subject: Video Game Tester [print this page] Video game tester became a hot new world in the gaming industry with the onslaught of end to end real life video games. It has become a multi billion dollar industry and hence the demand for game testers are all the more. These testers are entrusted to report specific programming errors called bugs. They come in to the picture when the game is almost 80 to 90% complete; and are then asked to play the game and test for any glitches that may occur during the trial run.
To be a video game tester, you should have basic education in place and more so a passion for games. With an eye for detail, other virtues such as programming skills also come handy in this kind of job profile. Most game testers are amateur video game players and with a passion for games, they try their hand in video game testing as part time testers. With passage of time they turn themselves into big time professionals and start doing well for themselves economically.
They can earn handsome pay packages as he adds up his experience in the gaming industry. This job entails an eye for detail; the tester needs to test each and every part of the game and report for any errors or bug.
As an industry standard, the tester is asked to test every version of the game i.e. from beta to the pre-release version. Now-a-days, video games are being developed in accordance with real life scenarios; the job of a video game tester has eventually become more demanding. The companies dont really want to hamper their goodwill and marketability by launching bug ridden games into the market. Hence, game testers have become indispensable in the development of a final product.
After gaining much experience, a game tester also sometimes coordinates with the developers to give his key inputs. He can be of help to realize his mistakes while developing the game and acts as a key control in the final outcome. Video game testing jobs sometimes seems to be boring as these testers are asked to play repeated version of the game and also perform monotonous tasks in each step. It requires a lot of patience and effort to be a tester, especially if you are dealing with games developed using advanced animation. At the end of day, a game tester can be a passionate soul as he combines his hobby with his profession.
Eventually with the changing business acumen, the
video gaming industry is here to stay and is about to set its mark in the next generation games, the ever increasing demand of a video game tester will always be there.
