When working as a game tester people frequently say how lucky you are because you get paid to sit around and play games. This is not strictly the truth. Professional testers don’t just play the game they analyze specific parts of the game and they work to reveal glitches and break missions. Generally the Lead Tester will draw up test plans for each game which draw on the design document to determine how the game should play. These could involve ensuring the player can play all the way through the mission structure without any crashes or progression blocks. It could also be checking the visual, audio and damage effects of every weapon in the game. It could even be something like checking all of the game text is localized into Spanish and none of it runs over the edge of the screen.
Each aspect has to be tested in each new build to ensure that it works as intended. Builds are simply copies of the game and as it nears completion the development team will release new versions at least once a week. Each version is tested and a report is produced until there is a build which is a good candidate for release. With console games you also have to submit them to Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony and they perform their own tests to ensure you meet their technical requirements. If they don’t pass your game then it has to be fixed up and retested so this is a vital part of games testing.
When testers find bugs they enter descriptions into a database and then assign the bug to a relevant development team member. The descriptions should be detailed instructions on how to reproduce the bug and they often have screenshots or video clips attached to illustrate the problem. If the bug is marked fixed it will be assigned back to the tester and they must confirm it is fixed in the relevant build before it can be closed.
A love of games is a useful thing for any person working in games development but if you want to be a game tester there are more important things. Attention to detail is absolutely vital; you must be able to notice that your character’s foot has sunk into the floor in the corner of a specific room or that the monster you are fighting is skipping frames in his animation. You also need to be able to communicate what you have found clearly and concisely. A good bug report includes step by step instructions which allow anyone, no matter how sleep deprived, to recreate the bug.
Determination is another good trait because some bugs are very tough to recreate. You will also find that you may need to spend hours doing repetitive actions so tough wrists and fingers and patience are needed. Most game testers play games for so long that they start to tune into what feels right and because they understand how things are constructed they can often guess the best way to break games. Ultimately that is the simple goal of all game testers – break the game.