Game Connection Europe is scheduled on 24-26 October, 2018 in Paris, where key players from the games industry meet & do business together. It is the deal making event for the video games industry since 2001. So, if you are a game developer looking for publishing or distribution partners or a service provider looking for new clients then Game Connection is perhaps the best platform for the purpose. While you prepare for the event, you must ensure if your game is market ready or not. And, that can only be known through QA. So, let’s discuss the importance of quality assurance/testing in a game.
The video game industry consists of three key players: developers who write the codes, intermediary companies that provide the tools by which the design is created and publishers who publish the product to the market. However, before a game is publicly released, it must be checked for it’s behavior as intended, expectations of the end users, and it should meet the requirements provided by the hardware manufacturers. This is when Quality Assurance or game testing takes place.
Game testing borrows a lot of concepts from conventional software testing, but with a few customizations. Compared to conventional software testing, it is more focused on smoothness, lag-free and bug-free user experience. The most common type of testing performed are – installation testing, feature testing, user-interface testing, performance testing etc.
The testers performing QA are known as Game Testers, they are the ones who receive advanced copies of games in order to thoroughly test the game prior to public release. They navigate through all the menus to ensure everything works correctly and takes the player to the dedicated stage in the game. If the game has more than one mode of play, such as beginner, intermediate or advanced, the game tester plays through each of these modes from start to finish to expose any glitches. If the game offers play as more than one type of character, the tester also plays through the game with each character. The tester attempts to discover hidden glitches and bugs by attempting every possible move or decision a player might make during normal gameplay. The testers even attempt to do things within the game that an average player might not do. After successful completion of the game, they submit the report which includes bugs, glitches and errors occurred during gameplay.
Since game QA involves rigorous testing procedures, it must be done by experts. In such scenario, outsourcing your QA needs is the best option a developers can have. It would not only help increasing the productivity but also minimize overall operational costs. So, before you head to Paris for Game Connection Europe 2018, make sure your game is thoroughly tested.
