Software testing can be of many types and Game testing is one of them. Although it is perceived by many that video games testing is just like a walk in the park and the testers seamlessly earn quite a lot of money by just simply Playing the Games! But, the fact to the matter is that the video games testers also have to perform a lot of technical and complex tasks in order to make sure the successful release of the game(s). The core purpose of such testing is to first identify and then document all the software defects/bugs and glitches.
It is a well-known fact that the overall, software testing industry has suffered very little from the global recession as compared to other industries, hence, being a part of this industry; the Game Testing industry has also continued to flourish at a rapid pace. No doubt the global recession had caused the sales graph of many game consoles to decline yet the sales of the games itself wasn’t really that much affected due to which the Game Testing Industry is setting up itself to become the largest industry.
What should I do to become a Game Tester?? | Skills required to become a Game Tester
If you think that to become a game tester all you need is a background of playing games on a variety of platforms; you’re wrong! Playing games is only one half of the story…. identifying glitches, preparing detailed professionally composed reports and meeting the deadlines; is the rest. To get acquainted with this field, first, you should join beta test gigs of top video games. Afterwards, in order to excel your career in game testing field you must have in depth knowledge regarding operating systems/consoles on which you will be testing.
You should also be very good at catching as many bugs/glitches as you can and then communicate it effectively via writing remarkable reports; explaining thoroughly where and how the bugs affected the game play. Moreover, explaining how such issues can be avoided will provide an edge to your report. This will earn you excellent reputation & recognition with gaming companies who will probably hire you for their future projects.
Benefits for Game Testers
- Fun: Video Game Testing is perhaps the only kind of the job doing which one can actually say “I LIKE MY JOB”. Apart from the technical stuff a game tester must do; they surely enjoy playing the new upcoming games.
- To some extent you really are your own BOSS !!! As you don’t have to worry about your boss standing next to you taping his feet and looking at the clock.
- No noisy alarms, no need to get up early in the morning (as you can work whenever you want while keeping in view the deadlines) and definitely no complex schedules to worry about !!
- Game Testers are generally well paid. Usually they get around US$10–12/hour. Besides this testers also get paid sufficiently for doing variety of game testing related things such as taking online surveys, taking part in focus groups and also reviewing new games.
Earlier, the developers/programmers were responsible for both developing and testing the games as the scope of games was limited to some features. But, due to the increased complexity of video games’ features a large pool of QA Resources are required now which clearly indicates that the industry provides a lot of opportunities to the game testers.
As much fun as it might be, a game testers’ job is also very stressful; still, this field has recently been highly sought after as it provides a gateway for the rapidly growing industry i.e. Software Testing Industry. Besides being a technical job requiring lots of hard work…..it’s the kind of work you’ll enjoy because of having no boss around you and do remember this “At least half of your job is to play games”. It can’t get any better than that !!!
