Game testing

Modern video and computer games take from one to three years to develop (depending on scale). Testing begins late in the development process, sometimes from halfway to 75% into development (it starts so late because, until then, there is little to nothing to playtest). Testers get new builds from the developers on a schedule (daily/weekly) and each version must be uniquely identified in order to map errors to versions. They also test the durability of the game disc through a series of tests that can include how much damage the disc can take before becoming unresponsive, and how glitches can affect how the game runs.

Once the testers get a version, they begin playing the game. Testers must carefully note any errors they uncover. These may range from bugs to art glitches to logic errors and level bugs. Some bugs are easy to document ("Level 5 has a floor tile missing in the opening room"), but many are hard to describe and may take several paragraphs to describe so a developer can replicate or find the bug. On a large-scale game with numerous testers, a tester must first determine whether the bug has already been reported before they can log the bugs themselves. Once a bug has been reported as fixed, the tester has to go back and verify the fix works.

This type of "playing" is tedious and grueling. Usually an unfinished game is not "fun" to play, especially over and over. A tester may play the same game — or even the same level in a game — over and over for eight hours or more at a time. If testing feature fixes, the tester may have to repeat a large number of sequences just to get to one spot in the game. Understandably, burn-out is common in this field and many use the position just as a means to get a different job in game development. For this reason, game testing is widely considered a "stepping stone" position. This type of job may be taken by college students as a way to audit the industry and determine if it is the type of environment in which they wish to work professionally.

In software development quality assurance, it is common practice to go back through a feature set and ensure that features that once worked still work near the end of development. This kind of aggressive quality assurance—called regression testing—is most difficult for games with a large feature set. If a new bug is discovered in a feature that used to work, once it is fixed, regression testing has to take place "again".

Game testing becomes grueling as deadlines loom. Most games go into what is called "crunch time" near deadlines; developers (programmers, artists, game designers and producers) work twelve to fourteen hours a day and the testers must be right there with them, testing late-added features and content. Often during this period staff from other departments may contribute to the testing effort to assist in handling the load.

All console manufacturers requires that the title submitted goes through a series of rigid standards established. Failure to respect the required standard prevents the game to be published on the market. Many video game companies separate technical requirement testing from functionality testing altogether.