Quality Assurance Games Tester

A QA games tester is a person who has the responsibility of testing a game to ensure the quality is perfect and to make sure that the game is free of any glitches, bugs and is finely tuned before it is put into the shops to be sold to the public. The glitches that the QA testers look for can range from simple spelling mistakes to complete crashes.

The role of the QA tester is a highly disciplined one as they need the ability to complete games but before a deadline. As they have a deadline to work to a QA tester must prioritise the time they have to play the game so they can find the biggest flaws. To help the QA testers find flaws with the game they use a quality management software. Games testers also have the responsibility of having to anticipate the ways the game will be played by the consumer, so they must test appropriately.The average salary for a QA games tester is £20,500,IT Jobs Watch.(2004) . The entry level role of a QA games tester is usually low qualified games artists or programmers, but they can progress to level design or marketing. QA test can be employed by game studios and game developers, such as Microsoft and Electronic Arts (EA).

Games testers often work in teams so it's easier to test multiplayer games, they must accept when working with other team members that they will have limited influence. They must also communicate with each other constantly whilst playing the game so they do not miss any bugs or glitches.

To find the average salary of a games tester I used:

IT Jobs Watch.(2004).Games Tester.Available:http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/games%20tester.do.Last accessed 17 September 2009.