From QA to Game Production: professional growth has no limits

From QA tester to game producer isn't a common career path, but what can make it possible isn’t only hard work, but also a company culture that nurtures career growth. Matija Piljek, our Game Producer, who walked this career path tells us about his journey towards professional fulfillment at Nanobit.

Climbing the ladder towards professional fulfillment

My Nanobit story began back in 2013 when I had just graduated from Zagreb University of Applied Sciences (TVZ) and was ready to embark on a job search journey. As I was searching for an entry-level job, I came across two job ads advertised by Nanobit: Quality Assurance Associate and Customer Support Specialist. I found the QA Associate role appealing and a perfect jumping-off point for a career in the gaming industry. Little did I know, that decision set me off for an ultimate career path.

Only the sky is a limit to what you can achieve at Nanobit

Matija Piljek, Game Producer

It has already been 7 years since I first joined Nanobit during which I have gone through the gamut of game development! I have been growing along with Nanobit. Over the years, I climbed up the ladder to assume greater responsibilities within the company from the QA position, through the Game Designer to the Game Producer!‘’

Off to an enriching learning journey

Aside from doing my QA duties to the best of my abilities, the work environment and the successive accomplishments and success of the company ignited my interest to learn other aspects of the game development industry. Being part of an amazing team, has helped me feel confident to ask questions and get into endless discussions with colleagues on how games are made? I have got invaluable support from my colleagues – the type of colleagues Nanobit has across all departments, always happy to help and share knowledge.

Nanobit's support to continuous learning and knowledge sharing has created a very favorable work environment for everyone to grow and thrive.

By constantly learning as much as I could about game economy and game design, I acquired enough knowledge and competencies to make a career switch to game design, and off I go to another enriching learning journey that harnessed my skills and broadened my knowledge to eventually change my career path.

As a Game Designer, I had to work closely with different other teams, such as developers, artists, content designers…etc. Working closely with these teams helped me deep dive into the details of the game dynamics and flow and what could and could not make fun, engaging gameplay. Knowing all these aspects has cleared my vision and was able to choose the next step in my career path in the gaming industry.

Nanobit supported my eagerness to learn and achieve my career goals. I attended several training and workshops in Croatia, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Serbia.

Game Production and leadership 

My job experience as a Game Designer served as a stepping stone to break through the game production realm. Now as a Game Producer, I’m responsible for the overall process and progress of games design, development and release dates. Working together and closely with developers, artists and content designers, on every detail of the gameplay to ensure we are heading in the right direction and sticking to the same vision.

My experience was and still is a learning curve: I learned a lot about the game economy systems, all sorts of processes, sound, content, game design, team leading skills, you name it. I did it! Except for hardcore coding and drawing – you have to draw a line somewhere, isn’t it?  

Curious to learn more about game production? Click here to read this coverage on how games are made in Nanobit?