Get Paid For Playing Video Games
Written by David Barry   
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 12:47
One of the most commonly chosen career choices by young gamers is of course to be a video games tester. However, most people looking at testing games as a career path are blissfully oblivious to the hard work it can entail. How the question is, how much can you really earn as a games tester and is it worth it?
by DavidBarry


One of the most commonly chosen career choices by young gamers is of course to be a video games tester. However, most people looking at testing games as a career path are blissfully oblivious to the hard work it can entail. How the question is, how much can you really earn as a games tester and is it worth it?

To the overwhelming majority of people, the mere idea of being paid cold hard cash for the privilege of playing games all day is just enough. On hearing that they do not wish to probe any further , they just want the job. This is a real shame because if they did dig a little deeper, they would realise that the job is a LOT tougher than that, and it's not suitable for everyone.

First and foremost, it is an often tedious and dull affair and one that involves no shortage of hard work, in fact, you can rest assured that for every 15 minutes of game play you will probably have to spend the next half hour writing up a report on the bugs you unearth during the process. You will need to be thorough and meticulous both in your quest for bugs and glitches as well as in the actual recording of them.

However, the process did not end there and it is important to note that your findings must be legible, comprehensive and easy to understand for the people to whom you will be reporting it to. Your input will directly affect the speed and ease at which the technicians can remedy the fault(s) and so if your communication skills whether verbal or written are not on par then there will be trouble.

Now that we have for all intents and purposes stripped the process bare, the next question we must consider is: just how much money does the average game tester earn for their labor?

There are a number of variables and factors to consider whenever trying to gauge how much in wages you will earn for video game testing, and some factors will weigh more heavily and importantly than the others. Without fail, one of the biggest factors to consider is the actual level of experience that the tester has, and this is both to the issue of seniority as well as passive skills such as proficiency in report writing and error spotting. There is a common mistake that a game tester must limit themselves to a single company, in truth, there is plenty of work to go around and so many testers will supplement their income by doing freelance work with various bodies and groups.

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