In the ever-evolving world of gaming, change is the only constant. New technologies, shifting player expectations, and emerging market trends have significantly transformed the products and services we know as video games since their debut on the consumer landscape back in the 1970s.

Games will never be the same as they were back then—but today, I want to share a more personal perspective on this evolution.

As a QA Tester actively contributing to the development and refinement of games, my relationship with gaming has transformed in ways I never would have anticipated.

Over 25 years ago, I had my first gaming experience. I wasn't playing, though—I was spectating while an older (now ancient) brother of mine controlled a bipedal elderly Pirate Cat, slashing away at Pirate Dogs, gathering fragments of an old map, all in search of a mystical amulet. I am of course talking about the 1997 cult classic game Claw. His short quotes like “En Garde!”, “Eat lead!”, “Landlubber”, and “Magic Claw!” are ingrained in my memory. It is no surprise that a 5-year-old kid was instantly hooked.

A couple months later my brother played the Diablo-like 2D fantasy RPG called Dink Smallwood, which to this day is still my favorite game, having played it every year since, now with about 200+ mods of course.

Adolescent me, teeming with fantastical ideas, had dreams of developing my own games one day. Sadly, adulthood ends most childish dreams, and my academics steered me toward a different path. After years of hurdles during which games were a major comfort, and a couple of unhappy work experiences in different industries, I finally joined PTW in 2023 as a Trainee Test Engineer on the Quality Assurance team.