What is the Game Testing Process?

Game testing is a development stage where experts attempt to identify glitches, errors, and bugs in the video game's mechanics. The game testing process can uncover all kinds of issues—from invisible walls to deformed character models and even missing textures and code. The ultimate goal is to provide developers with a bug log so they can fix them and improve the overall gaming experience. Game testing is also known as QA or quality assurance, and essentially this process is designed to ensure that the video game is released in the highest quality state possible.

The video game testing process is a critical development stage, as buggy releases can ruin a game's reputation and make it harder to market. Although most major studios devote significant time to bug testing, it's not uncommon for ambitious games to ship without all errors resolved in the complex systems they comprise. In this article, we'll explore the stages of this process and explain how important video game testing is and why, if you're a developer, you should allocate appropriate time and resources to it.

When Does Testing Happen in the Game Development Process?

The video game testing process can occur at multiple stages of development. Testing and QA can happen early on when specific game mechanics are checked, possibly right at the start of development. However, testing also takes place later in development, with further bug testing after new mechanics and features are implemented, as well as audience testing, where a portion of the game is tested on the demographic it's aimed at to gather feedback—this is also common in film.

Testing during the pre-production phase is a way to determine if mechanics function as intended and serve the desired outcome set out in the game's concept. Such tests are easier to conduct because at this production stage, core mechanics are 'bare bones.' QA conducted later in development is much more complex, as by that testing phase all game systems are built, meaning more opportunities for errors and unintended content behavior. Audience testing is also a lengthy process, and while not all studios undertake it, it's not uncommon for testing to occur behind closed doors, where reviewers are also given test builds so studios can receive feedback.

The audience part of the game testing process is very important, as it allows developers to gain crucial insights about the product, including, for instance, the user's first impression of the game, whether they enjoy the gameplay, how challenging the game is, if it's too difficult, and so on.

Stages of Video Game Testing

The game testing process can be broken down into distinct stages. We'll now examine each stage of the game testing process individually and go into detail on each one.

Test Planning and Design

Determine what you're testing and what results you aim to achieve. If you start testing without specific plans, you'll waste time looking for problems that don't require attention. Ask yourself questions like, what has changed in the game since the previous build? What new assets have been added that need attention? Which features were cut and which were added? Knowing your goal before testing is a far more efficient approach, so test planning and design are an important part of the game testing process.

Test Preparation

Preparing for testing is one of the most important steps in the game testing process, requiring developers and game owners to prepare and create documents that serve as guidelines for testers. Most studios provide criteria and outlines that testers must follow, ensuring that time is spent on the right aspects of the game. It's not uncommon for game testers to specifically test one element of the game, even if it's a single mechanic or one particular section of a level.

Conduct the Test

Obviously, the core part of the game testing stages is executing the test, but it's not as simple as performing one action. Testers will run through the new build until they encounter a bug; then they'll repeat the action to reproduce the bug—once they can reliably recreate it, they'll log it and leave a reference for developers to fix it. The more detail about bugs testers can record, the better, as they are often required to provide a log report accompanying test results. The importance of being able to recreate the bug is that if a user can consistently trigger it, it gives developers an entry point to check whether they've fixed the issue by repeating that specific action.

Reporting Results

The game testing stages wouldn't be complete without the vital process of reporting results. After testers have checked the criteria and found bugs in a particular game module, they must fill out reports and finalize their logs to hand over to developers. Communication here is more critical than in other game testing stages, because the better the communication between testers and developers, the faster bugs will be fixed. Many QA professionals have game development experience and generally understand developer jargon, making this process smooth overall.

Bug Fixing

Working with the testing team, developers discuss the bugs in the log and find a solution to the problem. This often requires trial and error, so it's crucial that testers can recreate the conditions under which the bug occurred to evaluate whether a fix has been found. Once a bug is fixed, testers often revisit the situation to ensure the fix doesn't create other problems, which isn't uncommon during the repair process, bringing us to the final step.

Repetition Cycle

The video game testing stages are a cycle; no successful game goes through only one round of testing, as implementing fixes often introduces other issues that need addressing. On average, game testing and QA take between 3 and 6 months, which is quite a lot of time in the production process, but it's essential to ensure a stable release and build a good foundation for gamers to be excited and ready for future patches.

It's worth noting that despite the game testing process stages, not all bugs will be fixed before release; however, the idea is to completely eliminate all bugs that block progress or affect core mechanics before launch. Things like visual glitches or bugs related to side quests are secondary priorities compared to core progression bugs. These various stages make up the overall game testing process and cycle.

Final Thoughts

Video game testing may seem like a complex process, but the cyclical nature of its processes means it can be quickly learned. Like the rest of video game production, quality assurance requires fantastic communication, something you should look for when assembling a QA team. Most top-tier testing professionals have game development experience, meaning they can communicate with developers in a language they understand when it comes to fixing bugs.

Testing video games isn't the most difficult development stage, and fortunately, there are many options, including outsourcing, which we highly recommend. Outsourcing testing means you can be confident that a studio regularly involved in testing processes and with the experience needed to find and log all critical bugs during the game development process is handling the testing.