Why Video Game Testers Are More Important Than Ever

Enter the world of Video Game Testing in short, video game testers run checks on video games while they are still in their developmental stage. Patience is a quality the tester must possess, as their job is to find and document bugs and errors in video games before the game hits the sales floor. Although some people mistakenly think the testing of video games is about winning the game with the highest score, nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that testing video games can be downright mundane. The tester runs the game through a series of methodical and predetermined steps to reveal if the game has any flaws in the Game Programming. Some testers are only involved with testing the game software, while others may only test for hardware issues, while other testers may even do both. Since some problems only show up randomly, some tests can be extremely tedious. For example, a test that a game tester might perform could be to turn the game console on and off hundreds of times in an effort to duplicate an issue. As you can see, extreme patience is needed to perform a task such as this. The video game tester is on the front line of experimenting with video game performance. The results that he or she documents are sent directly back to the game’s programmers. Therefore, to be a successful video game tester an individual must be highly organized; since relaying their findings to programmers is a key element the game tester’s duties, it is essential that he/she possess excellent communication skills as well. The video game industry considers the testing phase of its products a serious endeavor-- nobody in the company wants to send an error-filled video game to the marketplace. Sound video Game Design is very important to the game’s developers, because if a flawed product is sent to store shelves, the ramifications could be very serious. Gamers want their games to work every time they fire up their systems. Should a video game company lose the trust of its gamers, they are in danger of losing their perch as a respectable brand in the marketplace; if this happens too often, it could cost the company in terms of profits and reputation, and ultimately could lead to a game company’s demise. For this reason, the video game tester’s function in the game development process is nearly invaluable.