Qualifications & Skills
Education For just about every video game tester job, you'll need to have a high school diploma or GED. If you're still in high school, focus on brushing up your skills (listed below) so you can start applying to jobs after you graduate. A college degree may or may not be necessary; it really just depends on the position. For the most part, a college degree in game design, programming, software development, or other related field isn't necessary but might help you get the job, depending on what the job requirements are.
Experience For entry-level QA tester jobs, you can usually apply without any experience. However, depending on the job and studio, some experience may be preferred or even necessary. Once again, it really just depends on the specific job posting. If you're looking for a lead or management position within a QA team, you will need to have some experience, usually quantified in years worked or titles shipped.
Skills A number of hard and soft skills are important for becoming a game tester. If you have a specific studio you want to work for, look at their QA tester job postings to see what skills are required. Below is a general list of skills you'll need to know to work in QA: Detail-oriented Strategic thinking Time management Reading and writing Professional communication Teamwork Computer/tech literacy Confidentiality Having experience with one or more gaming consoles (including PC) is usually also required, though you may have to work on platforms you've never used before. If you have experience with project management tools (i.e. Jira, TestRail), game engines (i.e. Unity), 3D modeling software (i.e. Maya), scripting languages (i.e. Python, C++), servers, or APIs, you'll likely have a better chance of getting a job—but for entry-level positions, experience with these tools usually isn't required.
A love of video games While it may seem obvious, having a love of video games is an important part of being a game tester. While you may not be an avid player of the game you end up working on, loving and understanding video games as a whole will help you both be successful at your job and enjoy it.
Salary & Benefits
Game testers make an average salary of $56,736 per year. According to Glassdoor, the typical pay range for a game tester in the United States is $48k to $89k per year, which includes salary plus bonuses. Most QA tester jobs pay by the hour, so you may get paid extra if you work overtime.
Benefits vary from company to company. Your benefits also depend on if you're considered a contractor or full employee of your company. Each QA tester job listing should detail what benefits are available to you if you were to get hired. You may get health insurance (potentially including vision and dental insurance), a 401k, paid time off, and sick leave. You may also get some special benefits, such as discounted or free video games. This varies based on your employer, however, so don't expect any extra benefits unless told otherwise.
Research Before You Apply
Understand the different types of QA testers. For the most part, video game QA testers are considered functional testers—they test the functionality of a video game. However, if you know more than one language or you're fluent in one or more languages, you may be able to find work as a translation or localization tester. You can also work as a compliance tester, but these jobs may require some prior experience as a compliance tester or knowledge of how certain compliance processes work. While there are many more facets to QA testing (such as regression testing, integration testing, balance testing, performance testing, etc.) these usually fall under the "functional testing" umbrella when a job is titled Functional Tester. Job listings may say QA tester, quality assurance tester, QA analyst, quality assurance analyst, game tester, video game QA, functional tester, QA specialist, QA engineer, or a combination of these terms. There doesn't seem to be any particular standard as far as what an entry-level game tester position is named, so you may have to do a little digging to find a job that you're qualified for.
Understand the types of employment. There are a number of ways you can get work as a video game tester. You can be a contractor, non-contractor, gig worker, or temporary worker. These employment types have their own pros and cons, but all of them are valid ways to get work as a QA tester. Contractors sign a contract to work on one project or for a set period of time. They may be independent, or they may be hired through an employment agency. Contractors are usually in charge of figuring out their own self-employment taxes. Non-contractors are full employees of the studio that hired them, so there is no time frame on their employment. Taxes and benefits are taken care of by the employer. Gig workers are similar to contractors, but work on shorter-term jobs. Gig workers are usually responsible for figuring out their own self-employment taxes. Temporary workers aren't contractors, but are only hired to work for a certain period of time. They may or may not be hired through an agency. If a temp worker is hired by an agency or studio, they will likely take care of your taxes and benefits.
Decide if you want to work for an agency or not. Employment agencies are an easy way to get work as a video game tester, but you usually aren't hired as a full employee of the studio. However, each job's circumstances are unique, so if you opt to go through an agency, make sure to ask your agent if there's a chance to be hired full-time after your contract or project is completed.
