Interview with the first season of The Tester’s winner, Will Powers
PSLS: It’s been almost 9 months since you were crowned the winner of the first season of The Tester. How has it changed your life?
Will Powers: It’s really a difference of the definition of one specific set of terms. Beforehand I was running around from ‘job’ to ‘job’ to pay the bills, however because of the opportunities that this experience has provided me, now I find myself settled in a ‘career’. Best of all, it’s not just any career; it’s one that I have a passion for and drive to continue to pursue.
Although you had won a contact with SCEA as a QA tester, you’ve already moved on to working in PR for SCEA. Was that your plan on all along? Where do you see yourself in another year? 5 years from now?
The gaming industry is a strange beast in that most of the positions within it require that you already have X-amount of years’ experience within the industry. From an outside perspective looking in, I don’t know if I would have said that this would be where I ended up after I had been in QA for a while, however when you work for a company and see how it works from the inside, then you get a better perspective of who does what and where you want to move within the corporate ladder. As to where I see myself in 1-5 years? I’m not sure. I’m a big fan of the idea of paying my dues in a particular role. As long as it’s something I enjoy doing, then the idea of working my way up from it isn’t a bad idea at all.
How was your experience as an actual tester before you moved on to other positions?
It was exactly as I thought it would be; both the highs and the lows of the position. There is an element of repetition within the role, but the community of people you are working with coupled with the idea of getting your hands on titles 6-months before release definitely overshadows anything bad about the position.
Do you still keep in contact with any of the contestants from the first season?
Yes, I consider myself to be on good terms with almost all, if not all of the contestants I was on the show with. We are all fairly busy with our own endeavors, but we all try to keep in touch sporadically.
While you had to remain publicly unbiased for the duration of season 2, was there anyone you were hoping would win over others?
No, I really tried not to. It was strange, because I was on set for episodes 6 and the finale; so I knew how the show ended before I knew how it began. I enjoyed the experience of learning how the plot evolved throughout the season as I watched the episodes weekly along with the rest of the public.
Did you draw any comparisons between yourself and any of the contestants of season 2?
Having not known any of the cast particularly well, outside of what the episodes showed us about them, I saw elements of myself within all of the cast, not any one of them in particular.
What is your take on the friction within the season 2 house caused by Big Fazeek? You seemed to clash with him almost immediately during your time as a judge on season 2. How would you have handled him had you been a contestant this time around?
Not to say that he is a bad guy, because I’m sure that’s not the case at all, but he and I have very contradictory personalities. I think this was fairly evident during the short cameo I made this season. The best way to describe it would have been an abrasive relationship: We would have rubbed each other the wrong way.
What advice have you given, if any, to this season’s winner?
One word: humility. Your battle is less than half over. Congratulations on making it this far, but now you need to prove not only that you deserve to be here, but that you can stand out in this environment and excel at your position.
I know that before you landed your job with SCEA, you had the most platinum trophies out of anyone else I had known at the time. How many are you up to now? Are you still able to get as much time in for personal gaming as you had in the past? Has your job with SCEA taken away from your personal enjoyment of gaming at all?
Ha! That’s something that they can never break me of. It’s something I enjoy to do in my free time. I am a completionist at heart, and collecting trophies is just an outlet for me to channel that through. I just got my 49th platinum and am currently working my way through Sly Collection for that pinnacle #50.
What is the most important thing you have learned since starting with SCEA?
The gaming industry is very small and tightly knit. Everyone knows everyone in both the good and bad scene. So, know that your reputation precedes you, and that every person you meet and every connection you make may very well prove to be a valuable one.
