Does such a thing exist?

My son just had a phone call from a company offering him an interview in his own home for a vacancy they have.

All sounds a bit dubious to me, but he is adamant that it’s genuine and he applied for it ages ago.

opinions? or anyone with knowledge of this?

(he’s 22 years old)

Yes.

Yup and I do think someone on here is/was one.

yes they do exist, it can be a foot in the door for a very competitive industry, several dear friends started as testers and have progressed on to be producers and artists. It is a thankless boring role though, repeated playing the same level over and over again, and hated by every one else in the company.

yes games testers do exist

It’s a dull dull job and he will quickly bore of it.

It’s not about playing the games

He will get a list of items to check, like checking that characters don’t walk thru walls and will be on the verge of falling asleep by the time he is on his 100th wall.

Yep it is a real job. Not quite as much fun as it sounds though. May well be the end of his interest in playing video games.

May well be the end of his interest in playing video games.

Where can I sign my 15 year old son up for this job?

games tester job profile

please note there are a number or companies who offer to train you to do this job for a fee I would personally avoid all of these as there is a large number of people willing to do this job and they make their money by training folk and promising them jobs – the conversion rate to employment is woeful to the point they rarely ever say what it is I would assume it is likely to be around 3 % but I may be being generous with that
Some reputable companies do exist but they are rare

I did this as a temp, not from home though, the Internet wasn’t BB back then. Its really quite boring if I’m honest. We were tearing a shooting game, we had to just run round the map all standing in certain areas etc. Then do it again using a different weapon. Then do it again using a different outfit. Then do it again with weapon 1 and outfit 3. ‘oh see there’s a glitch’ fill in form… It paid ok though.

Here are a few openings at Rockstar Games (Makers of Grand Theft Auto, amongst other things). UK openings in London, Lincoln, Leeds and Edinburgh. International openings, too.

I can’t imagine “Games Testing” being a serious career proposition, but perhaps it’s a step on the ladder to becoming a programmer, etc?

May well be the end of his interest in playing video games.

Where can I sign my 15 year old son up for this job?

LOL! Mine too.

Yep it does exist. Actual “Game Testing” is very mundane. Most of the time it is bug finding. My friends brother worked at EA Games for a while bug tester a racing gaming. He had to keep replaying the same map over and over crashing into barriers to check that the cars which glitch out. Then basically take notes on that.

For EA Games I know that they had a library of their own games which employees could buy for a massively reduced price.

Yep, its not great pay, but a good way into it, if that’s what he fancies.

My pal ade worked for my cousin at codemasters and then subsequently Freestyle games doing just this, you generally report on bugs/crashes/random script popping up etc… and then produce a report on it.

my housemate does it – started as a tester a few years ago, he’s well into it and now runs a team of UA testers. so yes, it can lead to better things, but generally it’s boring, monotonous – and bizarely bloody hard to get into.

The bugger is that the industry are able to employ people on fairly shitty conditions (it took my mate 3 years before he got a full time contract).

still, it’s a job, s not to be sniffed at.

My pal ade worked for my cousin at codemasters

the testers toilet at codies was horrific 😯

the testers toilet at codies was horrific

Haha….. I have never been.

Part of my job involves testing the engineering software that we sell, I’d imagine testing games is marginally less dull. The only upside is that I actually get to shout at the devs when they screw stuff up, since usually I’m the one who specced it.

My pal ade worked for my cousin at codemasters

the testers toilet at codies was horrific

Pffft, be a woman, you get to use the ladies then! \o/

I left university determined to get into the games industry – unfortunately as is the current situation, a lot of big studios had recently gone under, flooding the market with experienced staff. It was a tough time to be a graduate.

I started my career in testing. For the first six or seven months, I was testing World Championship Snooker 2004… 8 – 12 hours a day, 5 – 6 days a week. I got very good at trick shots, and very, very annoyed by John Virgo.

Now, it varies a lot from company to company, but the life of a QA tester can be a brutal one. In addition to the terrible pay and often tedious work, it’s often seasonal – contracts are normally short term, and once a project is over QA staff will be sent on their merry way if there’s no other projects in immediate need of QA. If the tester has done a good job on a project, they’ll probably be asked back in the future.

If the tester is particularly unlucky, they’ll be at a company where the development staff treat them as subhuman – with things like it being completely acceptable to push in the canteen queue in front of QA testers, for example.

It’s a good stepping stone into the industry, and can be a good career in its own right. Despite it being seen as… ahem, less prestigious as other areas of development, it’s a ridiculously important job. Although perhaps less so since the advent of online services such as Xbox Live and PSN, where it seems fashionable to rush games out for launch and patch known bugs over the following months. *cough* Skyrim *cough*

Top tips for potential QA Testers!

1: Don’t say in the interview that you’re only getting into QA so you can get into what you actually want to do (code/art/design). By all means say that you hope to one day move into a certain discipline, but don’t make it the focus of your answer. Say how you want to learn about the industry, and to experience working in a team, and that QA is a VERY IMPORTANT PART OF MAKING GAMES.

2: As mentioned, you’re not playing a game, you’re testing it. It won’t be anywhere near finished for most of the testing process, and it’ll be likely that you’ll be playing a single level, or a single track, or just testing the menus, or checking the subtitles, for weeks and weeks on end.

3: Make sure that your bug reports are clear and professionally written. Check your spelling. Include a full method of reproduction, along with a reproduction rate %.

4: Check the bug database before submitting a bug. Duplicate bugs make team leaders cry.

5: Don’t make gameplay suggestions unless it’s been made clear that they’re welcomed by the dev staff.

6: Don’t make gameplay suggestions after alpha ever.

