The Good: You get to play games for a living! Also, many game producers and designers start their careers in Product Test
The Bad: Your first few projects will likely be mediocre or subpar games. Are you sure you want to spend 140 hours playing Generic Shooter 7??
The Ugly: You may end up on the graveyard shift. You won't make much money. And no one cares about your suggestions for improving the game. Just focus on the bugs, buddy.
We’ve probably all spent some time entertaining a common childhood geek fantasy of becoming a professional game tester. Who hasn’t had the thought, “How cool would it be to get paid to play [insert favorite game franchise here] all day?” While many of us let go of that dream, dismissing it as unrealistic, a select few actually go on to achieve the illustrious title of Game Tester-- and even to make a career out of it. We say “select few” because game testing is an extremely demanding job, one that requires an immense devotion to gaming. There’s a saying amongst game testers: “Game testers don’t play the games. We break the games.”
A game tester’s typical day is relatively straightforward: clock in, play the assigned game, take a lunch, then back to playing an assigned game some more, clock out, and go home. Key word here: assigned. That’s right; the games are assigned, not chosen. After all, someone has to test Dora the Explorer. Fortunately, the more sedate games don’t usually require a lot of testing, so odds are that you’ll be playing some of the bigger titles. Of course by “play” we actually mean “test,” which isn’t quite so straightforward, and variespretty greatly depending upon the stages of development.
As soon as there’s code written, there’s testing to be done. Game testers will generally work in small groups, testing tiny snippets of the game under short deadlines. Keith, a game tester for Sega remembers his first week there, “They showed me to a chair with a controller and told me to see if I could make anything weird happen by running around and jumping on things,” he said. “I spent the whole day just jumping around. I couldn’t even tell what game I was playing since the main character was made up of just a few triangles.” While that doesn’t seem quite as fun as actually playing video games all day, for a true game tester, the excitement comes from seeing a game progress, from the transition from triangle man to THOR: God of Thunder.
Things get a bit more interesting as development approaches pre-alpha stages. The testing teams get larger and deadlines get a bit longer, because there’s so much more to test. This is the part game testers love, playing a level for hours, trying to come up with creative ways to break the game. As Keith puts it, “It’s the creative part of the job that I like, getting to spots you’re not supposed to go, or killing something that is supposed to be invincible.” Of course finding the bugs is only half the battle. Once a bug is found, there is a lot of testing needed to find the minimum requirements necessary to recreate the bug, after which a report is written and submitted to the development team.
It isn’t until a game reaches alpha or beta stages that a game tester really gets a feel for the game as a whole. At this point, deadlines can sometimes be weeks long, making it possible to play through the entire game several times to iron out the last of the glitches, grammar mistakes, and oddities.
Every step of the way, the diligent game tester is taking notes on every minute detail and glitch, and writing reports for every bug. While this detailed oriented, paper work part of the gig is probably not quite how you imagined this dream job being you were a kid, for geeks who genuinely enjoy testing, trials, breaking things and watching a game evolve,game testing can be just as rewarding as getting the all-time high score in Halo: Reach.
If the prospect of becoming a game tester still appeals to you now that you’ve got an idea about it’s really like, you’ll probably be happy to know that it’s actually not all that difficult to actually make the leap to becoming a game tester. Often times, a high school diploma (with some previous testing experience) will be enough to get a foot in the door. And if you’re afraid your friends or family might criticize you for pursuing a pie-in-the-sky dream job, make sure they know that game testing is an entirely legitimate career. As a senior test director, it’s possible to have a six digit yearly salary, though climbing that corporate ladder will generally require a four-year degree, working as a game tester also opens doors to other related ventures, such as game design, programming, and marketing.
While the ideal game tester will be perceptive, well organized, and creative, it’s crucial to have some previous testing experience- and simply playing a few open betas doesn’t count. You need to demonstrate that you can not only find bugs, but can also categorize them and report them in a concise yet detailed manor. The best way to do this is by practicing with limited public alpha and beta versions of upcoming games. Dedicate your time to honing your stills at bug reporting, and document the bugs you help fix. It will look great in an interview when they ask you what you would do if you found a graphical error, and you can pull out a specific example of a report you’ve submitted before.
