Video Game Testing - Get Paid To Test Video Games!

I love gaming.

I love gaming ALOT.

If you are at all like me, and the millions of others that also love to game, you have probably asked yourself just what does it take to get into the gaming industry.

The gaming industry is now a multi BILLION dollar industry with some games selling millions of copies at sixty dollars a pop in theyre very first week! Some of these games come out with massive problems and what could have been an awasome game becomes a dud or "Shovelware". Some of the reason for this, is poor game testing and the results of that show with problems, such as poor controls, unfriendly UI, boggy menu systems, and just countless other issues can bring a game from new, sleek, exciting and FUN to just plain "UGH". No one wants to play a really crappy game and everyone wants a good game.

This is where testers come in. Some companies use a "Beta" testing period. There are often two kinds of beta tests, Open beta and Closed beta. Open beta is often found on MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), where anyone who wants to can apply for the beta, download the game, expansion, ext. and post feedback about bugs, glitches and suggest improvements. Closed beta on the other hand is often only given to select groups. Sometimes offered with a prelauch of a new title or expansion for MMO's and is mostly only offered to members or subscribers of a given game that have put in enough time to be familiar with the game and its current setup, interface, ext. who know where a problem is with the new interface or can explain in better detail where a mistake is made.

Ok so that works for MMO's, what about console games? What do they do for theyre beta testing. How do they find the people they are looking for to ensure a solid game? Now obviously the have some "In-house" testers, people on the actual development team that debug and troubleshoot games. Part of the problem with that is that sometimes they are "too close to the problem" and can over look problems because it was there from day one, or sometimes they are not even aware that a problem exists! So they have to find "out of house" workers to test the games, the gamer themselves who know and love games and don't want to see theyre new favorite game series get shelved because of low sales.

So how do you become a video game tester? Well if you just want to join a beta test for your favorite MMO, then just find the site and search for any open or closed betas. If however you want to be paid for beta testing you are going to have a harder time finding a way to get started. For being such a huge industry it is suprisingly hard to get your foot in the door so to speak.