How to Become a Video Game Tester

If you've ever thought about the prospect of playing video games for a living, it probably sounds too good to be true. However, the thriving multi-billion dollar video game industry requires skilled video game testers to assess, improve, and work out bugs in new games, making this job a necessity wherever games are produced.

If you think this might be a good career match for you, the first and most important thing you need to do is hone your playing skills. In this competitive field, simply enjoying video games and playing a lot of them won't be enough. To become a tester in high demand, with lots of opportunities, you'll need video game skills that are highly above average, not just in terms of making it through games quickly, but being able to familiarize yourself with the program's total experience, including cheats, bonuses, hidden sections, and any bugs and problems.

Once you've become a video game playing champ, you'll want to develop some strong foundational writing skills. Video game testers must not only be able to access the total game experience, they must be able to write about their findings in an articulate and relevant manner. If writing isn't a strong skill for you, consider taking some classes if you're serious about this profession.

Easy so far? Next comes the networking and experience aspect. A great way to get started doing some actual game testing is to do some volunteer work as a tester. This will largely involve playing computer games with smaller, upstart game designers, including independent designers. You can find opportunities like this while hanging out on game designer web forums, either looking for ads posted by people needing testers, or advertising your services as a beta player.

Once you have a little experience of this type under your belt, it's time to start working on your resume. Once you have some volunteer testing experience under your belt, create a resume that includes your personal experience as a gamer (include any notable accomplishments in this area, e.g., "I successfully beat Resident Evil 4 within four hours on the first try") and your experience as a beta tester. Ask the developers you've tested for if any of them are willing to write you a letter of recommendation for your services to them.

Oh, and when it comes time to start looking for work, be sure that you're applying for legitimate jobs and avoid the scams. Look for opportunities by browsing the websites of game publishers (at the professional level, it is publishers, not developers, who tend to be in charge of hiring the most testers) or submitting your resume to these companies, or find ads for employee testers using boolean searches (using quotation marks) of the words, "seeking video game testers." And of course, remember always that REAL employers want to pay YOU, while scammers ask for money.