PTW Celebrates 5 Years in Montreal
Jul 31, 2024
Our PTW Montreal team recently celebrated their fifth anniversary! Between an array of exciting projects and growing to 350+ team members, the journey has been anything but dull, and we’re proud to see how far they have come.
We opened our first official studio in Canada in July 2019, and last year we were thrilled to welcome the newest addition to our PTW family: SIDE Montreal. Today with such a large team across the city, PTW Montreal has become a flagship site for the company worldwide.
To mark and reflect on this five-year milestone, we asked our team to share some of their most memorable experiences, insights on the journey so far, and what the future holds.
A diverse and talented team
Our Studio Head Sébastien Bisch joined the team just over a year ago and has been fostering open communication, championing employee engagement, and overall driving positive change across all our studios in Montreal from day one.
When asked about his favorite part of the job, Sébastien had this to say:
“I usually tell my friends that it’s the best job I’ve ever had, so it’s hard to pick. But if I had to choose, I would say, first, the team. We have amazing, diverse, passionate, and very driven people at PTW. Everyone pitches in and collaborates when we need to be creative for our partners. Plus, we all share the same passion for games!
There’s also never a dull moment. We always come up with creative solutions for our partners—they know how to challenge us but at the end of the day, we pretty much always find a solution after a fair amount of head-scratching. The process and the results are very stimulating.”
We also interviewed a few long-standing team members across various departments, from Sales to Quality Assurance and Localization QA, to share some of their most memorable experiences and how they’ve seen the studio evolve over the years.
What do you like most about working at PTW?
"Throughout the years I've been here at PTW, I've met fantastic people from different backgrounds and cultures. The bond we created with each other while testing video games is amazing, and I learn new things every day!"
Najlaa Tanani
Sales Engineer
“This job never gets boring! Getting to know people from all around the world and working with great individuals has been a great pleasure."
Lisa Boller
LQA Project Manager
“The easy answer is to say that getting paid to play video games and work in an industry that is not only my lifelong hobby but also my passion! But it’s also because of all the amazing people I’ve had the pleasure to work with as well as call friends. It’s great working for a company that believes in me when it comes to developing my professional skills and gives me great opportunities to grow as an employee and as a person.”
Jason Domingo
Junior Recruiter
"Working with multiple teams throughout the years, leading them to success, and helping others grow has been what pushes me through all these days. You never know what each day will bring, but all you have to do is dive in headfirst and enjoy the ride!"
Étienne Drolet-Blouin
FQA Project Manager
PTW Montreal — Highlights
Since we’ve been working out of Montreal, our team has worked alongside many partners, tackling all sorts of exciting projects.
We asked the team about which moments stood out in their mind during the last five years.
Do you have a proudest moment, or a special project you worked on that meant a lot to you?
“My work on Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios) is my highlight at PTW. I had the chance to see an amazing game being developed and work closely on the project in multiple different positions. Over the years, not just the game was developed, but also my personal career. I started out on the project as a German tester back in 2020, doing a first pass of the game just before the Beta release. I grew to Project Coordinator, leading the testing for Turkish and Brazilian Portuguese later in 2021 and 2022. And I had the chance to contribute as a project manager, designing and supporting a team of 28 people until the final stages of development, just before its full release in 2023.
It’s been a great pleasure working on such an amazing game with a kind and helpful client and an equally great team of Testers and Leads."
Lisa Boller
LQA Project Manager
“And as a Recruiter, I am so proud of the team when we are faced with large ramp-up demands. Going from a team of ~60 employees total in our Montreal studio back in 2019 to where we are now at 350+ employees in 2024 is astonishing. The way we can pull together as a unit and accomplish the seemingly impossible never ceases to amaze me. I take great satisfaction in seeing the results and eventually witnessing how the people we recruit grow and thrive in their roles. It makes me very proud to have a part in that growth and see what we can achieve.”
Jason Domingo
Junior Recruiter
"My proudest moment was when I had the privilege of working on Final Fantasy XVI as an LQA Project Coordinator. Everyone was so happy and excited to be on the project, and delivering impeccable service to the client made me feel proud of myself, especially of the testers who made this possible. I loved every project I’ve worked on at PTW and learned many things, from project management to customer service.
Another proud moment was when I switched from LQA to Sales. It was a big change, but I am currently working with a fantastic, supportive team, and I can't wait to see what the future holds at PTW."
Najlaa Tanani
Sales Engineer
"When I was a Lead, my proudest moment was to be sent almost blind in a project for one of our key clients, far from the office, and to figure out how to please them on their requests, which changed every day. In the end, they wanted to meet me in real life to shake my hands as they had appreciated my work and those of the testers with me.
As a Project Manager, my proudest moment has been not only making sure all my projects under me would run smoothly but also ensuring that the schedule for hundreds of testers would be correct and sent on time every day."
Étienne Drolet-Blouin
FQA Project Manager
Can you share what has been one of your most memorable moments at PTW Montreal since you first joined?
“Having been with the company for almost five years and joining the team right before the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m in the unique position of having experienced practically half of my PTW journey while working from home. Seeing the team adapt to such a sudden and unexpected event really showed me what we can achieve as a team and created memories and bonds that we can always look back on.”
Jason Domingo
Junior Recruiter
"There have been many, but the one that I vividly remember is when we moved into our current office on De Gaspé back in 2019. I remember helping physically move laptops, desks, chairs, and other furniture from our old placeholder office to the new office—it made me feel part of something exciting, part of a little expanding family."
Najlaa Tanani
Sales Engineer
"Many things happened throughout the years, but one of my most memorable experiences was helping and leading a Senior Tester to eventually see them grow and enjoy the new responsibilities given to them to make it better for everyone and their team."
Étienne Drolet-Blouin
FQA Project Manager
Looking back on how far we’ve come
Sébastien shares a few words of acknowledgement on the journey so far:
"I would like to say a huge thank you to every talented employee, past or present, who contributed to making this studio what it is today. We were able to grow and create this amazing studio from scratch because of their talent and passion, and we owe them our success. I would also like to acknowledge the work of my predecessor as Studio Head, whose work really positioned the studio for success.
Finally, I want to give a special shoutout to our friends at SIDE Montreal (formerly Vibe Avenue), who joined the company last year. It’s not easy to transition from being an independent studio for 11 years, who is recognized in the industry for their creativity and the quality of their work, to becoming a part of such a big organization. I can’t express enough how happy we are to have them by our side (no pun intended!) and learn from their experience."
Sébastien Bisch
Studio Head