What is Digg?25 Comments
- BLASTOCYST, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"I can't BELIEVE we got jobs doing this!"
"Yeah, my mom said I would never get anywhere with these games!" - buckel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Except when you have to test the games that suck.
- eemerh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, the article said that the money was a "plus" yet it quoted a salary between $15,000-$23,000.
- Coldfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0well i do beta tests for PS2 and PSP games. and it's pretty hard work. and even tough you get the game when it's out. you hardly play on it since your tiered of playing on it. i can't compain about the wage tough
- PercyKittenz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'd rather work retail than be a game tester. Here's the typical day for a game tester:
"We think that there's a pixel in this wall where if you hit it at a certain angle, you'll go through it. Test it out by walking into this wall for the next week and let us know if you find anything."
Typically the job security is awful, too, since few companies need to keep a full staff of testers after they ship a product and go back into the beginning of a new development cycle. - _jinx_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Due mostly to the amount of hours you work. Some companies the hours are insane and the shifts are wierd too. Like 7:00pm to 4:00am?!?
- got-haggis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0good money? thats bs. i was offered a job testing games in boston for $14/hour. turned it down because there was no way i could survive in boston on that wage.
- ultraelite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0isn't that beneath poverty line?? I live in Washington minimum is $7.35 biotches living costs are very low (in wenatchee not Seattle) I work as an IT intern making 9 because I am A+ certified.... Being a game tester is fun as a job shadow not a career
- infebious, on 05/18/2009, -0/+0I looked around a lot online to find out how to become a video game tester. Finally I got hired and am making money just to play games! I never thought it would happen, but luckily I found www.PaidToTest.com
- Iced_Eagle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I do QA for Activision, and it's a blast. Sure it's usually not as fun as people would think it is, but you just have to make it fun! Set up tournaments and such, maybe have a contest for whoever can report and confirm the most bugs in a game gets free drinks for a night on the town.
Oh, and always laying the smack talk down is fun ;)
You obviously won't get the average Joe Gamer being a tester, because you need to devote your life to games to survive in QA or you will probably go insane...
For me, I simply applied and there I was working for ATVI...
The article was okay, not the best... - splitfyre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I was a game tester one summer for EA. It was fun for awhile... :P
- sw96, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm sure its awfully fun testing early beta versions of games that don't work right and are still going to suck once all the bugs have been worked out. Gaming is a nice hobby, but are you really going to want to come home from "testing" games all day to play more games?
- _jinx_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is a good article, however how the hell do you get a job in the industry by testing games? Fact is you don't! You need a skill related to the industry. Testers are a dime a dozen, you need programming, business or animation skills to proceed in the industry. If you have the skill set, THEN you will have a chance to get into the industry. So the article is a little misleading, but still informative!
- zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you want to work on games. go to school get yourself a masters in computer science. Then get a job programing games. There no upward path from game testing to anything.
Better yet just dont do it. EA pay's game testers as little as $9.00 an hour and will work you 7 days a week plus overtime. for those who thathave no clue. working overtime is a bad thing.
If you have an AS degree and working testing on any other product but games. you can make Min of $25.00 an hour.
There are a few super starts in the game space. Like the People at Valve the people at Id software. But working at game companys suck, long hours, low pay, and the never ending fear that this game will be the last game your company will release.
If you like games. Just play them. I personly would not get involed with trying to work on them.
Game companys currntly in big trouble.
Majesco. Psychonauts
oddworld Oddworld stranger wrath - kloud213, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0man this would be an awesome job to get you through college and help you make contacts for when you get your degree. but besides that i wouldnt ever do it.
- IraqManiac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0now, I wouldn't have troble testing halo 3
- zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0He's not a game tester. he's a preformace engineer for Intel. big diffrence, diffrent job.
Preformace engineers make $70k to $120k plus.
I'm very sure EA's not paying that for anyone.
You can't spell Exploitation without "EA". - s.lucero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My neighbor works as a game tester for Intel, and he says that he loves the job. I guess its because hes not looking for bugs like PercyKittenz said, hes looking for performance. He even gets paid enough to live outside of Sac CA, when houses range from about $400,000+
- justinprine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0In the Dallas/Ft Worth area they are only paying around $9/hr for this sort of job. The last time I interviewed for one the interviewer laughed quite a bit saying that I probably didn't want the job and was very overqualified(Note: this is stile while working on my BS in comp sci and working as lead software tester at a local software company) I would only recommend it for highschool kids looking for a summer job.
- Dipster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The chasm between reality and fantasy of game testing is extremely wide.
Is it fun playing the same bug ridden game over and over again? To some who see breaking games as a challenge, yes. To others it's sheer misery.
The hours are uncertain from one game to the next. And the pay and benefits aren't enough for a person to sustain themselves without roommates or family to reduce your costs.
But it is pretty sweet to see your name in the game credits, or to walk into any EB or Gamestop, point to a box, and say, "I worked on that!" :)
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,101264/ - rmccs0x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0for the ones who commented about being game testers, pls email me.. im interested in learning more about the pros and cons..
rsmccain@yahoo.com
thx,
rn - bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The thing I would most dread is designing or programming a game I hate. But worst would be to test a game that I hate.
- takdiego, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I did the game testing...yeah it's great and all..you get paid to sit around and play games until you find a bug, then you have to repeat the bug a millions times..
but heres the thing..game companies realize they are sitting on a million kids dream jobs..so they go through temp agencies that pay you very little for the work..true you can pull out hella hours..like I Was pulling in 60+ hours a week..but when the game is done testing..you could be out of work for another 3-6 months before they call you back..and the people on the top of the list are the ones with absolutely no life whatsoever...so they last long..
trust me..it sounds great..but go get your degree and go into design or another aspect of the industry..
TRUST ME...it's awesome for temp work..and see if you're cut out to be an uber-nerd in the industry... but testing is slave labor...fun for a min..but in the end you're being used. - bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0just think GTA SA. how pissed is rockstar that QA screwed this up? or how it went thru peer review. just this how hard QA just became...
- Stopher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Another obvious plus of the job is the money. In Europe, an internal tester is usually paid somewhere between US$15,000 to US$23,000, assuming he's employed full-time."
That's a little over $11 an hour. Good money for working at McDonald's.
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