I worked in the games industry for 12 years and I know a lot of designers that fit this criteria. They had no programming or art skills so they became testers, after that it seems the career path for a tester is either QA lead, or designer.
Probably 75% of the designers I know had a background in QA. Some of them were good designers, most were not. The ones who did have an art or tech background tended to be more grounded in their designs because they had a better idea of what is really achievable with the current tech.
Probably 75% of the designers I know had a background in QA. Some of them were good designers, most were not. The ones who did have an art or tech background tended to be more grounded in their designs because they had a better idea of what is really achievable with the current tech.