What Is A Video Game Tester And How Do I Become One?

Huynh NguyenDecember 23, 2022

What Is A Video Game Tester And How Do I Become One?

Video games today are a great success and are presented in a huge variety. Video games are created on a wide variety of topics, they use the plots of popular movies, favorite characters, books, and cartoons. Most modern video games can delight users with excellent graphics, effects, and music. A large number of people are involved in the development of video games, including testers.

What Do Testers Do?

Many video game enthusiasts may think that being a tester is a dream job. Such specialists get a very decent salary and can play games for free. The work is really wonderful but it also requires a lot from such specialists, first of all, skill and certain personal qualities. Also, software development skills are important, which are additionally described in the article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming.

The main task of the tester as a specialist is to control the quality of the released games. For this purpose, the developers offer a specialist part of the game or even the whole game. He/she should identify its advantages and bugs. The topic and complexity of games can be very different. Many companies are interested in qualified testers, and the profession has a stable and high demand.

Order of salaries tester quite a lot. Here is a comparative table of salary levels in different cities around the world:

City	Salary per year
New York	$50,000
San Francisco	$65,000
London	£30,000
Mumbai	300,000 rupees

More often than not, the tester is invited to try out the game before its release to be able to fix any bugs before the official presentation. Each new game is tested for quality graphics, sound, and the purpose of testing is to identify bugs and glitches that may occur in the gameplay.

Variety in the Profession of Tester

It is possible to distinguish several types of testers, which are engaged in solving certain tasks:

testing the compatibility of the game, the purpose of the test is to make it work on different platforms;
black box testing;
testing of the game for compliance with all the requirements of a particular game platform and its completion on it;
testing the integration of all functions, the purpose of which is to detect bugs and malfunctions;
some types of testing are carried out with the help of a focus group when a whole team of testers takes part in the game, and the results are then discussed and analyzed;
general testing, when you want to get an overall impression of the game – how productive, comfortable, interesting it is;
local testing means a study that is conducted to determine the quality of the voiceover or translation for a particular region, if necessary, corrections should be made in the specified language.

Most often, testing of computer and video games involves remote work. More often than not, a specialist is given detailed instructions before the study and allocated a certain period of time.

The profession of a tester is very similar to that of a quality assurance engineer but his/her main duties are the technical side of the game, such a specialist examines it first and foremost. A tester simply tests a particular part of the game and makes a report about it. Games’ quality is vital for gambling establishments. For instance, Olympia online casino can provide its customers with a lot of games of excellent quality for a variety of subjects. This online gambling platform has an official license, so you do not need to worry about the safety of your money or personal data, excellent welcome bonuses, and convenient ways to withdraw money.

What Should a Tester Be Like?

Testers are essentially quite a simple job, so special knowledge and expertise are not required but such a specialist should have certain skills. First of all, the following skills are required:

ability to perform monotonous actions;
excellent concentration and a tendency to notice the smallest details;
understanding the goals of the tests and ensuring an appropriate level of quality;
their work schedule is flexible but deadlines can be very short;
high skills to self-organize;
ability to investigate a problem from all sides thoroughly and methodically;
correct report writing, thus, it is important to have a certain level of literacy and to be able to present the thoughts consistently;
ability to show attention to detail, be able to research and analyze the content that surrounds the game;
a tester needs to be familiar with the features of the modern game industry, understand the games and the equipment for them.

You can learn the profession of a tester on your own, this requires a desire, free time, and proper technique. During testing, you can easily acquire the necessary skills. However, if you want or need to, you can take courses and get a diploma or certificate.

How to Become a Tester?

A tester job is entry-level in the development of video games (read more about), which does not require certain skills, so anyone can get a job but most companies prefer persons over 18 years of age. The tester has certain career prospects. After all, such a specialist works closely with developers, so if desired, he can learn the technical side of development and gain certain skills in this area.

To become a tester, you can train at home, using the equipment you have and your favorite computer games. Another important question is how much a tester earns. There is no unambiguous answer – it all depends on the qualifications of the employee and his/her productivity. Newbies or beginners earn less than experienced testers who have mastered the technique of automated testing. However, in any case, the salary in the game industry is very decent. A tester is an excellent profession that has no age restrictions and suits absolutely everyone – men and women, and even teenagers.

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