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QA tester

This is one of the most discreet but essential elements in the production chain of a video game. The QA tester (for quality assurance) plays a major role since they will test a game from end to end before it is marketed. They will identify anomalies and inconsistencies, then be asked to suggest corrections. Their objective: to ensure the quality of a video game.

QA Testing
Last update
Study level: high school diploma + 2 years of higher education / + 3
Recommended high school specialisation: Scientific
Employability: Good
Starting salary: € 2,792
Salary after experience: € 3,200
Mobility: Good
ROME code : M1805
FAP code : M2790
" It should be noted first of all that the profession of QA tester within the video game sector differs somewhat from the same job title within other more traditional sectors and that each studio can be attached to a definition and a specific scope concerning the profession. However, a common definition would be that a QA tester must ensure the follow-up and the quality of the game produced by making use of test protocols and their experience in order to report any error or anomaly capable of harming the project or not responding to the requirements imposed by the project's documentation. "
big bad wolf studio Benjamin Hourlier
Benjamin Hourlier
QA tester for Big Bad Wolf Studio
"The QA tester job is above all a job based on a passion for gaming. You have to be very patient to do and redo the same things an infinite number of times, to track any problems that might arise in a game. Attention to every detail is essential. A QA tester must therefore test one (or more) game(s) on a daily basis to log all the concerns that the game has in a database of bugs in order for the production team to correct them. They will then have to reassess all of these fixed bugs to ensure that they are indeed fixed. "
Kylotonn - KT Racing Sebastien Chipot
Sébastien Chipot
QA Manager at Kylotonn Games

QA tester responsibilities

It is a profession that can be done both as an employee within a studio and as a freelancer (which is also often the case), QA testing requires knowing how to minutely analyse video games, dissect them and be able to guarantee their final quality. During a testing period, they have multiple responsibilities. They will have to:

  • Play video games
  • Design functional, technical, game design tests, etc. from specifications
  • Take into account the target audience for the product
  • Sometimes organise tests with a community
  • Ensure the stability of the different versions of the game depending on the platforms
  • Spot the bugs
  • Experience the mechanics of the game
  • Suggest corrections and improvements
  • Check the bug fixes and validate them
  • Write reports following the tests carried out
Photo d'une checklist d'un QA tester
In their role, a QA tester must follow precise specifications provided by the editor and check dozens of points
"The role of a QA tester is of course, to look for the various bugs and anomalies throughout the development of the game, but above all to serve as a point of contact between several video game careers. They will be the first to test the creative vision of a game designer mixed with the technical execution of a developer and will therefore have to give feedback to both or raise bugs in the most precise way possible. A QA tester must be aware of the integrations concerning their testing perimeter and test new features as a priority. They must also try to innovate in the way they approach their tests and not only follow the test plan. They must have mastered a ticket reporting tool (JIRA, Mantis ...) and know how to be precise, concise, and diplomatic (not all devs like to receive bugs to deal with). "
Betclic Group Anthony Marmeth
Anthony Marmeth
Quality assurance manager at the Betclic Group after working 7 years for the Quantic Dream studio

The qualities of a QA tester

While many video game enthusiasts think they can become a QA tester, this job requires a certain number of skills and qualities to test video games. Going from a simple player in front of their screen to a game tester peeling back every layer it before marketing and therefore being the guarantor of its success, means to be able to demonstrate:

  • Rigour
  • Organisation
  • Method
  • Perseverance
  • Precision
  • Patience
  • Diplomacy
  • An analytical mind
  • Autonom

The skills of the QA tester

To complete the typical profile of a QA tester, in addition to their interpersonal skills, you must also have a good level of knowledge and skills in order to test video games (mobile, PC, consoles, etc.).

In other words, though they are not required to be a technician or a creative artist, they must still have a minimum level of knowledge in:

  • Game design
  • The production line of a game
  • The development of a game
  • Its operating rules
  • Responding to imposed constraints
  • Gaming culture

And skills in test automation tools, bug resolution, and also communication skills.

Illustration d'une erreur 404
A QA tester will have to check, analyse, analyse everything in order to ensure that a game or an application does not contain errors during its marketing
"A QA tester must know two things in their job: - FQA (Functionality tests) which consist of tracking down bugs related to the game itself (Collisions, gameplay, operation, difficulty, sound ...). You don't have to be a "good" player to be a good tester! - The CQA (Compliance test) which consists of testing all the rules imposed by the consoles (Microsoft, SONY, Nintendo ...). Each platform has its own rules (TRC, XR, Lotcheck, dependent on the console) and its rules, which are prohibitive for the game's release if they are not respected. Therefore, a QA tester has to master the software of each console, as well as master all the compliance rules of each console. Therefore, they must both master the game in itself (know it by heart) and the platforms' rules to allow the game to be released on time. "
Kylotonn - KT Racing Sebastien Chipot
Sébastien Chipot
QA Manager at Kylotonn Games
"A QA tester must both take into account and master the entire production cycle and its schedule, the internal design documentation of the project, the different practices and types of players in order to anticipate a maximum of behaviours that could cause problems and bugs. They must have an analytical eye allowing them to detect all or part of the origin of a problem, as well as excellent communication capacities and broad knowledge of the technical aspects of the environment in order to be able to make clear, precise reports of errors, and which can be understood by the relevant people on the team."
big bad wolf studio Benjamin Hourlier
Benjamin Hourlier
QA tester for Big Bad Wolf Studio

