In the autumn, Nextcon’s QA team has also been strengthened by the expertise of Mikael Paananen, who joined Veikkaus as a game tester.

Quality first

Mikael’s path to testing was not straightforward. In the past, he has worked as a game designer, among other things. However, the leap to QA felt natural, as the quality of games has always been important to Mikael.

– On the QA side, I can make sure that the product as a whole is excellent.

In addition to quality, Mikael is motivated by the opportunity to learn new things and find new perspectives. The fact that every game is different and that you are constantly being exposed to new game mechanics is a great opportunity. He has found that at Veikkaus, you can’t get stuck in the game testing business. You’ve learned a lot in the first month on the job. On the other hand, he also recognises that he has jumped in at the deep end and sometimes his hands seem to run out. However, discussions have helped him to get a grip on the situation.

Mikael ended up at Nextcon after first applying for another job, which was not suitable for him this time. Later, when a suitable position opened up, discussions returned and Mikael was confirmed as a Veikkaus member. Mikael does not have any definite plans for the future, but now it seems that he could stay in the job for as long as possible.

As a personal philosophy, Mikael sums up:

– Making games is easy, making good games is hard, making perfect games is impossible.