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Celebrating 30 Years of Side: Our Story

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2024 marks 30 years of our teams at PTW, now Side, providing leading development services to the global video game industry—30 years of bringing your story to the world!

The journey has come with new services, studios, and partners as well as unique challenges. To commemorate, we invite you to join us in looking back on how far we’ve come, as we highlight some of our long-standing team members who’ve helped make this dream a reality.

 

A Brief History

Our story begins in 1993 in Nagoya, Japan, with the small business owner of a video game resale shop and racing game enthusiast, Kozo Matsumoto.

While listening to a customer rant about all the bugs in a newly released game—an all-too-common occurrence—Mitsutaka Motoshige, a business partner, came up with an idea that would leave a lasting impact on the industry.

Japan’s First Video Game Quality Assurance Company

In 1994, Kozo, Mitsutaka, and Tamiyoshi Tachibana formed Japan’s first video game Quality Assurance company: Pole To Win, which became known as PTW, now Side. It didn’t take long for business to start rolling in.

As word of our services spread and the industry grew, we began hiring talented testers from different regions and expanding our services. We quickly spread across Japan, eventually becoming the largest game development support business in the country.

Global Expansion and Diversification

In 2009, the company would soar to even greater heights under the guidance of Teppei Tachibana, establishing a presence in the U.S. and expanding later around the globe.

Teppei also strengthened the company’s infrastructure by acquiring studios like the Interactive Entertainment division of e4e in 2012 and SIDE Audio in 2015. Partnerships like these enabled PTW, now Side, to cement itself in the industry by offering a full stack of external development services, including localization, player support, co-development, art and audio production, linguistic quality assurance (LQA), and more.

A New Era of Game Support and Development

Under the leadership of our current CEO Deborah Kirkham, Side has grown to include new service offerings, thousands of employees, and a footprint that spans across 20+ studios in 14 countries.

Thanks to Deborah’s approach to leading positive and transformative change across the company, Side has fostered a strong culture of gender equality and diversity and has empowered regional sites to be more commercially and operationally autonomous.

As a company with teams and studios spread across four continents and a culture that brings out everyone’s best, our greatest strength is and always will be our people.

 

The Driving Force Behind Side

At the heart of our success over the last three decades is a commitment to our teams and the values we uphold. Our culture, diversity, and passion for video games are what empower Side to continue maintaining and elevating industry standards.

In some cases, it’s giving our staff the freedom and flexibility they need to perform at their best: “Being able to adjust my work hours to fit my schedule and availability is one of the things I love most about working at Side. The company also provides a comfortable working environment for me to do so,” our Senior Audio Director Shigeru Inoue tells us, who is celebrating 15 years with Side this year.

In others, it’s about the environment and growth opportunities that make coming to work exciting. Amith Kumar, our Technology Manager who has also been with Side for half its lifetime, highlights: “Collaboration and support among the team are what I like most about working at Side. Over the years, I’ve had opportunities to grow in my role, taking on new challenges that helped me develop both professionally and personally. This combination of a positive work environment and growth opportunities is what has kept me here for years.”

We sat down with several of our most long-standing team members—celebrating 10, 15, 20, and even 25-year milestones with Side this year—to find out about some of their most memorable moments with us over the past few decades, and how they’ve seen the company and wider gaming industry evolve over time.

What have you enjoyed most about working at Side throughout the years?

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“Side always offered great career opportunities to its employees, and a good example is that I started my career as a Player Support Team Lead and ended up working in IT. Also, the industry we work in is very diverse, so there are always plenty of exciting projects going on—there’s never a dull day.”

Roland Lansbergen, Senior Director of Global Technology & InfoSec | Glasgow, UK – Celebrating 25 years with Side

Memorable Experiences

Whether it’s been opening a new studio in a different region or acquiring new partners, all of Side’s achievements have come with their fair share of challenges.

Amith shares one example: “One of the most memorable experiences was when we had to relocate to a new office with very little downtime. It was hectic at times, but it was also fun implementing and learning new technologies, coordinating between teams, and all the excitement and stress that came with shuttling between the two locations. Of the three relocations I’ve participated in, this was the most challenging yet memorable.”

But like any tight-knit team, the people at Side are there for each other through thick and thin. One of the memories that stick out the most for one of our Senior QA Managers, Sujesh Mithran, are times of celebration: “One of my memorable moments occurred when my colleagues arranged a flashmob and townhall and shared wonderful video recordings to commemorate my 15-year milestone. It was an overwhelmingly emotional moment!”

Can you share one of your most memorable moments or projects from your time at Side?

“When I worked for a AAA partner as Project Manager, I was invited to one of their game shows, which I will always remember. The Player Support team received recognition and gifts saying they were grateful for our support. The team felt so happy knowing we were improving the gaming experience for players, together.”

