From QA to Designer: Career Paths in Mid-Sized Game Studios

Hook: Stuck in QA? How map expansions turn testers into designers — fast

Mid-sized game studios hire fast and iterate faster. That’s great if you want steady work — but frustrating when you’re a QA tester who dreams of level design or systems work. Map expansions like Embark Studios’ announced 2026 roadmap for Arc Raiders ("multiple maps" across sizes and playstyles) expose a simple truth: whenever a live game grows, so do the roles that support it. New maps mean more QA cycles, fresh level-design needs, and new systems to balance. If you want to move from QA to designer, this expanding content pipeline is your opportunity.

The high-level picture (2026): why content expansions create careers

In 2026 the industry is shaped by three forces that make career transitions inside studios easier than ever:

• Live-service and cadence-driven updates: Studios ship frequent content—maps, modes, events—so they need repeatable roles and cross-functional contributors.
• AI and tooling adoption: Automated testing, procedural content tools, and AI-assisted design lower technical barriers to prototyping and let QA people demonstrate design chops quickly.
• Smaller teams, bigger scope: Mid-sized studios (like Embark) expect staff to wear multiple hats. That makes internal mobility a practical route from QA to designer.

Embark’s Arc Raiders roadmap is a textbook example: adding "multiple maps"—from very small to very large—creates spikes in hiring and internal role growth across QA, level design, systems design, environment art, and live-ops.

"There are going to be multiple maps coming this year... some may be smaller, others even grander than what we’ve got now." — Virgil Watkins, Arc Raiders design lead (GamesRadar, 2026)

How map expansions expand roles: a practical breakdown

Use this map-based view to understand which skills and roles grow when new content ships. I’ll use Arc Raiders’ expansion types—small, medium, grand—to show concrete work opportunities.

1) QA (from tester to QA lead / QA designer)

New maps force repeated full-playthrough testing, regression testing of old maps, performance and networking checks, and balancing across loadouts and AI behaviors.

• Immediate needs: More test cases, platform sanity checks, cross-map regression suites.
• Career growth: QA Tester → Senior QA → QA Lead → QA Designer (focus on automated test design and test planning for new content).
• Skills to highlight: test case authoring, bug triage, telemetry analysis, automated test frameworks (Python, C#), JIRA, Perforce/Git workflows, performance profiling.

2) Level Design (junior to senior level designer)

A small, tactical map requires different level-design decisions than a massive, exploration-style arena. Each map size multiplies tasks: layout, flow testing, spawn/balance, cover placement, pacing, and scripting encounters.

• Immediate needs: Quick prototypes for small maps; modular kit use and long-form traversal design for grand maps.
• Career growth: Junior Level Designer → Level Designer → Senior Level Designer → Lead Designer.
• Skills to highlight: Unreal/Unity map editing, blockout prototyping, AI navigation mesh creation, scripting (Blueprints/C#), playtest facilitation, player flow analysis.

3) Systems Design (progression, matchmaking, economy)

Large map releases influence player economy, matchmaking, progression rewards, and meta-systems. A new grand map might introduce traversal mechanics, new objectives, or different pacing that affects XP curves and loot tables.

• Immediate needs: New balancing plans, telemetry pipelines to measure map health, adjustments to rewards and matchmaking parameters.
• Career growth: Systems Designer → Senior Systems → Lead Systems → Product/Design Manager.
• Skills to highlight: spreadsheets and data analysis, SQL/basic telemetry queries, prototyping scripts, live-ops tuning, cross-team communication.

4) Supporting roles: environment art, networking, live-ops

Large maps need more environment assets, LOD work, streaming and perf optimization, and live-ops to schedule events on the map. Each of these creates junior-to-senior ladders within the expansion lifecycle.

Why QA is the ideal gateway to design

QA already ships the product knowledge designers need. Testers learn pain points, exploit patterns, meta-strategies, and how players interact with levels under stress. That institutional knowledge is gold when a studio expands a game like Arc Raiders.

