Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki is gearing up to be our biggest event in the city yet, and we couldn’t be more excited to share with you all that we have in store! It’s going to be a magnificent two day event packed with endless opportunities to learn, scale and most importantly, connect. Today we’re continuing our series spotlighting just some of the amazing speakers that will be gracing the stage at our Helsinki show this September. They have been generous enough to share a few of their insights and expertise with us ahead of time, and you won’t want to miss them!
We’re bringing back Europe’s favourite games industry conference to the spiritual home of mobile gaming for the first time in two years. On September 27 to 28, over 1,200 games industry professionals from around the globe will descend upon Helsinki for two days full of networking, matchmaking opportunities and hours of wisdom from over 200 thought leaders from all over the world. We are currently highlighting some of the most highly anticipated speakers we have joining us at the conference this September – keep checking back every day for more brilliant insights from our superstar speakers.
Today, we’re shining the spotlight on TransPerfect Gaming Solutions' QA Manager, Rafael Torner. Rafael is a video games professional with over 12 years of experience in video games, localisation and functionality QA, and is currently heading QA operations for TransPerfect Gaming Solutions, based in Dublin and with offices in Athens, Warsaw, Tokyo and more.
Rafael will be speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki on the importance of QA feedback when making key descisions and explaining how to avoid negative impact during the development cycle and launch of a title.
Pocketgamer.biz: What’s the most common mistake you see being made in the games sector?
QA being considered as a last step, by which time often the goal is to meet the minimum standards for release. It doesn't matter if a game is a lot of fun to play or has great art and sound design, if the player cannot play without encountering functional issues, their enjoyment is heavily impacted. This inevitably can lead to poor user reviews and sales.
If you could give other mobile games companies one piece of advice, what would it be?
Invest in and define your QA goals, then start working towards them as early as possible.
Where are the next big opportunities in the mobile games market?
With 750M mobile players, the Chinese market is nearly 4 times larger than the American market, but its revenue is only around $3B more. I believe that the largest opportunity to come is in finding revenue options for the Chinese market.
What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?
Finding a balance between generating revenue and gameplay. I play mobile games often, and watching 30 seconds of ads after every two minutes of gameplay is not very fun for me. Perhaps ads could be integrated, but which products can be added that fit in the game is another question on its own!
What game has been on your phone the longest?
Genshin Impact.
Is hypercasual gaming here to stay?
Absolutely. The hypercasual gaming market makes around 50% of the mobile gaming market, and with developers finding ways to generate revenue such as in-game ads plus IAPs, it cannot be ignored.
Tell us your thoughts on ONE of the following: the metaverse, Cloud-gaming, Cross-platform games, Play-to-earn games
In my opinion, the most important development in recent gaming history is cross-platform gaming. Being able to play with and compete with players in other platforms was unthinkable 10 years ago, and slowly it is becoming the norm for coop and multiplayer games.
What do you enjoy most about working in the mobile games industry?
As a QA vendor, I love the variety of game genres and styles in mobile gaming.
When not making/selling/playing games, what do you do to relax?
I used to be a chef, so I enjoy cooking to relax.
What was your first-ever mobile phone?
A Nokia 3320.
Can people get in touch with you at the event? What sort of people would you like to connect with?
Everyone! I am looking to broaden my knowledge and learn more about the mobile gaming industry.