Advantages and disadvantages

It is a career that has become more and more professionalised with adapted training courses, and being a QA tester also has some drawbacks and advantages. Here they are:

Benefits

  • A profession based on passion
  • Possibility of working under different statuses
  • Evolution towards other activities
  • Autonomy

Disadvantages

  • The starting salary may be low
  • You need to know how to meet imposed requirements
  • Having to test, test and test a game tirelessly

« A QA tester has the advantage of being able to communicate with many departments, of being able to be a source of proposals on questions of player experience, of ensuring the quality of the versions delivered, and of being ideally involved very early in the phases of the design of a project. On the other hand, it is a profession which can turn out to be at times very repetitive in its tasks or the execution of a given series of tests, which is strongly dependent on the work and the pace of the other departments, and whose scope of action may vary greatly from one company to another, which can represent both an advantage and a disadvantage, » emphasises Benjamin Hourlier.

Illustration du jeu vidéo CyberPunk2077
Proof that neglecting testing can cost a studio dearly, the CyberPunk 2077 video game, released in 2020, was riddled with bugs. It was temporarily withdrawn from the market 4 months after its release
"Advantages: obviously playing the game before everyone else, but also understanding how a game is "made", and having a real feeling of participating in the quality of the game. Disadvantages: it's a very difficult job (having to do the same things repeatedly for hours), that isn't for everyone. We don't always necessarily test the games we like. (playing the same game for several years, can end up disgusting a game tester). The job is not necessarily well paid (in the idea that "everyone can test a game" (which is totally false ....)). Suppose a very critical bug remains in a released game. In that case, it will automatically be the fault of the tester (whereas, on the one hand, the bug exists because a programmer, a graphic designer did not do their job "perfectly" and 'on the other hand, a lot of bugs are not corrected due to lack of time (the game must be released on such and such a date and only the most annoying bugs will be corrected). "
Kylotonn - KT Racing Sebastien Chipot
Sébastien Chipot
QA Manager at Kylotonn Games
"The big advantage of the profession is that it allows you to interact with all the video game careers. Game designers, devs, producers, graphic designers, sound designers, etc. As a QA tester tests the sum of all the careers, they will have to speak with each of the departments based on the bugs they have found. I think the QA testers have the best overall outlook of the game in development, unlike other careers classed in their areas (programming, graphics ...). The downside 10 years ago would have been the outside view of the profession. We often paid little attention to the tester's remarks about the game they were testing all day. They were seen simply as a bug-snatching machine with no valid opinion. This has changed a lot, and this is not really the case anymore; a QA tester is seen as a very important person in the development of a game because they are ultimately the 1st to have the game in their hands (certainly still in the development process). Their opinion is considered and is important. I have seen this especially at Quantic Dream, but also to a lesser extent at Ubisoft. The other drawback is that this work mainly concerns the end of the production chain. QA testing comes after each department has worked on the game. And it only takes one of those departments to have done their job poorly for the end product to not perform or not perform well enough to be tested properly, so sometimes a lot of time is wasted on QA. Also content / code changes often occur (in all companies) at the end of the day. The tests, therefore, arrive late if a deadline is to be taken into account. And if the delivered content doesn't perform as expected, that often translates into overtime for QA."
Betclic Group Anthony Marmeth
Anthony Marmeth
Quality assurance manager at Betclic Group

What level of study is needed to become a QA tester?

While the job of QA testing used to be reserved for certain video game enthusiasts who, through hard work, could become testers, in recent years, training has allowed all enthusiasts to become testers by having sufficient background and adapted experience. Going to a video game school is the best choice by opting for a bachelor’s degree.

And to integrate into a video game school in higher education, you will need a technical high school diploma with an IT specialisation or a general high school diploma with specialities in digital and mathematics.

 

"Personally, I have chosen this profession as much as this profession has chosen me. I had the opportunity to start doing QA testing during an internship, and the team dynamics, the work ethic of the tests, the constant need for organisation and the importance of the analytical perspective being ideally in line with my personality, I decided to continue on this path which seemed almost all mapped out. The greatest peculiarity of this profession lies in my opinion in the fact that it can be applied to many sectors and companies, but that for each company, the experience, the practices, the organisation and the tools used will rarely be the same, this means having to demonstrate a strong capacity for adaptation, good interpersonal skills and a constant interest in learning. The two major projects I have been involved in so far are Everfeel - a vocal improvisation game with a social dimension - as well as Vampire The Masquerade Swansong, which is a title still in development. "
big bad wolf studio Benjamin Hourlier
Benjamin Hourlier
QA tester for Big Bad Wolf Studio
Which course should choose?

