Gavin Niebel Email & Phone Number

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Embedded entire QA pipeline from start to finish on unannounced project. Test plans adjusted weekly based on design changes, while all check-ins tracked via Discord integration of source control commits to plan following day's targeted testing cycles. Led monthly playtest sessions with external players to get unbiased feedback to further hone the team's game design efforts. Additional level design and navmesh layout support.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Planned, organized, and built entire internal QA department from the ground up, hiring and leading 10 testers for the development and release of the RTS/MOBA hybrid game Dropzone, for PC. Worked with Bethesda's Production team and 16-person QA team during the development, release, and multiple updates of The Elder Scrolls: Legends on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android while managing the Hansoft database of over 10,000 bugs. Worked in tandem with our LiveOps and Bethesda’s LiveOps department to release consistent and frequent updates to The Elder Scrolls: Legends, to ensure our CCUs stayed healthy and never dipped due to a missed issue. Led all Community and Social interactions for Legends as the voice of Sparkypants while creating social-based ARG puzzles as upcoming game reveal mechanisms for the playerbase to enjoy. Helped create and test audio implementation tools in Unity.

Paris Area, France

Hired and led internal team of 10 game testers and six tools tester, while coordinating daily with Sony’s FPQA team in the UK, throughout 20 months of development. Organized and released daily QA approved executables for both game and tools code while managing a database of over 70,000 total bugs. Maintained and adapted QA schedules despite a constantly shifting timetable. Worked with Game Design team to tweak and balance BEYOND: Two Souls based on QA feedback. Created storyline content with writers during brainstorming sessions for unannounced project.

Culver City, Ca

Created and managed the entire test department for this iOS startup company. Designed specific test plans for multiple social games/apps. Set up and organized all framework for incoming analytics for said titles. Interviewed, hired, trained, and mentored new testers as the company grew. Used previous game design experience to liaison with the creative department to ensure proper communication flow between testers and the rest of the team.

Santa Monica, Ca

Coordinated and maintained Mod Tools quality control and milestone improvements as well as the distribution for all seven game patches for World at War on the PC. Worked alongside the PC engineers to create and execute extensive and systematic test plans for our PC-specific requirements. Created prototype game design documents, detailing features for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: World at War.

Encino, Ca

Oversaw 32-person test department and provided extensive bug reporting for the entirety of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare project on all platforms. Analyzed “Kleenex Test” player data during game development cycle. Provided game design and game functionality documents for use during development.

West Hollywood, Ca

Provided assistance for over 23 high profile game titles with the following tasks: • Script formatting & contract preparation• Voice audition selects• Off-site server and website management• Sound engineer for voice record sessions

Westlake Village, Ca

Worked directly with the Quality Assurance Lead and wrote quality control test plans for over 21 titles spanning all platforms at that time, (PlayStation, PlayStation2, XBOX, GameCube, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advanced, and PC).