TL;DR A strong QA-dev partnership leads to smoother development, better games, and happier teams. Just like in any successful team sport, a good QA-dev partnership relies on mutual respect, clear communication, shared goals, and empathy. Each member must trust one another to play their part, stay in sync, and bring their unique strengths to the table to win as a team. At the end of the day, except for very rare cases (Stardew Valley), Game development is a team sport.
When QA Feels Separate.
In larger companies, the QA team is very often a separate department that works with a studio but because they’re not in the same department, technically, they’re not seen as part of the development team. Fortunately, this culture is starting to shift. More teams are recognizing the value of integrating QA fully into the development process. Still, when QA is treated as separate rather than as a collaborative partner, it can be a frustrating and isolating experience that easily creates resentment.
The moments of inclusion I’m experiencing with my current team still give me pause, not because they’re negative, but because they highlight how rare and valuable true collaboration and recognition can be. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, and how important it is to keep fostering that inclusive culture.
What is a good partnership?
At its core, a good partnership is built on trust and communication. Trust means believing that everyone is working toward the same goal and has the skills to get there. Good communication means sharing updates early, asking questions when unsure, and listening with the intent to understand.
A strong partnership also means everyone shows up. Whether it’s a stand-up meeting, a planning session, or an unexpected emergency, reliable participation matters. When all partners are present and engaged, the whole team benefits.
The best partnerships start with sharing the good things.
When you like something, say it. How often do you in a day like something? Be it from the food you ate, a document you read, a presentation you saw, it can be anything. Probably pretty often. But how often do you say to the creator that it is something you enjoyed? Less than 10% of the time probably. Whether you’re maintaining or fixing a broken relationship, sharing the things you like is the core way to start. It builds trust, reinforces positive behavior, and makes your teammates feel seen. A quick message like “Hey, this doc was really clear” or “Loved how you handled that bug report” can go a long way. These small signals compound over time, creating a culture of appreciation and openness.
Why does a good relationship matter? Isn’t your job to just find bugs?
QA’s job is to assure the quality of the game (Quality assurance ;)). Part of that is finding bugs. It is in everybody’s benefit if the QA team can do their job with the least amount of friction. Having friction delays the process and can mean fewer bugs are found, which may end meaning the players find bugs when the game is released, a scenario nobody wants.
Friction can be caused by:
- Not fully understanding the feature they’re testing
- Not knowing the design changes as soon as they happen
- Not being trusted by the rest of the team
- Incomplete documentation
All of these are preventable with pro-active communication. Because a minute of communication can save 5–10 minutes of dealing with invalid bugs. For example, a quick update on Slack about a design change prevented my team from logging invalid bugs that would have occurred from misunderstanding how a design is supposed to work. That pro-active moment prevented hours of testing the features incorrectly.
Pro-Active communication – does that mean sharing every status update?
No, nobody has time to read novels every day. But it is sharing the right updates at the right time. Depending on the time in development, I personally may not have a status update every standup meeting, but I am present in every one of them. We have all worked with people who like to talk to hear themselves talk, don’t share unnecessary information just to have something to say.
But with pro-active communication I do mean, asking questions, being involved. Form relationships, specifically for QA, find opportunities to test early even if its trying to find gaps in the documentation when you don’t have software to test yet. You’re part of the team. Give people a heads up that an issue may be coming so they can prepare accordingly, without causing unnecessary worry. Framing potential risks clearly and calmly helps foster trust and enables more effective problem-solving. Pro-actively involve yourself in the team.
Build Mutual Respect.
Besides finding bugs, one of the other parts of QA is bringing a player-focused mindset. This means thinking like the player and identifying potential issues before they escalate. Involving QA early in the planning phase, before any features are implemented, and actively seeking their input fosters stronger collaboration and better outcomes. This is not to say that any partners do not have a player-focused mindset, they do, but every department has secondary priorities that are not the same. For example the production team wants to ensure the feature also gets delivered in time, the designers want to make sure the feature is a cool and often complicated design to give themselves a challenge, the engineers want functional and straightforward. By understanding that the entire team is player focused with a different insight, the team as a whole will make a great product. This is not a situation where a single department can make it work alone.
I always see game development as one big puzzle where you don’t know all the puzzle pieces yet, and you may not know the final design yet, but you need every piece (department) to complete it.
How to fix a rocky relationship?
Preventing the deterioration of a partnership is always the first step, but sometimes that is not possible. Sometimes you inherit a strained relationship or some external factor comes around that ruined the relationship between people or departments.
Begin by identifying the root cause of the strained relationship – with an honest/unbiased look. The flaw may be you! If it is, that is actually the easiest situation because you can control your actions.
Take accountability if it’s on you. You cannot fix the past, but you can be better in the future and very often that is enough to improve a relationship. Take it one step at a time, if you need to apologize – do that. But more often it is enough to not repeat past mistakes and to learn from them.
If there was an external factor, which can either be biases from other people or a past situation that went wrong, don’t approach that with blame. Approach it with empathy and acknowledgement. There may be pressures on other people that you’re not aware of, ask them how you can help, be a partner rather than a hindrance.
Most of all, be pro-active, in communication, in sharing concerns.
Sometimes there is no fixing it, only dealing.
I do see some people as oil and water, personalities just do not mix and that is ok. At the end of the day we all do have to remember, we have a common goal to complete and sometimes it is not worth your energy to make the relationship smooth sailing and just get the job done.
Conclusion
QA and devs are better together.
Just like in any successful team sport, success in game development depends on everyone playing their role with trust and coordination. A strong partnership between QA and development isn’t just about fixing bugs, it’s about building trust, being present, and communicating clearly.
Reinforce positive interactions by sharing what you appreciate. Proactive involvement and early feedback prevent misunderstandings and make the process smoother. When QA is included early and respected as a core part of the team, the result isn’t just fewer bugs, it’s better games and a more motivated, unified team.
Communicate, collaborate, and celebrate. That’s how great games get made.
