A document related to a Quality Assurance Tester and their roles in Gaming Industry.

1. Game testing,a subsetof game development,isasoftware testingprocessforQA control of video
games.The primaryfunctionof game testingisthe discoveryanddocumentationof softwaredefects
(akabugs).Interactive entertainmentsoftware testingisahighlytechnical fieldrequiringcomputing
expertise,analyticcompetence,critical evaluationskills,andendurance.
Overview Top Page
Qualityassurance isa critical componentingame development,thoughthe videogame industrydoes
not have a standardmethodology.Insteaddevelopersandpublishershave theirownmethods.Small
developersdonothave QA staff;howeverlarge companiesmayemployQA teamsfull-time.High-profile
commercial gamesare professionallyandefficientlytestedbypublisherQA department.
Testingstartsas soon as firstcode iswrittenandincreasesasthe game progressestowardscompletion.
The main QA team will monitorthe game fromitsfirstsubmissiontothe QA until as late as post-
production.Earlyinthe game developmentprocessthe testingteamissmall andfocusesondaily
feedbackfornewcode.As the game approachesalphastage,more teammembersare employedand
testplanis written.Sometimesfeaturesthatare not bugsare reportedasbugs andsometimes
programmingteamfailstofix issuesfirsttime around.A goodbug-reportingsystemmayhelpthe
programmersworkefficiently.Asthe projectsenterbetastage,the testingteamwill have clear
assignmentsforeachday.Testerfeedbackmaydetermine final decisionsof exclusionorinclusionof
final features.Introducingpreviouslyuninvolvedtesterswithfreshperspectivemayhelpidentifynew
bugs.At thispointthe leadtestercommunicateswiththe produceranddepartmentheadsdaily.If the
developerhasexternal publisher,thencoordinationwithpublisher'sQA teamstarts.For console games,
a buildforconsole companyQA teamis sent.Betatestingmayinvolve volunteers,forexample,if the
game is multiplayer. Testersreceivescheduleduniquelyidentifiablegame buildsfromthe developers.
The game isplay-testedandtestersnote anyuncoverederrors.These mayrange frombugsto art
glitchestologicerrorsand level bugs.Testingrequirescreative game playtodiscoveroftensubtlebugs.
Some bugsare easyto document,butmanyrequire detaileddescriptionsoadevelopercanreplicate or
findthe bug.Testersimplementconcurrencycontrol toavoidloggingbugsmultipletimes.Manyvideo
game companiesseparate technical requirementtestingfromfunctionalitytestingaltogethersince a
differenttestingskill setisrequired.If avideogame developmententerscrunchtime before adeadline,
the game-testteamisrequiredtotestlate-addedfeaturesandcontentwithoutdelay.Duringthisperiod
staff fromotherdepartmentsmaycontribute tothe testing—especiallyinmultiplayergames.
Most companiesrankbugsaccording to an estimate of theirseverity:
A type Bugs __These are critical bugsthat preventthe game frombeingshipped,forexample,theymay
crash the game.
B typesBugs__These are essential problemsthatrequire attention;howeverthe game maystill be
playable.Multiple Bbugsare equallyseveretoanA bug.
C types Bugs__These are small and obscure problems,ofteninformof recommendationratherthan
bugs.

2. Roles Top Page
The organizationof staff differsbetweenorganizations;atypical companymayemploythe following
rolesassociatedwithtestingdisciplines:
 Game producers are responsibleforsettingtestingdeadlinesincoordinationwithmarketing
and qualityassurance. Theyalsomanage manyitemsoutsideof game testing,relatingtothe
overall productionof atitle.Theirapproval istypicallyrequiredforfinal submissionor"gold"
status.
 Lead tester,testleaderQA leadisthe personresponsible forthe game workingcorrectlyand
managingbuglists. A leadtestermanagesthe QA staff. Leadtesterworkscloselywith
designersandprogrammers,especiallytowardsthe endof the project.Leadtesteris
responsible fortrackingbugreportsandmanagingthat theyare fixed. Theyare alsoresponsible
that QA teamsproduce formal andcomplete reports.Thisincludesdiscardingduplicate and
erroneousbugreports,aswell asrequestingclarifications.Asthe game nearsalphaandbeta
stages,leadtesterbringsmore testersintothe team, coordinateswithexternal testingteams
and workswithmanagementandproducers.Some companiesmaypreventthe game goinggold
until leadtesterapprovesit.Leadtestersare alsotypicallyresponsible forcompiling
representative samplesof game footage forsubmissiontoregulatorybodiessuchasthe ESRB
and PEGI. A leadtesterisoftenan aspiringdesignerorproducer.
 Testers are responsibleforcheckingthatthe game works,iseasyto use,has actionsthatmake
sense,andcontainsfungame play.Testersneedtowrite accurate and specificbugreports,and
if possible providingdescriptionsof how the bugcan be reproduced.Testersmaybe assignedto
a single game duringitsentire production,orbroughtontootherprojectsas demandedbythe
department'sschedule andspecificneeds.
 SDET (Software DevelopmentEngineerinTest) orTechnical Testers are responsibleforbuilding
automatedtestcasesand frameworksaswell asmanagingcomplex testproblemssuchas
overall game performance andsecurity.Theseindividualsusuallyhave strongsoftware
developmentskillsbutwithafocuson writingsoftware whichexposesdefectsinother
applications.Specificrolesanddutieswill varybetweenstudios.Manygamesare developed
withoutanyTechnical Testers.