• Proximity to problems: QA sees recurring issues and can propose design fixes with credibility.
• Process experience: Test plans, regression matrices, and telemetry dashboards are the same artifacts designers rely on to measure map success.
• Cross-functional contact: QA interfaces with code, art, design, and live-ops—ideal for learning and making lateral moves.

Action plan: 9 practical steps to move from QA to designer using map expansions

Follow these concrete steps tailored for mid-sized studios launching map content in 2026+

1. Start a micro-project: Build a small playable map prototype using the studio’s engine (Unreal or Unity). Focus on one design question—e.g., how a tighter map affects objective pacing.
2. Document a before/after case study: Use your playtests and bug reports to show measurable improvements. Example: "Reduced average time-to-flank by 22% after re-positioning cover nodes in prototype map."
3. Automate a test: Write an automated test or telemetry event for a common map regression (spawn collisions, navmesh holes). That shows both technical initiative and design thinking.
4. Volunteer for blockouts: Offer to make blockout prototypes for new maps. Blockouts are fast to create and show your spatial and pacing sense.
5. Pair with a designer: Request mentorship time to review one of their level files and explain design intent. Bring a suggested tweak backed by QA data.
6. Learn a scripting tool: Pick Blueprints (Unreal) or C# (Unity) and script simple encounter logic or spawn waves for your prototype.
7. Measure, don’t assume: Add telemetry hooks to your prototype (time-to-objective, deaths-per-area). Use studio dashboards to demonstrate impact.
8. Polish a portfolio piece: Present a single map case study: brief problem, prototype steps (with screenshots/video), metrics, and team feedback.
9. Ask for a trial role: When the next map cycle begins—especially with a roadmap like Arc Raiders'—propose a temporary rotation into the design team to help with QA-informed balancing.

Resume and portfolio: what to highlight (samples and ATS tips)

Hiring managers at mid-sized studios scan for evidence you can ship fast, take ownership, and learn new tools. Use these resume bullets and portfolio items to translate QA experience into design value.

Resume bullets — QA-to-design examples

• QA Tester — Arc Raiders content cycle (2025–2026): Wrote and executed 420 test cases across five maps; reduced critical regressions by 37% through an automated regression suite (Python/CI).
• Design Prototyping: Built 3 blockout prototypes in Unreal (Blueprints) to validate small-map pacing; improved objective capture time by 18% in internal playtests.
• Telemetry & Balancing: Implemented telemetry events for spawn integrity and time-to-objective; analyzed 12k sessions and proposed balance changes that increased match churn by 9%.

Portfolio structure — one map case study (recommended)

1. Title: "Close Quarters: Prototype for Small Map X"
2. Problem statement: what player behavior or metric you were addressing
3. Role & tools: what you did and which tools you used (Unreal, Blueprints, JIRA, Python)
4. Process: sketch/blockout images, playtest notes, bug summaries
5. Results: metrics, late-stage notes, follow-up iterations
6. Key takeaway: a short paragraph about what you learned

ATS and keywords to include

Embed relevant keywords (but don’t keyword-stuff). For Arc Raiders-like roles, use:

• game studio careers, QA, level design, systems design
• Unreal Engine, Unity, Blueprints, C#
• telemetry, SQL, Python, playtesting, JIRA, Perforce/Git
• map design, blockout prototyping, live-ops, balancing

Skill-building resources (shortlist for 2026)

Pick a focused path—engine + scripting + data—and pair it with practice. These resources are relevant in 2026 because studios expect cross-functional fluency.

• Unreal Online Learning / Unity Learn: engine fundamentals and level design courses.
• GDC Vault talks on level design and systems tuning (search recent 2024–2026 sessions).
• Telemetry & SQL basics: free intro courses on Coursera/LinkedIn Learning.
• BluePrints & scripting: targeted tutorials and community maps to fork and modify.
• AI-assisted tools: experiment with procedural layout tools and generative asset pipelines (increasingly common in 2025–2026).

