My Time at Tiburon Studios: Life as a Madden QA Tester at Electronic Arts.

We go back in time to the Summer of 2000! My time at Tiburon Studios, Life as a Madden QA Tester. 

A Day in the Life at a AAA Studio making the largest sports title of all time.

Cover Athlete, Console Setup, Team Breakdown, Perks, Recommendations, Technology, Process, Hours, and Much much More!

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Transcript

Podcast Title: Behind the Games
Episode Title: My Time at Tiburon: Life as a Madden QA Tester
Duration: ~42
Transcript:

[Intro | 00:00]
[Theme music fades in]
Host (A.J.):
Welcome to Behind the Games, the podcast where we pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to work in the video game industry. I’m your host, A.J., and today’s episode is a personal favorite. We're going back to the summer of 2000—my time as a Quality Assurance tester at Electronic Arts Tiburon, the studio best known for Madden NFL.

This was honestly one of the most memorable, impactful experiences of my professional life. Let’s dive deep into what it was like, day to day, being part of a legendary team during the golden era of sports gaming.

[Setting the Stage ]
Host:
Tiburon was located in Maitland, Florida, just off the I-4 corridor. The studio was buzzing with creativity and intensity. At the time, EA Tiburon was responsible for Madden, NCAA College Football, NASCAR, and even NBA Live titles.

It’s where the magic happened—and for me, it all started with a summer internship.

[How I Got In ]
Host:
I joined through a college summer internship program. I remember the interview clearly. They asked practical questions—things like:

• “Do you play sports games?”
• “What’s the difference between a good and a bad sports sim?”
• “How would you describe a glitch to a programmer?”

It was professional, but passionate. I walked away excited. When I stepped into the building for the first time, I knew I was somewhere special.

[The Project: Madden 2001 ]
Host:
It was the summer of 2000, and our focus was Madden NFL 2001, developed for PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, and PC. The cover athlete? The one and only Eddie George, the All-Pro running back from the Tennessee Titans.

This was the pre-internet-patch era—games had to ship perfect.

[Day in the Life ]
Host:
Our workday was as exciting as it was intense. Let me walk you through a typical day:

• Free Play – We'd just play the game, like regular players, but with a critical eye.
• Scripted Scenarios – This was the real grind. Launching every team in every stadium, under every weather condition.
• Manual Testing – We even helped build the instruction manual through gameplay validation.
• Tournament Matches – QA tournaments were common, and heated.
• Memory Card Testing – We tested save/load reliability.
• Stability Tests – We'd leave consoles running overnight to see if they crashed.

[Bug Reporting ]
Host:
Finding bugs was our primary mission. Here’s how it worked:

• Discover it. Reproduce it. Document it. Prove it.
• There were different bug types:
  • Game Crashes: Error codes for programmers to decode.
  • Scoring Errors: Like awarding 5 points instead of 6 on a touchdown.
  • Clipping: A player walking through another model.

We used terms like KS, or Known Shippable, for bugs that were minor but couldn’t hold up release. And remember—no patches existed back then. What shipped was final.

[Bug Story ]
One day, I found a really strange bug. A play resulted in the ball floating midair indefinitely. The programmers called me over, tried to replicate it—it actually made its way into a QA showcase meeting. That moment taught me: QA matters. Deeply.

[The Structure ]
Host:
The studio was divided into four wings:

• Quality Assurance (QA)
• Programming
• Production
• Administration

In QA, our workstations were modest but effective:

• Sony Trinitron CRTs
• A notepad and pen
• VCRs recording our sessions
• And of course, the game consoles

The dev kits? Those were across the building, protected like sacred artifacts.

[Working Hours ]
Host:
Let’s talk about hours. Here’s the real schedule:

• Normal: 10 AM – 7 PM
• Crunch 1: 10 AM – 9 PM
• Crunch 2: 9 AM – 10 PM
• Weekends: 9 AM – 2 PM during crunch

And guess what? After work, we’d still go home and play more Madden, or something else from the EA vault.

[Memories & Perks ]
Host:
The memories? Priceless.

• Pizza deliveries at midnight
• Nonstop laughing and bonding
• Making lifelong friends

The perks?

• Earning $8–$10/hour
• A free copy of the game
• Your name in the credits
• Meeting Eddie George in person
• Access to the EA employee store—games for $10
• Career networking that lasted a lifetime

[Lessons for My Students ]
Host:
As a professor today, I use this experience to teach:

• The importance of the Software Development Life Cycle
• Why QA is as critical as development
• How communication across teams defines a game's success
• Why gamers criticizing bugs don’t understand the depth QA brings

[Should You Work for AAA? ]
Host:
Would I recommend working at a AAA studio? Absolutely.

You gain:

• Exposure to world-class development
• Experience under pressure
• Connections with leaders—some of whom now run studios or teach

Interestingly, I’ve seen this breakdown play out over the years:

• 1/3 leave to start their own indie studios
• 1/3 move to other major studios
• 1/3 go into teaching or mentoring—like me

[Advice to My Younger Self ]
Host:
If I could go back and talk to 20-year-old me walking into EA Tiburon for the first time, I’d say:

“Soak up everything. Be curious. Ask why, not just how. And most of all—stand out. If the opportunity is there to stay, take it.”

[Call to Action ]
Host:
If you enjoyed this episode, hit that subscribe button and share it with a friend who loves games or dreams of working in the industry.

Head over to behind-the-games.com for more stories, resources, and upcoming episodes.

👉 Have a story of your own from working in a AAA studio? I want to hear it! Send it in or tag us online.

[Outro ]
🎙️ [Theme music returns]
Host:
Next week, we go behind the curtain with indie developer Mitchell Nursey—a 9-to-5 professional who’s built a multiplayer arcade tank shooter, now available on Steam.

Until then—stay curious, stay passionate, and keep building.

End of episode.