one mission

to be the best games quality agency in the world

 

DAQA specializes in player-centric test programs, live quality operations and in-depth games research, providing custom built, technology-driven solutions for game studios.

Tailor Made Solutions

DAQA is the Concierge of Game Quality

Focus & Play Testing

Highly specialized and customized testing, designed to deeply assess the player experience and provide valuable, actionable data to tune and polish gameplay.

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Scaled Beta Testing

Next generation scaled testing, delivered by a powerful, interactive data reporting system.

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Live Quality Operations & Functionality QA

On-demand QA experts, comprised of elite staff members with extensive games QA experience. Specializing in live quality operations.

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Player Research & Analysis

Deep analysis using cutting-edge tools and technologies to fully understand the player sentiment and experience.

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Release Management

Leverage our in-house expertise in console, cloud platform, and mobile submissions to get your game to market hassle-free.

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Quality Program Development

Building world-class, high performing QA organizations to meet the ever-evolving needs of game quality.

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DAQA has crafted services that feature unique capabilities, delivered by an industry-experienced team.

The DAQA Difference:

  • High touch interactions with DAQA leadership, every step of the way.
  • Innovative, flexible services with no retainer fees or minimum contracts.
  • Custom-built solutions to meet the unique needs of each studio & project.
  • One-of-a-kind technologies that add depth and meaning to project outcomes.
  • Veteran test community, compensated above market.
  • Extensive experience transitioning to and managing live quality operations.
  • Interactive, configurable real-time data reporting.

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How We Work

DAQA supports clients in building the required foundation of industry leading global production operations, with the future-proofed ability to scale and flex as your studio requirements grow.

Executive Counsel

Providing analysis and strategy to studio quality leadership to apply right fit solutions.

Studio Enablement

Hands on evaluation, planning, and implementation of quality and test services.

Team Empowerment

Providing complimentary systems, processes and best practices to enhance game studio QA capabilities.

Case Studies

Case Study

Global Marketing & Brand Management Company

Scope

Conducted 500-person player research studies, with participants across North America and Europe, with highly targeted player cohorts. Performed in-depth data-centric analysis, including surveys panel discussions to evaluate game concept appeal and viability. Assessment of visual concepts, in game assets, marketing copy, and stack ranking of core game features, as well as pricing analysis for F2P assets. Comprehensive written report, including interpretation of player data, product recommendations, and market positioning

Case Study

Global Game Publisher

 

Scope

Performed series of focus tests on each published title during development phase. Delivered in-depth data analysis on usability, difficulty curves, game controls, story arcs, and general design/gameplay, augmented by player recordings. Worked directly with development teams to implement recommended design updates.

Case Study

Multi-title Self-publishing Company

Scope

Large-scale, global beta testing for multiple AAA multiplayer titles on current and next generation consoles as well as PC. Identified, triaged, and determined root cause of multiple critical blocking issues before games were released.

Case Study

Multiplayer Online Gaming Platform

Scope

Performed weekly massive-scale multiplayer online beta tests of >1,000 players. Customized analysis and reporting provided gameplay feedback as well as connectivity, matchmaking, and stability data.

Case Study

Live Mobile Game Studio

Scope

Deployed dynamic and skilled Fire Teams prior to each monthly live game release. Identified critical defects and quality issues, allowing for a smooth launch of live content.

Case Study

Indie Game Publisher

Scope

Ensured clean, successful launch of live game, provided tailor-made end to end solution relating to beta and live-ops testing. Proposed solution included set-up, remote team management, platform and data analysis, providing a holistic view of player-related live quality issues. Solution enabled robust, efficient live-ops QA once the game was live and fully operational.

Case Study

Licensed IP F2P Studio

Scope

Complete QA transformation on behalf of studio leadership, including long-term vision and road map. Provided full quality program implementation for test process & coverage, mapped workflows, defined team set-up and structure. Recommendation then operationalization of best practice for all quality disciplines including console certification, device performance testing, live-ops QA, localization QA, third party QA and computer assisted testing/test automation.

Case Study

AAA Action/Shooter Studio

Scope

Evaluated internal QA group pre-acquisition, providing actionable recommendations to the executive team on future state and structure.

Who We Are

DAQA is a team of game industry veterans, who understand the unique challenges faced by game studios to launch and maintain hit games.

Ashley Howard

Lead Tester (She/Her)

Video games have always been a central and integral part of Ashley's life, from childhood onward. As an individual on the autism spectrum, video games not only provided an escape from a world that can sometimes be quite overwhelming and confusing, but it also helped her to relate to and understand the world and people around her more. Fond, vivid memories of arcade, PC and console games are permanently entwined with each stage of her life.

