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QA as a Bridge to a Game Career?
An anonymous reader writes "Over at educational site Game Career Guide, there's a new article asking whether game testing is a good way to get into the game industry. Veteran game tester Zachary Slater comments of the conundrum: 'QA could be a worthwhile career path for console and computer games if only it were treated and respected as such ... It isn't and probably won't be. Game developers and publishers seem to regard QA as an unfortunate expense required in the development process. It is a problem for anyone who wants to actually focus on it that they won't be respected for doing so.'"
The best way to get into the game industry (not that I understand why anybody would want to given the horrid working conditions) is as something that has a part in the creation of the game. Development, artists, that sort of thing.
Testers are the people who annoy everybody by coming back with a build and saying "it doesn't meet xbox certification criteria 347-15a", thereby causing the developers to have to work another 12 hour day to fix it.
If you actually want to be a tester, then its fine. If your goal is to move into something like development, testing isn't a good place to start.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
I work for a large game development studio.
If you didn't go to school, but you are energetic, disciplined and passionate, apply for QA roles and then commit to understanding the mechanics you see when you are testing. I know an Executive Producer of an extremely successful 2006 game that started in QA years before and absorbed the processes he saw around himself. He moved into design years later and applied this knowledge while absorbing process from the new disciplines around him. Then he was a respected Producer for years, mainly because he understood what it took to get things done in each area. Most recently he applied all of this with a talented team and made a great game.
Even young punks who think they know it all can grow up in QA. It is quite an eye-opener for these know-it-alls to be around disciplined, confident CompSci and other graduates who really do know their stuff. They often mature during this process can move onto roles with more responsibility. The ones that don't are easy to spot. If you have the education, the only thing that you need if you are missing experience in the games industry is modesty and passion. Modesty to work on the boring systems, and passion to make those seem exciting.
The industry really needs more candidates. If you see business news about the growing game industry, remember that 85%+ of that growth is people. We routinely hire talent from other countries because we don't get enough local resumes.
There is a myth that you have to "break into" the game industry. The truth is if you have a clue what you are doing they will find you. Put a tech demo or game demo togother, put it on a website, and put the URL on your resume. If you don't have a demo, you probably aren't fit for the industry since most successful people there enjoy writing games/demos. Just because you like playing games doesn't mean you like making games. Also, keep in mind they nobody is going to hire you to make YOUR game, they are hiring you to make THEIR game, so your creative ideas are meaningless to potential employers.
word.
I've known some people who have "broken in" to development after spending a lot of (grueling, low-pay, poor security) time in QA. Which is to say... it is possible to get into dev through QA.
That said, I've known many a game developer, and the general consensus is that, while it is possible, the possibility is also remote enough that it's a pretty crappy idea. A lot of game development, from the code side anyway (I'm assuming since this is Slashdot that this is the case), require extensive understanding of computer science fundamentals, so unless you are some genius self-trained uber-coder, it's probably best if you go to school and learn the nuts and bolts necessary in this industry.