3. Employment Top Page
Game QA is lesstechnical thangeneral software QA.Manygame testersrequire little experience and
sometimesonlyahighschool diplomaandnotechnical expertise will suffice.Game testingisnormallya
full-time jobforexperiencedtesters,howevermanyemployeesare hiredas temporarystaff,suchas
betatesters.Insome cases,testersemployedbyapublishermaybe senttoworkat the developer'ssite.
The most aggressive recruitingseasonislate summer/earlyautumn asthisisthe startof the crunch
periodforgamesto be finishedandshippedintime forthe holidayseason.
Some gamesstudiosare startingto take a more technical approachtogame QA that is more inline with
traditional software testing.Technical Testpositionsare still fairlyrare throughoutthe industry but
these jobsare oftenfull time positionswithlongtermcareerpathsand require a4 yearcomputer
science degree andsignificantexperience withtestautomation.Some testersuse the jobasa stepping
stone inthe game industry.QA résumés,whichdisplaynon-technical skill sets,tendtowards
management,thentomarketingorproduction.Applicantsforprogramming,art,ordesignpositions
needtodemonstrate technical skillsinthese areas.
Process Top Page
A typical bugreportprogressionof testingprocessisseenbelow:
 Identification.Incorrectprogrambehaviorisanalyzedandidentifiedasa bug.
 Reporting.The bugisreportedtothe developersusingadefecttrackingsystem.The
circumstancesof the bug andstepsto reproduce are includedinthe report.Developersmay
requestadditionaldocumentationsuchasa real-timevideoof the bug's manifestation.
 Analysis.The developerresponsibleforthe bug,suchas an artist,programmeror game designer
checksthe malfunction.Thisisoutside the scope of game testerduties,althoughinconsistencies
inthe reportmay require more informationorevidence fromthe tester.
 Verification.Afterthe developerfixesthe issue,the testerverifiesthatthe bugno longeroccurs.
Notall bugsare addressedbythe developer,forexample,some bugsmaybe claimedas
features(expressedas"NAB"or"not a bug"),and mayalsobe "waived"(givenpermissiontobe
ignored) byproducers,game designers,orevenleadtesters,accordingtocompanypolicy.

4. Methodology Top Page
There isno standardmethodforgame testing,andmostmethodologiesare developedbyindividual
videogame developersandpublishers.Methodologiesare continuouslyrefinedandmaydifferfor
differenttypesof games(forexample,the methodologyfor testinganMMORPG will be differentfrom
testinga casual game).Many methods,suchasunittesting,are borroweddirectlyfromgeneralsoftware
testingtechniques.Outlinedbeloware the mostimportantmethodologies,specifictovideogames.
 Functionalitytestingismost commonlyassociatedwiththe phrase "game testing",asitentails
playingthe game insome form.Functionalitytestingdoesnotrequire extensivetechnical
knowledge.Functionalitytesterslookforgeneral problemswithinthe game itselforitsuser
interface,suchasstabilityissues,game mechanicissues,andgame assetintegrity.
 Compliance testingisthe reasonfor the existence of game testinglabs.First-partylicensorsfor
console platformshave stricttechnical requirementstitleslicensedfortheirplatforms.For
example,Sonypublishesa Technical RequirementsChecklist (TRC),Microsoftpublishes
Technical CertificationRequirements (TCR),andNintendopublishesasetof "guidelines"(Lot
check).Some of these requirementsare highlytechnicalandfall outside the scope of game
testing.Otherparts,mostnotablythe formattingof standarderrormessages,handlingof
memorycard data, andhandlingof legallytrademarkedandcopyrightedmaterial,are the
responsibilityof the game testers.Evenasingle violationinsubmissionforlicense approvalmay
have the game rejected,possiblyincurringadditional costsinfurthertestingandresubmission.
In addition,the delaymaycause the title tomissanimportantlaunchwindow,potentially
costingthe publisherevenlargersumsof money.
The requirementsare proprietarydocumentsreleasedtodevelopersandpublishersunder
confidentialityagreements.Theyare notavailable forthe general publictoreview,although
familiaritywiththese standardsisconsideredavaluable skill tohave asa tester.
Compliance mayalsorefertoregulatorybodiessuchasthe ESRB and PEGI,if the game targetsa
particularcontentrating.Testersmustreportobjectionable contentthatmaybe inappropriate
for the desiredrating.Similartolicensing,gamesthatdonot receive the desiredratingmustbe
re-edited,retested,andresubmittedatadditional cost.
 CompatibilitytestingisnormallyrequiredforPCtitles,nearingthe endof developmentasmuch
of the compatibilitydependsonthe final buildof the game.Oftentworoundsof compatibility
testsare done - earlyinbeta to allow time forissue resolutionandlate inbetaor duringrelease
candidate.Compatibilitytestingteamtestmajorfunctionalityof the game onvarious
configurationsof hardware.Usuallyalistof commerciallyimportanthardware issuppliedbythe
publisher.Compatibilitytestingensuresthatthe game runson differentconfigurationsof
hardware and software.The hardware encompassesbrandsof differentmanufacturersand
assortedinputperipheralssuchasgamepadsandjoysticks.
The testersalsoevaluate performanceandresultsare usedforgame'sadvertisedminimum
systemrequirements.Compatibilityorperformance issuesmaybe eitherfixedbythe developer
or, incase of legacyhardware and software,supportmaybe dropped.

