Being a gamer tester sounds like fun as you would get the opportunity to play games all day during your 8 working hours, 5 days a week. It is just like you are paid for playing games which is not the case with any other kind of
software testing. In my opinion, the role of a game tester and the actual player are very different. Being career as a game tester, you have to test every aspect of the game as described below.
=> Being a game tester, you have to touch every failure point of the game. You need hit a wall which a player won’t be doing to save the game.
=> Being a game tester, you have to test the behavior of every obstacle that’s come to your way while testing the game but a player will avoid that obstacle to continue playing and stepping ahead in the game.
=> Being a game tester, you have to play the game as a mindless user in order to break the system and outline the defects. On the other hand, the player will play the game in a very efficient way in order to incur the achievements.
=> Being a game tester, you won’t feel excited after looking at the scoreboard like a game player but you have to make sure that the scoreboard in moving in an expected way.
Challenges in career as a game tester:
I am very much sure after reading the above differences, the game tester will not sound like fun anymore but a job of great responsibilities for testing. Not only this, but there are many other factors which will brief you about the challenges of the career as a game tester as described below.
1) The Game testing difficulties:
The testing of the game involves the execution of test cases where these test cases involve the termination of a game due to multiple factors such as hitting a wall, dead end, end of power, not sufficient credits, etc. In this case, you have to think like a player but act like a tester. After comparing both roles at the same time, I am very much sure that the game testing Job is very difficult where you won’t feel very excited but a great responsibility to execute the test cases like any other software testing job.
2) The Salary of the game tester (career as a game tester):
The game testing job requires the testing expertise like any other Quality Analyst Job. But if we compare the salary of a software tester and a game tester, I would say that Software tester is a great profession in terms of money paid to the tester. It may be the myth that after all you are playing the game and paid for the same but actually, the game testing job is not at all less than the responsibility of the software tester. Just forget and make sure that you are not playing the game and its not at all an entertainment for a game tester.
3) Comply on the “Non-disclosure Agreement”:
The game tester has asked to sign a “Non-Disclosure Agreement” where he cannot discuss the game and the Job outside the organization with friends and family. In other words, a game tester has to keep the details about his job secret and if by any chance any information about the upcoming game has leaked then he has to face the consequences. The consequences could be a penalty to the losses made by the game company or expulsion from the game tester Job.
4) The actual game enjoyment (career as a game tester):
As I have already explained that the game testing Job is all about the enjoyment of playing games is actually a myth. The game testing job demands due diligence towards not only executing the test cases but also the tester is expected to execute the negative test scenario in order to make sure the gaming system is robust and defect free. I can further explain this with the help of an example. Being a player, you will feel excited about the high score after spending considerable time playing a good game. If the tester finds a defect which could only be reproduced at a high score. After the defect has been reported, it has been fixed by the developer. Now just imagine about the pain of playing a good game being a tester and spend an equal amount of time to retest the defect. Isn’t it sound boring to retest the same thing over and over? A game tester will definitely be going to lose the charm of a player. However, the same exercise will induce excitement to the actual game player.
Other side of the story
It is not that game testing jobs are very bad and should not be chosen as a career. But for sure, if you are already employed and planning to switch your career from a software tester to a game tester then go through the point which I have explained and judge yourself how comfortable you will be doing your job as a game tester.
On the other hand, if you are not employed and got an offer of game tester then I would recommend to stay in this job and gain the testing experience. Honestly, the game testing jobs are very good to begin your career as they don’t require any testing experience and later if you wish to switch your job to a software tester, it won’t be very difficult as you have possessed some testing experience anyway by this time. Lastly, in terms of the salary, a traditional software testing job is a highly paid job as compared to the game testing job.
Conclusion:
It is better to have a game tester job than being jobless in the software industry. The game testing job could be a good kick start for the software testing beginner and later with the testing experience, the tester could achieve higher roles within the career as a game tester or switch the profession into software testing with a software organization. We should always keep growing as we gain experience to keep our career on the right track.