It’s also very beneficial if you can demonstrate at least a basic understanding of software testing techniques, such as Error Guessing, Boundary Value Analysis, Traceability Matrices, and Equivalence Partitioning. Many applicants may not have heard these terms, which puts you at a huge advantage if you’ve studied up. The same goes with various development models, like the V-Model, Waterfall Model, and Iterative Model.
It’s also likely that you will be given an assessment test as part of the interview. This can often be the most difficult part of the hiring process. It will test your knowledge of various terminologies, testing methods, and testing tools. It also tests things that can’t readily be learned, like general perception. The perception test generally consists of an image or video clip where you are asked to take in as much detail as possible. It is then followed by another image or video clip that is nearly identical to the first where you are asked to identify what is different. Practicing this on your own before the test can make a significant difference.
Since game companies look to hire testers in time to get their games ready by the holiday season, later summer and early fall are usually good times to look and apply for positions. Oftengame testers are hired as temps first, partially due to the high turnover rate for testers who don’t realize how demanding the job is, but also because the need for testers dies down once the game is complete. Still, if you perform well during your temporary placement, it’s not uncommon to be offered a full-time position at the end of your contract. After all, there will be more games to test (and break).
Game testing can be an entire career all on its own, or it can be used as a stepping stone to penetrate other aspects of the gaming industry. If you decide to stick with the path of Quality Assurance, you can quick work up the ranks tobecome team leader, up to Project Leader, through Project Manager, all the way up to Senior QA Director, where you’ll have a cushy paycheck and fat retirement package.
On the other side of the coin, many people use game testing to make connection that lead to other opportunities. With a bit of programming experience, it’s easy to transition into a game programmer position, or if you pay close attention to the steps a game goes through during the pre- and post-production phases; becoming a game producer is also just a small hop away. Becoming a game tester is not justa childhood dream, but can also open the door to just about every aspect of the gaming industry.
What about you? Want to become a game tester? Maybe you already are? Tell us about your experience, or what your dream geek job is, in the comments.
Source: Maximum PC
The Bad: Your first few projects will likely be mediocre or subpar games. Are you sure you want to spend 140 hours playing Generic Shooter 7??
The Ugly: You may end up on the graveyard shift. You won't make much money. And no one cares about your suggestions for improving the game. Just focus on the bugs, buddy.
We’ve probably all spent some time entertaining a common childhood geek fantasy of becoming a professional game tester. Who hasn’t had the thought, “How cool would it be to get paid to play [insert favorite game franchise here] all day?” While many of us let go of that dream, dismissing it as unrealistic, a select few actually go on to achieve the illustrious title of Game Tester-- and even to make a career out of it. We say “select few” because game testing is an extremely demanding job, one that requires an immense devotion to gaming. There’s a saying amongst game testers: “Game testers don’t play the games. We break the games.”
A Day in the Life
There are a lot of preconceived notions about what it’s like to be a game tester, the most prevalent being the idea that you get paid to sit on your ass and play your favorite games all day. Don’t we wish. That’s actually far from the truth. In fact, most companies refrain from even using the title “Game Tester,” preferring to use the term “Quality Assurance Agent,” because it’s not testing a game; it’s testing a product. But c’mon, who dreams about being a Quality Assurance Agent?A game tester’s typical day is relatively straightforward: clock in, play the assigned game, take a lunch, then back to playing an assigned game some more, clock out, and go home. Key word here: assigned. That’s right; the games are assigned, not chosen. After all, someone has to test Dora the Explorer. Fortunately, the more sedate games don’t usually require a lot of testing, so odds are that you’ll be playing some of the bigger titles. Of course by “play” we actually mean “test,” which isn’t quite so straightforward, and variespretty greatly depending upon the stages of development.