Jongik Park
Team Manager, Player Support | Naju, South Korea
Celebrating 10 years with Side

“The work that has left the biggest impression on me is the localization and voice recording we have done for the Call of Duty series. I have been in charge of this for over 10 years now, and it is a very stimulating project that is always evolving, so I never get bored.”

Shigeru Inoue
Senior Audio Director | Tokyo, Japan
Celebrating 15 years with Side

“I joined the company as a Game Artist in April 2004. Later, the company transitioned, and I worked in the Localization department for several years proofreading game texts. As Side Shanghai continued to grow, I became an HR Executive at Side Shanghai.

The most touching moment was our 20th anniversary celebration in Shanghai. We had just emerged from the impact of COVID-19 and started to resume work. We gathered again at the celebration to review the company’s journey. Each challenge made us more united and stronger.”

Lan Chen
HR Executive | Shanghai, China
Celebrating 20 years with Side

“One particular RTS got me into English games during my childhood, and I was lucky enough to work on the remastered version of it 20 years later. Such a moment is a privilege that comes with working at the leading localization company for games.”

Shuhei Kawatani
LQA Lead | Tokyo, Japan
Celebrating 10 years with Side

“It’s got to be the backup tape project we did for one of our largest game partners. Side was the first line of contact for all the partner’s backup tape driver users, and this project was so different from everything else we were doing at the time. There are so many of these moments—too many to mention!”

Roland Lansbergen
Senior Director of Global Technology & InfoSec | Glasgow, UK
Celebrating 25 years with Side

“I was very excited to get to work on an action RPG series that I love. Due to the tight schedule, we scaled up the team size, and I was the team manager at that time. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and enjoyed the project.”

Yu Cai
QA/LQA Project Manager | Shanghai, China
Celebrating 10 years with Side

 

The Future of Gaming

It’s evident that we’ve come a long way since opening our first office in 1994—and so has the games industry.

Few lay it out as well as one of our team managers in Player Support, Jongik Park: “30 years ago, when PTW (now Side) was established, the global gaming market was only worth $20 billion. We got to work on a lot of great games with many developers on some very well-known franchises, leading to a great experience for us and millions of players around the world. And now, the gaming market has grown tenfold to $240 billion. Side will always continue to make games better for users with our great partner developers, just like we’ve done for the past 30 years.”

Ultimately, new games, technologies, and services will continue to emerge as video games increase in popularity. Regardless of what changes may come, Side is committed to adapting and continuing to set the standard for excellence in video game development.

What are your hopes for Side’s future?

“Over the years, the company has rapidly developed along with the gaming industry. I look forward to Side continuing to innovate, serving more games, and bringing more joy to players. I am full of confidence and anticipation for the company’s future.

On this special day, I would like to leave my blessings for our 30th anniversary celebration! I would like to pay my highest respects to all colleagues and wish our company even better and better in the future!”

Lan Chen
HR Executive | Shanghai, China
Celebrating 20 years with Side

“I envision Side to continue to innovate. To progress into a company where we can single-handedly and comprehensively support clients through the full software development process from inception to the game’s release—something the company is already achieving with the recent expansion of their co-development service.”

Sujesh Mithran
Senior QA Manager | Bangalore, India
Celebrating 15 years with Side

“I hope to see a stronger presence of Side in all types of media.”

Shuhei Kawatani
LQA Lead | Tokyo, Japan
Celebrating 10 years with Side

“I hope that Side never stops being innovators, and the signs are looking good with our software development team releasing great tools and apps with the big automation drive that is currently going on. I think the future is looking bright.”

Roland Lansbergen
Senior Director of Global Technology & InfoSec | Glasgow, UK
Celebrating 25 years with Side

“I’m incredibly optimistic about the future of Side. We’ve built a strong foundation based on innovation, creativity, and a deep understanding of our audience, which puts us in a great position to continue growing and leading the industry. Personally, I’m excited to contribute to this future by continuing to innovate and bring fresh ideas to the table.”

Amith Kumar
Manager – Technology | Bangalore, India
Celebrating 15 years with Side

 

Here’s to the Next 30 Years!

Today Side has over 20 studios across four continents and offers a range of services, supporting the entire game development lifecycle, working on titles of every genre and every platform.

Looking ahead, we are committed to raising the bar and continuing to adapt to new technologies and market trends. Our focus remains on delivering the highest quality experiences to players worldwide while fostering a culture that values creativity, inclusivity, and collaboration.

Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of our journey so far, especially to our long-service team members whose contributions can be seen in this article.

Here’s to the next 30 years of bringing your story to the world!