to maintain and improve your favorite game. Today, our subject is Kenny Schwarz, Quality Assurance Lead.
Can you give us your name and title?
Kenny Schwarz, QA Lead
Where are you from, and how long have you been working in games?
I’m originally from Northern Illinois. I started working in games over 10 years ago in Champaign, Illinois at Volition, doing a bit of QA and Production work. I just started working at Pipeworks in January. Oregon is a nice change of scenery from the sea of corn and soy that I left behind.
What have you worked on in the past that people might know?
Saints Row, Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row IV, and Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell.
Can you tell us what you do on the Terraria team?
I’m the QA Lead on the project, working with a group of testers to make sure we are testing the game as effectively and efficiently as possible. It’s really a team effort and because of the size and complexity of the game I get a lot of help from my amazing QA team here at Pipeworks. We work together to create test plans, come up with test schedules, of course we test the game, and we definitely cruise the forums and get tips on bugs, suggestions, and ways that you all actually play the game (not always the expected or intended way, but that’s definitely a part of the fun and challenge for us).
What makes you passionate about working on Terraria?
It’s exciting to work on a game that is constantly evolving with free updates and has such a passionate community. I’d even say the passion from the community is a bit contagious. Before I started at Pipeworks I had just dabbled in Terraria a little bit, but ever since I’ve been here I find myself playing the game outside of work more and more as I figure out how to do new things or see some inspiration from my teammates here or on the forums . For those that don’t really know: QA actually playing a game they are testing or have tested is pretty rare. I’m pretty sure most of the team on Terraria plays the game on their own time as well and not just for work.
What would you like to tell players about the future of Terraria on consoles?
The complexity of games, even the ones that look ‘simple’ are deceivingly complex these days, and Terraria is no exception. Fortunately, we have some incredibly talented people working on the game, and we have the support of Re-Logic, so we should be able to do some great things that will make the experience on consoles even better.