We offer future QA testers within our G. Tech and G. Business schools the possibility of obtaining sufficient technical skills, a video game, and knowledge in the production chain of a video game.

The first path can be to follow a bachelor’s degree in video games and esport management. It is a three-year diploma with a program focused exclusively on marketing, management and business development and learning technical knowledge such as coding.

For the second path, the IT developer bachelor’s degree specialising in video games is primarily focused on computer programming with a focus on application development, algorithms, C, C ++, and Python languages.

Two diplomas that can therefore lead to video game testing.

Note that our two schools offer students to pursue two additional years in MBA. Even more specific and advanced training courses that allow them to deepen their knowledge of their preferred field.

Find out more

Company internships

It is obvious that the best way to understand a profession is to be able to be immersed within it during internship periods. This is what we favour within our schools since students are required to carry out internships in companies at the end of each year.

Internships last two months for the first and second years and three months for the third year.

In the MBA, the internship periods are a little longer: six months in the 4th year and the 5th takes place through a work-study placement.

To find an internship, in our schools, we publish offers and offer an employability week, we also recommend specialised websites such as Jooble, Welcome to the Jungle, Indeed, etc.

Salary of a QA tester

Depending on their status (independent, employee) and their region, a beginner QA tester will earn on average between 2,300 and 2,800 euros per month. With experience, their salary can climb to nearly 38,000 euros per year.

Salaries which are more or less the same abroad. In Montreal, for example, a QA tester will earn an average of $ 32,000 per year, a maximum of $ 46,000. It is the same in San Francisco.

 

Where can you work?

Both at home as a freelancer and on behalf of video game publishers as an employee for a company. For this profession, the possibilities are quite wide. Therefore, it is not rare to see structures like Ubisoft Ivory Tower in Lyon seeking testers or OSome Studio, Arkane Studios, Asmodee Digital, or even Cyanide.

Extrait du jeu vidéo Madden NFL
Certain video game bugs, like here a tiny American footballer in Madden NFL, have become cult
"I have always been passionate about video games (I had the chance to start playing on the very first home consoles (NES / Master system ...). I always wanted to make my contribution to games because when I played when I was little, I didn't find it normal that bugs still existed in games. The articles I read in magazines at the time (Console +, Player One, Joypad ...) only reinforced the fact that I wanted this job. Personally, I started working at "Nintendo of Europe" (NOE) in Germany (I simply found the ad on the ANPE site (Pôle Emploi, today) and I jumped at the chance). I had an interview on the premises in Germany (in Frankfurt) and I was selected. Since then (2004), I have worked in video games both for publishers and developers. I had the chance to work on a lot of games (more than 50 released games) To name a few, the most famous: Mario Power Tennis (Game Cube); Animal Crossing (Game Cube); I am Alive (PC / Xbox 360 / PS3); Lords of the Rings Online (PC) and the entire WRC series since WRC5 (we are currently working on WRC10) (on PS4 / XOne / PS5 / XSX / Steam). "
Kylotonn - KT Racing Sebastien Chipot
Sébastien Chipot
QA Manager at Kylotonn Games

Career evolution

In the post of QA tester, it is quite possible to evolve towards other careers. By having acquired enough experience and skills, a quality manager can very well work in a creative profession as a game designer or level designer.

They can, of course, take on responsibilities by becoming a lead QA tester. It is also not uncommon to go into careers such as community manager or video game data manager.

 

"The job of QA tester is often seen as a gateway to working in video games and then doing something else. And it's true, a QA tester with 1 year of XP on a project will probably have a better chance of becoming a game designer (if that is their wish) on the same project than someone leaving school because they learn more about the workings of video game development and especially the project. However, it is a profession in its own right, which is fascinating and allows you to learn a lot of new things while working alongside other careers. Having this central role is what decided me to stay in this sector. From then on, I was able to work on projects as lead QA on Detroit Become Human (Quantic Dream) on the PS4 / PC versions, Beyond Two Souls & Heavy Rain on the PC versions or even Ghost Recon Future Soldier (Ubisoft) in QA tester on the PS3 / X360 / PC versions. "
Betclic Group Anthony Marmeth
Anthony Marmeth
Quality assurance manager at Betclic Group

Freelance QA tester

Freelance practice is one of the most common choices for a QA tester. Several professionals make this choice each year to go solo for more independence and manage their time and their organisation. This requires an extremely good work ethic and methodology and knowing how to manage the administrative aspects that go with it.

In summary

How can you become a QA tester?

Though the profession of QA tester was accessible for years without a diploma and just through playing, today it is possible to become a QA tester through appropriate training. This allows you to obtain a sufficient level of technicality and knowledge of video games and develop interpersonal skills, which we are committed to within our G. Tech and G. Business schools and our bachelor’s degrees.