What is game testing after all? Most people don't know about it, some who hear about it are misinformed about it, and some know the truth about it. There's a lot of hype, a lot of misinformation, and some truth in what goes around about game testing.
Here I'll try to give the bare bones basics about game testing.
What is it?
- Part of game development.
- It deals with finding bugs in games in various phases before the release of a game.
Why is it required?
- For Quality Assurance, to make sure games don't have bugs, or at least major bugs when they are released.
Who are game testers?
- Game developers have quality assurance teams and game testers are usually part of it.
- They are paid to test games at pre-decided intervals when they're given game builds.
- They're sometimes in house (i.e. employed with the game developer as game testers), sometimes they're temporarily hired to test specific games by companies on a temporary basis.
Qualifications for game testers?
- There are usually no specific qualifications to be a game tester.
- Some developers prefer candidates with a graduate degree, some like those with just a high school diploma.
Desirable qualities?
- Observant: Should be able to spot bugs, make detailed reports about it.
- Systematic, dilligent: Should be able to make notes descriptive, useful to developer team to fix bugs.
- Ability to handle stress, hard work: May have to test the same game for several hours, work the same stage several times.
Advantages?
- You get to make a living playing games.
- Get to play games before release.
- Get paid decently well just for playing games.
- Possibility to get a good pay with time as a lead game tester.
- Become part of the rapidly growing gaming industry.
Challenges?
- Should be able to complete games in hardest difficulty.
- While the pay is alright, it isn't spectacular. You aren't going to be a millionaire testing games.
- It can be very stressful, close to game releases, deadlines you may have to test a lot for hours on a stretch on stages that aren't that enjoyable.
If you're serious about a career in game testing, you might want to consider investing in a proper guide to game testing jobs. Check out these links:
That's about it. Again, this isn't an authentic tell all, just the bare bones basics to get you guys thinking about the world of game testing, the opportunities in it. For further knowledge refer to the above mentioned guides. If you have any questions. Put them down in the comments and I'll try to get to them.
Cheers!
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