Breaking into the video game industry by becoming a game tester can be a solution for those who want to land a game-related career but don't know exactly how to get there. It sounds like a dream job for nerds like ourselves, getting paid to play games all day. ꦏBut before you get too excited, it's time for a reality check.
Unfortunately, working as a video game tester - or a "quality assurance (QA) technician," to use the correct jargon - might not be quite as glamorous as one wou💞ld imagine. No doubt, a QA job has a lot of potential as a means of breaking into the industry before progressing into other games-related roles, or as a very lucrative career in its own rig🦩ht. However, there are a few misconceptions that are worth straightening out before you click that 'Apply' button.
QA Is Important (But Stressful)
Depending on what level you're at, there's a chance life as a game tester will actually be . Technical faults or bugs can mean the death of an otherwise good game. Unfortunately, if a faulty game is released a lot of blame can be directed towards QA testers as they're often seen as the final approvers. Sure, sometimes this blame is justifiable. However, in cases where it wasn't their fault - perhaps they 𒐪were 🌞- this will obviously result in immense stress.
Game Testing Isn't Just Playing Games All Day
Does QA testing mean getting paid to play games all day? Unfortunately, not exactly. The image you might have in your head of a glorified ไLAN office party, or of everyone sitting around on colorful beanbags wearing guzzler helmets and playing never-before-seen AAA content, occasionally jotting down notes about one or two bugs they found, might be a bit inac𝔍curate.
Sure, you will be dealing with games basically all of the time. However, a lot of that time will likely be spent carrying 🔴out really repetitive tasks and . After all, your job will often be to sift through a game and identify (and sometimes fix) every mishap yo🤡u find, big or infuriatingly small.
But don't abandon your dreams of working in video game QA or a ♎related job just yet. Let's look at some of the things game testing has to offer.
QA Can Get You Places
QA is by no means just a stepping stone that leads to to other more "glamorous" jobs. It's true that it is a great way of breaking into the gaming scene if you don't have a more clear-cut way in through, say, animation or level design, as you generally to apply for an entry-level QA job. But even within QA itself, you can progress to become a super skilled, highly-coveted asset that any studio would beꦏ lucky to have, if you're good at what you do.
There Are Different Types Of QA Jobs
In this article, "QA" has been used (perhaps too simplistically) to refer to what is actually a really broad range of jobs. So, if you're inclined towardꦰs the technical debugging stuff, functional testing is for you. If you have a thing for hardware, there's compatibility testing that focuses on ensuring the game functions optimally on different versions of the same platform, for example. If you're more fascinated by the humans who will be receiving the game and their experience of it, maybe is more your cup of tea.
Where To Find QA Jobs
There is so much more to game testing than most people might realize. Like with any job, it's bound to have its pros and cons, but regardless, video game QA is undou☂btedly one of the most important and worthwhile sectors in the industry,🥃 and .
If you're inter💙ested in pursuing a career in QA, or if you simply want to explore your options, there are plenty of online databases out there where you can browse vacancies all over the world.
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