If you have some knowledge in the gaming industry, you probably know that the big companies out there cannot afford releasing games that have bugs in the system. If they did that, they would probably encounter great financial losses.
This is why game testers are mandatory. Programmers cannot find all the problems just by looking at the code, so the manufacturer companies have to hire regular gamers to go through the whole game and report every malfunction they run into. If you think of giving game testing a try, here is a list of real things you should know:
- Unfortunately, you will not be able to make $120 an hour just from testing games, as some websites out there state. At the beginning of your gaming career, no company will pay you more than $30/hour (usually $10-$15 an hour for beginners in this field), for the obvious reason that they have no clue what you are capable of. After testing a few games and prove yourself useful, there is a good possibility you will get $50/hour or even more (usually up to $80 an hour).
- Even though getting free video games and doing a pleasant job from home sounds great, you should know that game testing is not all about playing. For each game you receive, you must make sure that going all the way through it is totally possible. This way, the company that hired you won't release a game that cannot be completed.
- While trying to finish the game, you will most probably run into a few bugs, which you must report. For instance, if your Need for Speed car goes straight when it should turn right, you have found a big problem. Such bugs can make millions of people not buy the game, which can lead to great financial losses for the company that released it.
- It is the testers' job to make sure everything works smoothly. Sometimes, game testing can even get boring, once the tester gets familiar with the game. This is where the difference between $20/hour testers and $80/hour testers occur. The last category makes sure that every weapon, every map and every character is flawless, and that is why they get paid even better than an average programmer.
- Unfortunately, you cannot find game testing job offers everywhere, simply because thousands of people would probably apply for each position and it is just too much for gaming companies to deal with.
- Because of this, every game tester out there finds it hard to get noticed at first. If you want to get a position in this industry, I recommend you visit Testing Guru and register there (it costs about $35 to sign up, but it's worth it - you can get your investment back in about 2-3 working hours). A couple of years ago, two friends and I registered with them and actually got our first jobs in gaming (I was in college at that time). I chose to resign from game testing half a year ago, when I was contacted by a company offering me a very attractive salary (I was making $28/hour at that time, solely from testing games).
Turning a passion into a paying job is not impossible...
