Video Game Tester Jobs – A Complete Guide

Are you looking for gaming jobs online? If yes, then what sort of jobs will you be interested in? Video game tester jobs have become quite a phenomenon in the recent years following the surge in demand for video games all over the world. For video game enthusiasts, a job such as this is nothing less than a dream come true! But before you jump on the bandwagon, here’s a quick guide regarding what all video game tester jobs entail.

Job Description

It is video game testing, but that does not make it all roses, sunshine, and unicorns! Video game testing jobs are far more demanding that one could fathom. The video game tester is not simply playing the game for their career; they have far-reaching responsibilities.

Video game testers are also called beta testers and game testers who are assigned with the responsibility to essentially break the game, looking for bugs and other defects. These individuals are hired by video game companies to identify glitches and other potential bottlenecks in the video game for them to fix.

Thus, video game testers are basically part of the game development team to ensure that the video game has been designed to perfection before it moves out of the development phase into the launch phase.

All video games are generally tested prior to their big launch. Quality assurance is that essential step in every video game production that focuses on the following attributes related to a video game:

• Compliance
• Functionality
• Compatibility
• Localization
• Soak
• Beta
• Regression load
• Single player/multiplayer

A video game can have a million bugs, and identifying all of them is a responsibility that video game testers shoulder. Hence, a video game tester has a monotonous task, but this is seemingly fun for a video game fanatic.

Once the bug is reproduced, a bug report needs to be typed out with the aid of bug tracking software. This must then be submitted to the game development team to get the bug fixed. Video game testers may further be sought for assistance on how and where such bugs or glitches were found. Hence, it remains a continuous process.

In simple words, as a video game tester, you may be asked to play 2018 FIFA World Cup on a loop throughout the day. If that sounds fun, this job is perfect for you!

Skills Required

If you aspire to lead a career in video gaming, there is no hard and fast rule to equip yourself with an array of educational qualifications, but a few of the following skills might come in handy.

Video Gaming Experience

If you have been a video gaming maniac since childhood, you are already eligible for this job. The more you play, the more you understand how a video game works. This is essentially what you need to know in order to identify a bug. If you are well-versed in the different game genres and what features make a good video game, you are all that’s needed!

Effective Communication

This is yet another skill that would slide your application forward for a game testing job. Identification of bugs is just one part of the job; the rest deals with communication. You need to be able to write and communicate the identified problems clearly to the programmers. Unless you have conveyed the issues properly, there is no real fixing taking place. Thus, you need to be able to write a clear, brief and comprehensible report to become a concise and meticulous tester.

Troubleshooting

Basic troubleshooting is another requirement if you are applying for video game tester jobs. You will be delegated with recreating sequences for the glitch. Hence, once a bug has been identified, troubleshooting steps to reproduce the result is mandatory.

Work from Home!

Another reason you have opted for the gaming industry could be that you were looking for video game tester jobs at home. If this has been the case, well you have come to the right place. Not only do video testing jobs enable a virtual workplace, but you also do not need to commute to work daily.

Furthermore, if you cannot handle supervision or micromanagement, gaming jobs online are perfect for you as there is nobody hovering over you or bossing you around.

You shall be given an assignment with a specified deadline that you can do at your own time. Your life just got a tad more interesting! With this remote setup, you will be asked to use your own equipment such as consoles, computers, controllers and any other relevant and necessary tools.

What’s in It for Me?

If working flexibly from home is not sufficient for you, there are a few more perks that you’d be interested in knowing.

First, you get to interact with the latest video games even before your friends have got their hands on it. How? Well, you have a video game on hand prior to its launch. If you are obsessed with video gaming, this will definitely have you wanting to look up video game tester jobs at home.

If you have made up your mind about joining the gaming industry, this is an ideal first step into the market. With time, you can equip yourself with more skills and qualify for higher positions of responsibility within video game design and development. Thus, if you are currently enrolled in any one of the following degrees in college, this could be a good way to get your foot in the door:

• Game design
• Software development
• Software design
• Computer science
• Graphic communication
• Software testing
• Software quality assurance
• Software engineering

If you are into video games, have the aforementioned skills and can take up a challenge, you need to look up game testing jobs and gaming jobs online to get started. Get yourself registered for one of those video game tester jobs at home if traveling to work is not your thing.