Importance of Game Testing / QA

iXie Gaming — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 04:49:56 +0000

Hello Gamers,

This blog is dedicated to all aspiring gamers who want to pursue game testing career but are skeptical because of some misconceptions about the gaming domain. So, lets get down to the nitty gritty to understand the importance and criticality of a Game Tester’s role.

According to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report, the total game revenue is estimated is 27,547 Million Dollars in the US. Huge lumps off money is pouring in for the enhancement of games. So, it is not hard to understand that for a multi-million dollar industry the role of the game testers is concerned with a fact that behind every successful game there is an efficient team of experienced and quality game testers

Are we testing the game regularly?

Are we performing testing in a right way?

The above mentioned are the two main questions which every game development team should keep in mind. Let’s discuss a couple of case studies to understand the importance of Game Testing.

Case Study #1: BioShock 2 (2010)

BioShock 2, a sequel to the 2007 major international hit Bioshock, is a first-person shooter survival horror video game developed by 2K Marin for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released worldwide in February 2010 for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, but there were a lot of UX related issues with the game due to insufficient Quality Assurance testing. However, the Windows version received some patches and downloadable content shortly after the release. In October 2010, 2K Games announced that they would not provide a final patch to fix remaining issues with the game.

Furthermore, 2K Games announced that they would not offer the Protector Trials or Minerva’s Den content on the platform due to ‘timing and technical issues’ that they could not work around. 2K later explained that while trying to prepare additional patches with support for the additional content, they encountered bugs under specific circumstances that they felt would not be acceptable for Microsoft certification process hence the game terribly failed to succeed.

Case Study #2: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2012)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing open world video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, published by Bethesda Softworks, and released in November 2011, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This is another good example of a game plagued by a multitude of technical issues, stemming from poor QA. As soon as the game was released, players reported a range of issues, mainly connected with the game crashing in various circumstances. Most notably, the PS3 version of the game suffered a fatal bug whereby, once the player’s save, file becomes larger than 6 MB. Players experiences frame rate issues and slowdown to the point of being completely unplayable. Other issues include texture downscaling.

Issue on the Xbox 360 version – when the game was running from the hard drive, unexplained crashes and slowdown problems, as well as with the various crashes on the Windows version.

Its prequel, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion also had numerous bugs, reported after release.

To avoid such scenarios, Game Production companies needs game testers to test their video games before the final version is released to the public. Without game testers, bugs and glitches would abound in games, possibly making them unplayable and destroying the reputation of the video game production company.

By the mid-2000s, higher consumer demands led to the rise of games that are more complex and ultimately causing an explosion in gaming revenue. With high definition video an undeniable hit and longstanding gamers seeking immersive experiences, expectations for visuals in games along with the increasing complexity of games have resulted in a spike in the development budgets of gaming companies.

The Seventh-generation console game came in, such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Wii. These were accompanied by a range of elaborate games like Gears of War, Halo 3, The Elder Scrolls IV and Oblivion. With the increasing need for more extensive game testing, the in-house game QA teams have become so big that there came a point where they proved too much to manage internally. All these led to the rise in popularity of external dedicated game QA vendors, and the gave birth to trend of outsourcing game testing activities.

Benefits of Outsourcing?

Reduces Hidden costs of In-House teams
Provides access to the large talent pool
Minimizes overall operational cost
The core focus can be shifted to the main business of game development
Increase Productivity & enhances competitiveness
Improve Time-to-Market

Happy Gaming!!

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An Expert View On Gen 9 Console Game Testing

iXie — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 06:23:17 +0000

According to Grand Review Research, the popularity of console games in the coming years is expected to be boosted by new and advanced audio-visual devices. The gaming experience will be enhanced because of high-end sound systems, displays, HDTVs with HDMI ports and inherent wireless connectivity.
Some of the key trends that are expected to change the gaming experience, according to The Guardian, include:

Virtual Reality
Physically collaborative games
Augmented reality
Incremental console updates

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the global video gaming industry to grow from $71.3 billion in 2015 to $90.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.8 percent. Though mobile games growth has outpaced traditional console games, they are also expected to grow from $13.9 billion in 2015 to $16.1 billion in 2020.
Making a Good Game Great
By nature, console games are deeper, having more levels and complexities. Aimed at serious gamers, console games can go anywhere from 5-6 hours to 400+ hours of playability. You read it right, 400+ hours!
Now to keep a gamer involved for 400+ hours is some kickass retention, considering that the current generation of humans tends to flit from one game to another in the blink of an eye. Therefore, testing for the game involves more than design, gameplay mechanics, functionalities, and usability. The tester needs to assess the game for its focus, retention capabilities, performance, and its sense of purpose to be a success.

Testing Requirements
As the console gaming industry gets ready for the ninth generation of game consoles with advanced features, testing requirements too are going up. Some of the key trends for 2017 look to be:
Faster/Episodic Releases – Programmers today deliver games faster due to development in the agile environment, as seen with TellTale Games and Eidos Interactive’s latest releases. A testing team that understands agile and is prepared is essential to keep pace and deliver quality on time.
Collaboration – QA team gets involved in Scrum meetings along with development team and governance calls while developing the game. QA team also provides feedback on the quality of the game to improve its sustainability in the market.
Right Infrastructure – Having the right devices for testing in real-time can improve the results of performance and functionality testing. This gives an accurate picture of how the game will perform in real life and catch errors faster.
Thinking Beyond the Obvious – While straight through playing during testing is important, it is not enough. A player in real life can play in many ways, and the tester needs to be able to anticipate these moves to make sure the game performs whatever the player’s capability. This requires experienced gamers, testers, and a fresh perspective.
Ready for Next-Gen

iXie, which has a dedicated game testing facility, will be equipping its lab with Gen 9 consoles in 2017, especially PlayStation 4 and Xbox One – to meet this growing need.
The team will support testing on 4K resolutions as well (Ultra HD) with PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One S.
The gaming team consists of veterans who have been working on console-based testing since the 6th generation of consoles.
It also deploys non-gamers and gamers with different genre preferences to get fresh perspective on the game being tested
The team consists of specialists on standards and submission testing and have a first-pass ratio of over 90 percent.
The team has exclusive testers specialized in TRC (Technical Requirement Checklist) and TCR (Technical Certification Requirements)

iXie game testers were gamers before becoming testers. The team brings four decades of playing experience to each testing. With the right team, the right equipment and the right process in place, Indium is poised to partner console game developers and enrich gamer experience.