Season 02, Episode 03 - From QA Queen and killing machines to Live Services Manager at Zenimax Online, meet Sammi Weeks!

When a game gets pushed out to the digital seas from Zenimax Online for your gaming pleasure, there are a lot of moving parts running at full steam ahead to make sure that happens. Numerous teams need to work together efficiently, various departments deliver code and assets to one another, racing towards a release date.

When a game gets pushed out to the digital seas from Zenimax Online for your gaming pleasure, there are a lot of moving parts running at full steam ahead to make sure that happens. Numerous teams need to work together efficiently, various departments deliver code and assets to one another, racing towards a release date. It can get pretty chaotic!

With all the different gaming professionals depending on one another, someone needs to keep that ship on course, and Sammi Weeks, Live Services Manager at Zenimax Online, is the Captain of that ship! But it wasn't always that way. Starting her career in the gaming industry in QA (Quality Assurance) Sammi used this stepping stone to move further into video game production, and then from there, even bigger opportunities awaited her.

Join the D3 gang at the bar and welcome Sammi Weeks, a true Baltimore Native and key member of the Zenimax Online Studios team, as she shares her thoughts on her humble video game beginnings with Frogger, her life and times at Zenimax Online Studios, and equally important, her thoughts on the positive effects of women in leadership roles and more diversity in the modern video game creation industry, as well as the still present challenges that come with this new growth.

And remember kids, if you want to break into the gaming industry, take a page from Sammi's playbook. QA is a good way to do it!

Enjoy! ~ D3MJ

P.S. Here's a few links to some of Sammi's recommended game development groups mentioned in this episode!

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/developers/gaming-for-everyone

https://igda.org/ Check it! ~ D3MJ

The D3 Podcast is recorded at the Harbor Craft Film’s studio bar located in Baltimore, Maryland. Produced by Jeremy Morrison (jeremymorrison.com) and Co-Produced by Michael J. Walls (mikejwalls.com). Copyright © 2019 Harbor Craft, LLC. All rights reserved. Business inquiries: drinks@d3podcast.com

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