As soon as there’s code written, there’s testing to be done. Game testers will generally work in small groups, testing tiny snippets of the game under short deadlines. Keith, a game tester for Sega remembers his first week there, “They showed me to a chair with a controller and told me to see if I could make anything weird happen by running around and jumping on things,” he said. “I spent the whole day just jumping around. I couldn’t even tell what game I was playing since the main character was made up of just a few triangles.” While that doesn’t seem quite as fun as actually playing video games all day, for a true game tester, the excitement comes from seeing a game progress, from the transition from triangle man to THOR: God of Thunder.
Things get a bit more interesting as development approaches pre-alpha stages. The testing teams get larger and deadlines get a bit longer, because there’s so much more to test. This is the part game testers love, playing a level for hours, trying to come up with creative ways to break the game. As Keith puts it, “It’s the creative part of the job that I like, getting to spots you’re not supposed to go, or killing something that is supposed to be invincible.” Of course finding the bugs is only half the battle. Once a bug is found, there is a lot of testing needed to find the minimum requirements necessary to recreate the bug, after which a report is written and submitted to the development team.
It isn’t until a game reaches alpha or beta stages that a game tester really gets a feel for the game as a whole. At this point, deadlines can sometimes be weeks long, making it possible to play through the entire game several times to iron out the last of the glitches, grammar mistakes, and oddities.
Every step of the way, the diligent game tester is taking notes on every minute detail and glitch, and writing reports for every bug. While this detailed oriented, paper work part of the gig is probably not quite how you imagined this dream job being you were a kid, for geeks who genuinely enjoy testing, trials, breaking things and watching a game evolve,game testing can be just as rewarding as getting the all-time high score in Halo: Reach.
The Game Tester’s Path
While the ideal game tester will be perceptive, well organized, and creative, it’s crucial to have some previous testing experience- and simply playing a few open betas doesn’t count. You need to demonstrate that you can not only find bugs, but can also categorize them and report them in a concise yet detailed manor. The best way to do this is by practicing with limited public alpha and beta versions of upcoming games. Dedicate your time to honing your stills at bug reporting, and document the bugs you help fix. It will look great in an interview when they ask you what you would do if you found a graphical error, and you can pull out a specific example of a report you’ve submitted before.
It’s also very beneficial if you can demonstrate at least a basic understanding of software testing techniques, such as Error Guessing, Boundary Value Analysis, Traceability Matrices, and Equivalence Partitioning. Many applicants may not have heard these terms, which puts you at a huge advantage if you’ve studied up. The same goes with various development models, like the V-Model, Waterfall Model, and Iterative Model.
It’s also likely that you will be given an assessment test as part of the interview. This can often be the most difficult part of the hiring process. It will test your knowledge of various terminologies, testing methods, and testing tools. It also tests things that can’t readily be learned, like general perception. The perception test generally consists of an image or video clip where you are asked to take in as much detail as possible. It is then followed by another image or video clip that is nearly identical to the first where you are asked to identify what is different. Practicing this on your own before the test can make a significant difference.
Since game companies look to hire testers in time to get their games ready by the holiday season, later summer and early fall are usually good times to look and apply for positions. Oftengame testers are hired as temps first, partially due to the high turnover rate for testers who don’t realize how demanding the job is, but also because the need for testers dies down once the game is complete. Still, if you perform well during your temporary placement, it’s not uncommon to be offered a full-time position at the end of your contract. After all, there will be more games to test (and break).
The Start of a Dream Career
Game testing can be an entire career all on its own, or it can be used as a stepping stone to penetrate other aspects of the gaming industry. If you decide to stick with the path of Quality Assurance, you can quick work up the ranks tobecome team leader, up to Project Leader, through Project Manager, all the way up to Senior QA Director, where you’ll have a cushy paycheck and fat retirement package.
On the other side of the coin, many people use game testing to make connection that lead to other opportunities. With a bit of programming experience, it’s easy to transition into a game programmer position, or if you pay close attention to the steps a game goes through during the pre- and post-production phases; becoming a game producer is also just a small hop away. Becoming a game tester is not justa childhood dream, but can also open the door to just about every aspect of the gaming industry.
What about you? Want to become a game tester? Maybe you already are? Tell us about your experience, or what your dream geek job is, in the comments.
Source: Maximum PC
