Hessa Shabani
QA Technician
Meet Hessa – part of our bustling Quality Assurance team! With a flair for art, and over half her life set on working in the industry, she’s making amazing strides at Glowmade in her first job in gaming. We reckon you’ll love her just as much as we do.
Let’s go, Hessa! What is it you do at Glowmade?
As a QA Technician, I find pesky bugs, write them up and check their fixes to make sure the game is running smoothly and is fun to play!
Now how would your parents describe your job?
I clock in and play video games all day. Professional Game CrasherTM.
So how did you get to this point in your career?
Prior to Glowmade I was studying at university; graduated with a First Class Honours in “The Art of Videogames” (basically, 3D environment art). Before that, I studied game design at college. I always had an idea what I wanted to do work-wise, just not job-title wise. If 14 year old me knew what job she’d end up doing she wouldn’t believe it.
What’s your origin story? What made you want to pursue games?
Finding out there were higher education courses in game development is the biggest moment for me that made me think “I really want to do this”. Beforehand, the games industry felt almost inaccessible, or at least I knew very little about it, just that I liked playing games!
Share something you love doing outside of everything video games.
I’ve kind of dedicated my entire life to art and videogames, so if I’m not playing, I’m drawing things I like (which also include videogame fanart). I also enjoy travelling and seeing new places, which then inspires me to draw.
Who or what inspires you?
I find a lot of random artists I follow on social media inspire me – those ones that don’t have a ‘K’ next to their follower count. They’re like hidden gems!
Also, my parents inspire me because they’ve achieved a LOT.
Share something you appreciate about yourself. Give yaself a pat on the back, why don’t ya?
I appreciate my creativity, as it’s not limited to creating art. I like to think it helps me problem solve with work, like finding different ways to recreate bugs or discover completely new bugs.
What’s the best thing about working at Glowmade?
The people; everyone’s really passionate about what they do. There is a variety of people from a large range of backgrounds which means I learn something new every time I talk to someone!
Anyone on the team who stands out as a role model, or source of inspiration, perhaps?
I think Stef inspires me, even though we don’t talk much outside of work. Seeing how hard she works and the quality of art she produces makes me want to do just as good with both my professional work as well as personal work.
What do you want from your career? Any goals you’re looking forward to surpassing?
I want to help make games and say “yeah I helped make that game”.
What are your top tips for someone looking to get into games?
LinkedIn was the reason I was able to land my first job in the games industry, as I was first made aware about my job position through a recruiter on the website. You don’t have to post regularly, just have a filled-out profile!!
In your opinion, who is the cutest Glowmade pet?
Emily’s dog squad is too cute, but I have a soft spot for Tuna.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I don’t feel guilty for most pleasures, but apparently double peri chips at Nandos is bad?
What game do you wish you could’ve been part of developing?
I would have LOVED to be involved with the Psychonauts 2 development, such a cool game both art style and gameplay wise.
