Tue 9 Mar 2010
Ask the question: “if you could do anything as a job, what would it be?” and the response for most gamers will be the same – a video games tester. Little wonder. Play video games all day everyday, and then get paid for the “effort”? That has to be one of the sweetest rackets going on.
The common (mis)conception of game testing is that people are paid ridiculous amounts of money for playing video games all day. In truth, the pay is not quite as generous as you might think, and the process is far from fun especially if you do it on a continual basis, yet it’s still an appealing career choice for many.
Testing a game is exactly that: the tester will be required to repeatedly play through the same few segments of the game time and time again, usually without a break until they unearth any and all bugs they can find. The tester must keep their eyes open for these bugs and then record their findings.
However, the process did not end there and it is important to note that your findings must be legible, comprehensive and easy to understand for the people to whom you will be reporting it to. Your input will directly affect the speed and ease at which the technicians can remedy the fault(s) and so if your communication skills whether verbal or written are not on par then there will be trouble.
Now that we have cleared up the issue of what a video game tester will actually involve, the next burning issue that we will need to look at is the issue of pay, i.e. how much money does the average tester get for their efforts?
There are a number of variables and factors to consider whenever trying to gauge how much in wages you will earn for video game testing, and some factors will weigh more heavily and importantly than the others. Without fail, one of the biggest factors to consider is the actual level of experience that the tester has, and this is both to the issue of seniority as well as passive skills such as proficiency in report writing and error spotting. There is a common mistake that a game tester must limit themselves to a single company, in truth, there is plenty of work to go around and so many testers will supplement their income by doing freelance work with various bodies and groups.
Download the free report How To Become A Games Tester and learn how to break into the games industry without a computer science degree. For free Flash game visit Kwikgames.com