7: Be aware that “QA Monkey” can be used as both an insult and a term of endearment

Hope that helps. 😛

My son is trying to get into this at the moment, he’s just finishing a 3 year college course on games development & from what he’s said it’s a foot in the door sort of thing, I do tend to switch off though as he can talk endlessly about games, glitches etc. I find it very odd with them coming to the house for an interview.

http://trenchescomic.com/

Read all the tales from the trenches, it’s all about QA.

Just forced him to let me look at the website.. Looks like a con to me..

£3000 up front to ‘train’ you.. beware !!

Looks like you were spot on Junkyard

Part of my job involves testing the engineering software that we sell, I’d imagine testing games is marginally less dull. The only upside is that I actually get to shout at the devs when they screw stuff up, since usually I’m the one who specced it.

I’ve spent quite a while testing engineering software. I’d imagine that testing games is far more dull – I got to spec. and design automated testing, and to delve a bit deeper when I found a problem. Would far, far rather test something which doesn’t require real time user interaction.

Just forced him to let me look at the website.. Looks like a con to me..

£3000 up front to ‘train’ you.. beware !!

ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

He’d be better off looking at industry specific recruitment sites like Aardvark Swift, Datascope or OPM, or keeping an eye out on LinkedIn, or ideally at the careers pages on the studio’s/publishers websites to apply directly. I think Edge still has a section on its website and in the magazine itself with job vacancies.

Not sure where your son is based so I can’t recommend any particular studios, unless he’s willing to relocate (which increases options quite a bit). I’ve never heard of anyone being able to work from home as a QA tester (and certainly never heard of home interviewing).

aye avoid for obvious reasons and listen to mrs toast for real advice as they know the industry. They will know more than this humble careers adviser on the specifics

Ps have a word with your son he could get a good bike for that price 😉

EIDT: I am still not sure if Mrs toast is a female hence I went for they no offence meant either way

I did a couple of years as a software tester, Mrs Toast’s post is pretty much spot on. The software I was testing was for sporting events, which meant a paid, working trip to the Sydney Olympics 🙂 – but it’s the same as any other software, and it is definitely a critical part of any development. In my case it led onto dev work, and was an ideal “in” into the industry.

I’m an art lead in the games industry. I’d pretty much echo the good comments above. Testing can be mindlessly dull or an interesting, rewarding job with oppurtunities depending on who you work for…

If your son is interested in pulling games apart, he would probably enjoy it. If he likes the idea of being paid to play games, then he probably wouldn’t.

There’s generally two kinds of testing, in-house (at the developer) and external (at the publisher). In-house you only test one or two games but you work with the devs. External you’ll be shifted onto whichever Harry Potter game is ready for testing for a month in a big room full of people then shifted onto the next thing game etc. etc.

Though it does offer oppurtunities, I’d be a little bit cautious about seeing testing as a good “way in”. It can be if you are persistent, talented and lucky but bear in mind that most of the non QA jobs in games are quite vocational and would require a relevant degree or an exceptional portfolio. Also the UK game industry is not strong atm so there are a lot of unemployed, experienced professionals to compete with.

As far as paying someone to learn to be a tester, I think that’s nonsense. Find a game company you want to work for, learn *every* micro detail of their games then pester them for a testing interview and don’t take no for an answer.

Hope that helps a bit. If he’s got any more questions, just ask.

As an ex s.w. dev (not games tho) – the coming to the house thing is a major alarm bell to me. There are lots and lots of QA jobs out there that certain mentalities can and do exceptionally well at. A good team of devs and testers (and their leaders) is the best way of getting a quality product out.

Like a lot of scam / duff jobs – if they want cash up front in any way, shape, or form – then its a scam.

TBH – I’ve not heard of this before – so personally I’d possibly tag along – but highlight the risks to your young fella beforehand.

I am still not sure if Mrs toast is a female hence I went for they no offence meant either way

I’m a woman! It’s ace, women make up only 6% of dev staff. You know what that means? Lots of available geeky men! I acquired a coder husband. Having a captive coder is useful! 😀

Though it does offer oppurtunities, I’d be a little bit cautious about seeing testing as a good “way in”. It can be if you are persistent, talented and lucky but bear in mind that most of the non QA jobs in games are quite vocational and would require a relevant degree or an exceptional portfolio. Also the UK game industry is not strong atm so there are a lot of unemployed, experienced professionals to compete with.

Aye, it depends a lot on the company. Fortunately both of the big companies I’ve worked for have looked to the QA department for future junior coders/artists/animators, but for many they want their QA to be just that and nothing else. Admittedly, my and my colleague’s experience of working up through QA is from five – ten years ago

I’m a woman! It’s ace, women make up only 6% of dev staff. You know what that means? Lots of available geeky men! I acquired a coder husband. Having a captive coder is useful!

Nice one. You’ve bagged a high earner, smart chap, good around the house, succesful and adaptable.

World recognise this. Geeks are awesome. 😉

jimification do you work for ninja theory ?

Unless your son has maths or further maths at A-level or beyond he has no chance of making it into the industry as a developer. Games testing is a truly boring and tedious profession, and unless he can see clearly where it’s leading I’d recommend avoiding at all costs.

Unless your son has maths or further maths at A-level or beyond he has no chance of making it into the industry as a developer coder.

FIFY

Klunk: No – Creative Assembly.

nevermind, who’d of thunk it more than one art lead called jim in the games industry 😉

I sit near a small team of QA testers, only it’s for insurance software – I reckon that must be more dull than games testing :p

You have to be a very specific type to make a career out of QA. None of your colleagues will like you and your job is to tear apart other peoples work. I’ve met people who thrive on that, most of whom are even nice people.

Ps have a word with your son he could get a you[/i] good bike for that price