Video Games Quality Assurance Technician
Careers Explorer:
The dream job for gamers – you’ll be playing computer games for a living.
Overview
Also known as Games Testers, you’ll be a gaming expert who tests video games to detect bugs and errors in different levels of the game.
This is a key role in the gaming industry and you’ll be working alongside game designers and programmers to ensure a game works flawlessly before it’s released to the public.
Testers work across every platform and genre including Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Wii and PC platforms. Role playing games, multi-player online games and learning games are just some of the genres of games you’ll be required to play and thoroughly evaluate.
While playing computer games may sound like a dream job to some, you’ll need to remember there’s a crucial difference between ‘playing’ and ‘testing’.
Effectively, your role is to break the game. You’ll be testing the computer games in order to find bugs and identify any code that doesn’t work. You’ll have to think outside the box and be unconventional in your game playing in order to ensure the game functions as it should.
Even if you’re an avid gamer, QA testing can be repetitive and monotonous, as you could find yourself testing the same area of a game for months on end.
Top 5 Tasks
- Receives advanced copies of games in order to thoroughly test the game prior to public release
- Attempt every possible move or decision a player might make during normal gameplay
- After discovering a bug, you’ll need to write a description of what occurred
- Test revised editions of the games
- Expose any glitches.
Salary
The average UK salary is around £20,000.
Am I Suited?
- Passionate gamer
- Patient
- Methodical
- Analytical thinker
- Technically-minded
Some games companies release test versions of games for the public to try. Going to games events and joining industry forums are good ways to hear about these and other potential career opportunities.
Qualifications
It is not a necessary requirement to have a degree, however, qualifications specific to the industry would be an advantage when applying for roles.
Progression