How to pitch your move internally (email template + conversation tips)

Make an ask that management can say yes to: propose a limited-duration rotation with measurable goals.

Quick email template

Subject: Proposal — 6-week rotation into level design for next map cycle

Body (short): "I’d like to propose a 6-week rotation with the level design team during the upcoming map sprint. I’ll focus on blockout prototypes for small-map pacing and add telemetry for time-to-objective. Goals: produce 2 playable blockouts and telemetry dashboards to inform balancing. Happy to keep QA responsibilities covered and report progress weekly."

Conversation tips

• Lead with value: explain how your QA experience reduces risk in early prototypes.
• Bring metrics: show a past bug trend or regression that your rotation will address.
• Propose a short timespan and clear deliverables.
• Offer to backfill or train a peer on your QA tasks.

Case study: Using Arc Raiders’ 2026 maps as a mock transition

Here’s a realistic internal career transition scenario inspired by Embark’s 2026 roadmap. It demonstrates exact activities and outcomes you can show on a resume.

1. Context: Embark announces 3 new maps—small, medium, grand—for Arc Raiders’ 2026 season.
2. Opportunity: QA team identifies recurring spawn and navigation regressions on Stella Montis and proposes a "small-map" prototype to test alternative spawn geometry.
3. Action (QA-to-design): A QA tester volunteers to block out the prototype, automates a spawn-validation test, and scripts a simple encounter in Blueprints.
4. Results: Prototype shows 25% fewer spawn conflicts during 200 playtests. Telemetry confirms faster objective clear times on the modified layout. Design accepts the change and integrates the solution into the small-map build.
5. Outcome: Tester moves into a formal junior level designer role; their resume and portfolio show measurable impact—exact language to reuse is included in the resume section above.

Advanced strategies for long-term growth

After you land the transition, scale your impact by focusing on systems-level thinking and leadership skills that studios prize in 2026:

• Cross-map consistency: Learn to design rulesets that scale across small and grand maps (e.g., consistent cover ratios, spawn buffers).
• Data literacy: Own a telemetry dashboard and use A/B testing to convince peers with numbers not opinions.
• Mentorship: Teach QA peers basic blockout workflows to accelerate future rotations.
• Process design: Help document a content pipeline for map rollouts—this moves you toward Lead Designer and Product roles.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Pitfall: Trying to learn everything at once. Fix: Pick one engine and one scripting language and ship a small prototype.
• Pitfall: Presenting unmeasured opinions. Fix: Add telemetry hooks and playtest data to every proposal.
• Pitfall: Overpromising on deliverables. Fix: Offer short rotations with clear success metrics.
• Pitfall: Ignoring studio priorities. Fix: Align your projects to upcoming content (e.g., Arc Raiders’ 2026 map cycle) so your work feels immediately useful.

Final checklist: ready-to-apply skills for your resume

• Engine: Unreal / Unity — blockout + prototype experience
• Scripting: Blueprints / C# / basic Python for automation
• Tools: JIRA, Perforce/Git, telemetry dashboards, SQL basics
• Design practice: playtesting, pacing, AI navmesh, encounter scripting
• Soft skills: cross-team communication, documentation, mentorship

Conclusion — why now is the moment to pivot

Map expansions—like the multiple maps Embark teased for Arc Raiders in 2026—aren’t just content milestones. They’re hiring and skill-growth moments that make it far easier to move from QA into design. With AI tooling, better telemetry, and a culture of rapid content sprints, mid-sized studios reward demonstrable, measured contributions. If you prepare the right prototype, back it with tests and data, and align with a studio roadmap, you can turn your QA expertise into a design career path.

Call to action

Ready to make the jump? Start a one-week map prototype today: pick an engine, sketch a blockout, and add one telemetry event. Share the results with your lead and ask for a 4–6 week rotation on the next map sprint. Need help crafting a resume bullet or portfolio case study tailored to your studio? Reach out to our hiring resources at quickjobslist.com for templates and one-on-one feedback.

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