Decide if you want to work in-person or remotely. Some QA tester jobs have the possibility of being remote positions, and some studios are fully remote. If you know that you want to work remotely, be sure to include that keyword in your job search. If you don't want to work remotely but don't live near a game studio, you will need to be open to relocation.
Where to Find Job Postings
Hitmarker Hitmarker is a job board with tons of job postings from major studios, including Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, Epic Games, Rockstar, Nintendo, and more. Because Hitmarker is so big, jobs are posted often, so if you don't find anything to apply for you can usually find new postings the next day.
GrackleHQ GrackleHQ is a site that aggregates video game job postings from across the internet into one handy location. When you click on a job posting, you'll be taken directly to the employers site to apply.
GameJobs GameJobs is similar to GrackleHQ in that it aggregates job postings from video game companies across the web into one site. Clicking on a job posting opens a GameJobs page with the job description, but clicking the "Apply" button brings you to the employer's site.
Work With Indies Work With Indies is a job board for indie game studios. Because this site is only for indies, however, there are sometimes lulls with little to no jobs being posted. However, if you want to work for an indie studio, this is the place to look.
LinkedIn While most people probably associate LinkedIn with more "traditional" jobs, some studios do post their job postings there. Since LinkedIn caters to more than just game developers, however, you will have to do a little more work to find job postings for game tester jobs here.
Indeed Indeed, much like LinkedIn, sometimes has video game job postings (though LinkedIn seems to have more of them at any given time). However, it's worth a shot to check Indeed for any game tester jobs if you're seriously searching for a QA career.
Video game studio websites If you are interested in working for a specific studio, go directly to their website and check their careers page. The benefit to this approach is that these job listings are usually more up-to-date than listings posted on job boards.
Social media Sometimes recruiters at a studio will use social media—usually X/Twitter—to find employees or to advertise a job opening. While this usually happens for programming or art jobs, you can sometimes find QA tester jobs this way.
Google You can also use Google (or your favorite search engine) to find job listings. Just search for video game tester jobs, and you should see a number of positions recommended at the top of the page. However, be aware that sometimes sites post fake job listings, so avoid sites that look sketchy. If you find a job listing posted somewhere other than a studio's website, check the studio's site to ensure it's actually a real (and available) listing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours do game testers work? Game testers usually work normal office hours, though this may vary depending on your employer, contract (if you have one), and/or where your project is in the development cycle. Overtime is common, especially if your project is in crunch.
Do game testers play games all day long? Though game testers spend a good portion of their day in a video game, they aren't "playing" it like they might play a game in their free time. Sometimes testing involves playing a game naturally, but testing can also involve doing various tests in a methodical way, checking every model in the game for visual bugs, doing repetitive tasks to check for gameplay bugs, and more. Testers also spend a portion of their day writing bug reports, sending emails, and attending meetings as necessary.
Is it hard to be a game tester? While being a game tester isn't necessarily hard, it does require a specific set of skills, and you will be working in a fast-paced and sometimes stressful environment. Getting the job is usually harder than doing the job, since the field can be competitive.
Do I have to be good at games to be a game tester? No! While it's always a plus to be great at a video game, especially the game you're working on, it's okay to not be very good at it either. The job itself doesn't revolve around how skilled you are at playing the game, but how skilled you are at finding things that are wrong with the game. And, over time, you'll get better at the game when you work on it every day.
Do I have to know anything about the game I'm working on to test it? Nope! If you're working on a game that's in a series or franchise, you can still effectively test it even if you know nothing about it. You can even provide valuable insight that other testers who know the game better might gloss over.
Do video game testers have to sign an NDA? Yes, most of the time you'll have to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Since you will be working on video game content that isn't released yet, maintaining confidentiality about your work is important.
What other jobs can a game tester get? If you want to stay in the QA field, you can get promoted to a senior QA tester, a QA project lead, or some other type of QA management. You could also shift into production or project management. If you have skills outside of QA, such as art or programming, you could also become a game artist, developer, writer, or any other role in the game development process.
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