Joining DAQA in 2020, Ashley discovered an inherent passion for testing and eventually leading others in testing. She advocates strongly for accessibility in video games and hopes to set an example that autistic adults can be unique assets in QA testing.

Other than video games and video game history, her hobbies include cooking, writing, watching horror movies, playing board games, and voice acting. Her greatest love above all else is her family, which includes her husband, two daughters & many cats.

Allison Fraser

Lead Tester (She/Her)

Allison has a passion for gaming that began with the NES and has only grown as games and the industry itelf has expanded since. Beginning her work in QA back in 2014, it wasn't until joining DAQA that she found her greatest passion for QA and game testing.

She joined DAQA as a tester, but with the encouragement from leadership, Allison moved to being a Senior and Lead tester, to a Community Moderator, and then became part of the Core Team.

When not working on a project. Allison can be found indulging one of her many hobbies including reading, writing, music, cooking/baking, and multiplayer gaming.

Brismal Cordero

Lead Tester (He/Him)

Brismal is an avid fan of video games and has been since he could hold a controller. That love for gaming translates well into the field of quality assurance, where he always strives to make games the best they could be. Since joining DAQA in 2020, Brismal has testing and leading projects of various sizes and developing best practices to guide the DAQA tester community.

With nearly 5 years of QA experience on phones, tablets, PC and multiple consoles, Brismal continues lend his expertise as a member of the DAQA core team.

In his spare time aside from gaming, he enjoys watching animated shows, reading mysteries and generally being interested in the world of technology as a whole.

David Stow

Project Lead (He/Him)

David has over 4 years of QA experience, and a keen interest in IT and game production, having played games his entire life.

David has a strong background in problem solving; having completed 4 years of college, 2 of which were in IT with a focus on game design & production, with additional focus on software design & networking.

He has a fascination with music, enjoying all kinds of genres and instruments, pursuing knowledge, always striving to improve and learn whenever possible.

Working with DAQA to develop skills in project management and coordination, David has been vital in leading some of our largest projects.

Andromeda Star

Project Lead (They/She)

Andromeda has been breaking games as QA professional for over a decade, working across all platforms and genres. As a DAQA Project Lead, they have led or participated in every type of project, including interfacing with client game studios with much acclaim.

A passionate lifelong gamer, few things make them as happy as deploying their detail-obsessed mad genius brain, and almost inhuman level of tenacity, to hunt down and document obscure game breaking bugs.

In addition to being a gamer, Andromeda is also: a Lambda Literary Award nominated writer; a chronic Dungeons and Dragons addict; a musician; a martial arts instructor; landscape photographer; and proud parent to a giant bunny, whom they will enthusiastically show off cute photos and videos of to anyone that doesn’t tell them to stop.

Mark Chapman

Project Lead (He/Him)

A qualified remediation biologist who transferred out of the field and into the games industry.

With a broad depth of experience in QA testing over many years, Mark participated in or led the testing of over 35 game titles.

An avid gamer himself, Mark joined DAQA in Spring 2020 and has since developed a range of core skills relating to project coordination, documentation and community management.

He has a passion for cultural heritage and cooking, which lends itself to a strong focus on quality, experimentation and exploration.

Lien Quach

Project Lead (She/Her/They/Them)

Lien is a user experience designer and a project lead for DAQA.

She crafts thoughtful products by listening to people and designing inclusive solutions to enhance their experiences. On her off hours, she applies her design and user research skills to her beloved hobby, games. It’s her passion to make games accessible, fun, and approachable to everyone from all walks of life.

As a team lead, she loves diving down into data and feedback from testers regarding their experiences as they play the latest project. Synthesizing player feedback, frustrations, pain points, and accolades is always a highlight for every project she works on.

Outside of work, Lien surrounds herself with cute things such as Sumikko Gurashi, marine animal plushies, and Pokémon. She also watches an unhealthy amount of cute bunny videos.

Andre Reis

Project Lead (He/Him)

Andre's 10+ years of Remote QA experience and years of Computer Science study have led him to find good company in DAQA's technical, talented, and experienced team.

As a lifelong gamer whose earliest memories go back to the NES and BBC Micro, his interest is in gaming as an industry and storytelling medium.

He looks forward to the technological and narrative innovations that are still to come in this rapidly-evolving industry and assisting game developers in navigating new challenges and exploring exciting possibilities.

Selena Emrey

Associate Program Manager (She/Her)

Selena’s love for video games brought her into the world of quality assurance. She is a champion at QA, with over six years’ experience under her belt. She has tested many types of games across all platforms including phones, tablets, consoles, and PC.

