How Your Games are Tested

When it comes to indentifying or defining a career role, most people will have no problem thinking about thing that are associated with every day jobs such as a construction worker or doctor. When we think of a construction worker, we immediately think of a hard safety hat and a hacksaw. When we think about a doctor, some of the first images that come into our head are of a white coat and stethoscope. However, if someone works involved video or computer game QA (quality assurance) then it can be quite difficult for the average person to picture what could be involved with in this job role. In all fairness, a lot of people probably do not even realise that such a job exists. Many people may even consider this job to be nothing more than fantasy or the dreams of teenage boys who spend too much time playing video games.

A video Game Tester is responsible for testing the quality of games and merchandise that is sold by the large multinational video games organisations, which are predominantly based in Japan and the United States. A career as a QA tester for video games involves being paid for playing the games and making sure that there are no bugs in the games and that they play as intended, before they hit the shops and are available to the paying public. The fact that a computer game launch can cost millions of dollars, it is not surprising that there are job roles out there of this kind, as the video game organisations need to make sure that there games work perfectly before they can be sold.

The salary of Game Programming can vary considerably and whilst some may make a very large salary, only the most experience and skilled of testers can expect to earn the big bucks. Many people who are new to this type of job can expect to earn just over the minimum wage. However, many people consider this more than reasonable as they see it as a way of being paid for playing video games all day long.

There are many ways in which someone can be employed in this line of work and almost too many to mention! There are a number of things people can do that will certainly help to increase their chances of working in the computer game industry.

First off, aspiring employees need to make sure their resume is up to date. Building connections and networking is another way people can increase the chances of employment. Finally people really need to have a passion for the industry itself and above all they need to love to play computer games!