Peer into the realities of game testing

- An anonymous former tester

Kotaku has a comprehensive and compelling article about the ins and outs of quality assurance testing; it's based on a number of interviews with current and former game testers, both anonymous and named, and paints the picture of the current state of the practice within the game industry with a human perspective.

It's well worth a read for developers -- especially those who don't routinely have the time to consider just who's finding and helping fix bugs, as it lets you peer into a world that's often hidden. It's also interesting to read in light of recent high-profile bugs and flat-out broken games.

Comments in the piece range from the negative (layoffs, rivalries between devs and test, and the quote highlighted above) to positives (what it takes to work together, and how to approach the challenges of testing big games.) Here's an example of the latter:

“I love that working QA is often like being paid to solve puzzles. Figuring out how to reproduce that bizarre error you encountered, step by exacting step, is thrilling to the right kind of person,” says eight-year testing vet Rob Hodgson.

If you're interested in the topic of QA, the article is live on Kotaku now.