As part of the core team at DAQA, Selena leads projects, writes project reports summarizing player feedback, reports game defects, and performs data analysis of trends that occur during testing. Selena holds a Foundation Level ISTQB certification which augments her experiences in DAQA.

Selena attended community college and received an AAS in business, as well as a certificate in professional baking and cake decorating.

Faye Hudson

HR, Payroll, and Office Manager (She/Her)

Faye has a long history of management, being a leader in the restaurant industry for 30+ years, in stores earning over 100 million in revenue, and even meeting Dave Thomas!

Faye has a long love of games, having actually met her husband online, and mostly plays puzzle and strategy games. She joined DAQA a year ago and in addition to managing DAQA's HR needs, she is also one of our Project Leads, with a specialization in mobile tests.

When not working, you will find Faye working on a puzzle, gardening, or spending time with her family; husband, two daughters and two sons...and way too many cats!

Adam Testerman

Sr. Software Developer (He/Him)

Adam Testerman is a software engineer with over 10 years of experience developing websites, apps, and games of all kinds. His love of video games has proven beneficial throughout his time with DAQA tests, while his skills in programming continue to produce tools for DAQA's clients.

Joe Kemp

Business Development (He/Him)

Joe has managed, led and been a part of many QA teams throughout the games industry.
Career highlights include working for renowned companies such as Rebellion, Keywords and more. He also assisted with community support, human resources and software development.

Joe focuses on DAQA's business development, determining best-fit solutions for game studios and applying his expertise.

Grant Efland

Data Analyst (He/Him)

Customer service and account management professional, with 20 + years of experience across multiple Fortune 500 Companies, including management of multi-disciplinary teams of varying sizes.

Grant has enjoyed gaming from the Atari 2600 system to the current generation of consoles, testing games for the past 15 years. He graduated with a B.B.A from Northern State University.

Grant is a car enthusiast and regularly participates in the annual SEMA convention in Las Vegas.

Jonathan Williams

Program Manager (He/Him)

Jon is a 20-year veteran of the video game industry, with a distinguished career focused on Quality Assurance and production.

As the founder of the QA department at SquareSoft, he led teams on such franchises as Final Fantasy VII–XI and Kingdom Hearts. Highlights of his career include a 98% success rate on all first-time submissions to SCEA for the Final Fantasy series (VII-X) as well as additional titles submitted from 1996-2002.

Jon also founded the QA department at Sammy Studios where, in addition to managing QA, he created internal and external Focus Group programs for evaluating titles in development, and coordinated testing schedules with production teams and assets for the PR and Marketing departments. In addition, Jon was handpicked by the Sammy Studios CEO to direct and manage a core team of six production staff while also maintaining his role as the Senior QA Manager.

Above all, Jon embraces opportunities that enable him to, “Help when I can, where I can,” as this is his core philosophy.

Tim Hudson

Sr. Program Manager (He/Him)

Tim Hudson is a data analyst and program manager with experience working in Fortune 500 companies.

Professional highlights include leading the DSL rollout for Earthlink in Washington State and Oregon. Managed Tier 1 and 2 support for AOL, Lexmark, and Stream Global Services for corporate clients.

10-year beta QA tester for numerous game studios. A+/N+ certified, with extensive knowledge of data automation, analysis, and real-time reporting tools.

Devin Seto

Managing Partner (He/Him)

Game development professional with a career spanning nearly 20 years of shipping critically acclaimed titles across multiple platforms. Career highlights include Head of Studio for a groundbreaking blockchain game company, VP of Product for a patented mobile health technology platform, and Executive Producer at Zynga for FarmVille and Texas Hold’em Poker. He was also Head of Operations for LucasArts, working primarily on Star Wars branded titles.

Devin managed quality assurance for multi-platinum console sports games at Electronic Arts Canada. Whilst there, he also set-up the QA computer assisted and automated test program, which was widely adopted across all studios globally.

He taught the QA course for the Vancouver Film School’s prestigious game design program. In addition Devin is an Agile and business Coach for various software startups, a Certified Scrum Master and Product Owner.

Ben Wibberley

Non-executive Advisor (He/Him)

Founded DAQA and has over 20 years’ experience in the video games industry primarily in global production support BPO. As a co-founder of Babel Media, he took the company from concept to being one of the largest game multi-service providers.

At DDM, he set-up up a virtual services network for self-publishing AAA game studios. Then at VMC he took responsibility for business development and account management for games and entertainment.

Having signed, grown and managed $100m’s of production support deals for QA, localization, player support and external development, Ben has an intimate knowledge of industry best practices through his work with some of the most prominent names in the industry.

Get In Touch Today

Find out how DAQA can help your studio succeed!