Confessions of a Game Tester

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Getting paid to play isn't all fun and games. Find out what testing games for a living is really like

Moving on

Where are you now? Are you on the path you expected/wanted when you started testing? Where will you go from here?

Tester A: I'm a producer and yes I'm doing what I expected to be doing at this point.

Tester B: I got out of the testing business after just 6 months. I found work in a non-gaming company that paid about four times what I was making. Being a tester is a lot like starting up a band; I remember sometimes 3 or 4 guys would all live in the same 2 bedroom apartment to save on rent, eating rice and beans, hoping that they could get promoted to supervisor or producer if they put enough time in.

Tester C: I've been given a design position and have no plans on returning to school.

Tester D: I am an Associate Producer, which is just like what it sounds. I basically poke people in the behind to get them moving. It is a bit like herding cats. I often listen to people's pissing and moaning about this and that. I get to have an opinion and I am often responsible to making sure things get done.

People have a tendency to get lost in the details, which is good, but you don't want them trying to lead people at the same time. I am happy with how far I have come in the industry and I look forward to trying to break new ground in interactive art.

Want more information on what it's like to work in the games industry? Check out ourConfessions of a Game Store Clerkfeature.

Matthew Keast
Matthew Keast
My new approach to play all games on Hard mode straight off the bat has proven satisfying. Sure there is some frustration, but I've decided it's the lesser of two evils when weighed against the boredom of easiness that Normal difficulty has become in the era of casual gaming.