5.  Localization testingact as in-game texteditors.Althoughgeneral textissuesare a part of
functionalitytesting,QA departmentsmayemploydedicatedlocalizationtesters.Inparticular,
earlyJapanese game translationswere rife withEnglish,andinrecent year’slocalizationtesters
are employedtomake technical correctionsandreviewtranslationworkof game scripts-
cataloguedcollectionsof all the in-game text.Tester’snative tothe regionwhere agame is
marketedmaybe employedtoensure the accuracyand qualityof agame's localization.
 Soak testing,in the contextof videogames,involvesleavingthe game runningforprolonged
period’s time invariousmodesof operation,suchasidling,paused,orat the title screen.This
testingrequiresnouserinteractionbeyondinitial setup,andisusuallymanagedbyleadtesters.
Automatedtoolsmaybe usedforsimulatingrepetitive actions,suchmouse clicks.Soakingcan
detectmemoryleaksorroundingerrorsthatmanifestonlyovertime.Soaktestsare one of the
compliance requirements.
 Beta testingis done duringbetastage of development.Oftenthisreferstothe firstpublicly
available versionof agame.Publicbetasare effectivebecause thousandsof fansmayfindbugs
that the developer'stestersdidnot.
 Regressiontestingisperformedonce abug has beenfixedbythe programmers.QA checksto
see whetherthe bugisstill there (regression) andthenrunssimilarteststosee whetherthe fix
broke somethingelse.Thatsecondstage isoftencalled"halotesting"itinvolvestestingall
arounda bug,looking forotherbugs.
 Load testingteststhe limitsof a system, suchasthe numberof playersonan MMO server,the
numberof spritesactive onthe screen,or the numberof threadsrunningina particular
program.Load testingrequireseitheralarge groupof testersorsoftware thatemulatesheavy
activity.Loadtestingalsomeasuresthe capabilityof anapplicationtofunctioncorrectlyunder
load.
 Multiplayertestingmayinvolve separate multiplayerQA teamif the game has significant
multiplayerportions.Thistestingismore commonwithPCgames.The testersensure thatall
connectivitymethods(modem, LAN,Internet)are working.Thisallowssingleplayerand
multiplayertestingtooccurinparallel.

6. Console hardware Top Page
For consoles,the majorityof testingisnotperformedonanormal systemor consumerunit.Special test
equipmentisprovidedtodevelopersandpublishers.The mostsignificanttoolsare the testordebug
kits,andthe dev. kits.The maindifference betweenfromconsumerunitsisthe abilitytoloadgames
froma burneddiscor froma harddrive,as well asbeingable tosetthe console foranypublishing
region.Thisallowsgame developerstoproduce copiesfortesting.Thisfunctionalityisnotpresentin
consumerunitstocombat software piracyandgrey-marketimports.
 Testkitshave the same hardware specificationsandoverallappearance asaconsumerunit,
thoughoftenwithadditional portsandconnectorsforothertestingequipment.Testkitscontain
additional options,suchasrunningautomatedcompliance checks,especiallywithregardtosave
data. The systemsoftware alsoallowsthe usertocapture memorydumpsforaidin debugging.
 Devkitsare not normallyusedbygame testers,butare usedbyprogrammersfor lower-level
testing.Inadditiontothe featuresof atest kit,devkitsusuallyhave higherhardware
specifications,mostnotablyincreasedsystemmemory.Thisallowsdeveloperstoestimateearly
game performance withoutworryingaboutoptimizations.Devkitsare usuallylargerandlook
differentfromatest kitor consumerunit.
It’sa basicstructure like howGamingQA worksin a gamingcompanyand whatare theirresponsibilities.