Full-Time
Posted on 1/21/2025
Gaming services including localization and quality assurance
No salary listed
Entry, Junior
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Local candidates are highly preferred.
PTW provides a range of services for the gaming and technology sectors, including co-development, live operations, localization, and quality assurance. Their localization service adapts game content for different languages and cultures, while their testing services ensure games are engaging and free of bugs. PTW also offers audio production through its subsidiary, SIDE, which specializes in voice casting and direction. The company aims to deliver high-quality, tailored solutions that help clients achieve their goals efficiently.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Larkspur, California
Founded
1994
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PTW, a 30-year-old game developer services firm, has rebranded as Side, bringing its various brands under one brand identity.PTW started out in 1994 as Pole To Win, but it has since accummulated more than 40 studios around the world with brands including 1518 Studios, Ghostpunch Games, PTW, and Side.Although the brand is familiar to the gaming industry as a leader in audio services, Side now takes on a new meaning, symbolizing the company’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions side-by-side with its global partners across a wider range of specialisms.“For years now, our company has operated as one team, with one vision driving how we do business – I’m proud that all our employees are now united under one banner,” said Deborah Kirkham, CEO of Side, in a statement. “The new brand symbolizes our commitment to delivering innovative, tailored solutions that drive our partners’ successes around the world.”Through the rebranding, Side will present its range of services through a collaborative lens, leveraging the strengths of each business unit cohesively to deliver best-in-class storytelling to customers and ultimately, players. At the core of the rebrand is the promise to infuse technology with human ingenuity across all Side solutions.Side emerges following a year of growth and expansion as the industry leader for game development services. This includes its recent acquisition of Ghostpunch Games, the establishment of its fifth North American studio in Charleston, North Carolina, and the expansion of its international presence with newly expanded studio operations in Braga, Portugal.With over 40 studios in 15 countries worldwide, Side’s industry-leading services include codev, art production, localization, audio production, quality assurance, localization QA, player support, community management and datasets.“We’re a client-driven company, through and through; being on your side of the game is in our DNA,” said Kaley Hurst, chief revenue officer at Side, in a statement. “This rebrand is the amalgamation of years of organic and inorganic growth, strategic planning for the future, and the realization that we are stronger together – in both brand and values.”Side will exhibit at Game Developers Conference (GDC) at Booth S1635 from March 19 to March 21 in San Francisco. In addition to the new branding, the company will showcase its full range of game development services.In 1994, Kozo Matsumoto, Mitsutaka Motoshige, and Tamiyoshi Tachibana formed Japan’s first video game quality assurance company: Pole To Win, or PTW
PTW has acquired Ghostpunch Games for $13 million. PTW CEO Deborah Kirkham highlighted the deal's potential to enhance development services and integrate AI-based QA automation and generative art technology. Ghostpunch's leadership will see changes, with Hugh Falk becoming site head at PTW's Ft. Lauderdale office and Alejandro Garcia-Tunon as director of co-development. Rick Daniels and Devon Browne will also take on new roles within PTW.
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Today, PTW announced their intent to acquire the assets and business of Ghostpunch Games, an independent game development studio based in South Florida.
GamesBeat Next unites gaming industry leaders for exceptional content, networking, and deal-making opportunities. Join us on Oct 23-24 in San Francisco. Register NowPTW‘s Side division has acquired Vibe Avenue, an award-winning interactive music and sound studio, for $1.46 million. The Montreal-based studio will be rebranded as Side Montreal and will bring sound design, music composition, and soundtrack production expertise to Side’s existing audio offerings. PTW, formerly known as Pole To Win, is a big game services firm based in Japan. It has 6,000 people.The deal, which was finalized today, marks an important milestone in PTW’s growth strategy. By acquiring Vibe Avenue, PTW aims to bring on board top-notch talent while expanding its service portfolio
Game service provider PTW has announced the launch of neural machine translation service RESOLVE.RESOLVE helps player support teams manage unexpected gaps or volume spikes, creating timely resolutions of player issues and inquiries regardless of language, helping teams maximise productivity while maintaining service levels.“As part of our mission to build technology-driven solutions to problems throughout our industry, we created a platform that addresses many of the player support pain points our clients have repeatedly voiced,” said PTW CEO Deborah Kirkham. “With RESOLVE, we now offer flexible, cost-efficient machine translation for multilingual player support, with features that check all the boxes - it’s a game changing solution.”Player support is a vital aspect of the games industry, but one that can face significant challenges. With many mobile games attracting worldwide and multicultural player bases, gamemakers, especially smaller and independent ones, may struggle to offer effective customer support. PTW hopes that RESOLVE can help alleviate this issue, increasing customer satisfaction and helping developers identify and resolve any issues faced by players.RESOLVE can also be used on either an interim or permanent bases, giving game makers the tools necessary to leverage their own resources to scale hiring as needed in low volume situations.The importance of customer satisfaction“RESOLVE was developed from the ground up by our engineering and localization experts, who are innately familiar with the challenges our clients face - this solution is not only scalable, but it’s efficient and can bring immediate cost savings,” said PTW senior director of player support Neil Long.Customer support, despite its importance to the structure of many games companies, is often overlooked in favour of departments more directly involved with game development. PTW hopes that RESOLVE can help companies cut down on the cost of offering this service while still improving efficiency, allowing them to devote more money to development.We discussed the importance of customer support on the official Pocketgamer.biz podcast earlier this month