Game Tester (QA)
🐛Plays builds against checklists, hunting bugs, crashes and balance holes, and writes them up so a developer can reproduce them.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $97.1k a year on average · +5.7% jobs by 2035 · 10,700 openings a year
Software quality assurance analysts and testers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £47.2k median a year · 20,000 jobs
IT quality and testing professionals — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Bots and AI agents now run through builds at scale, so fewer manual testers are needed. Those who can automate tests and understand gameplay stay.
Who it suits
Interests: 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems, 💻 Coding and digital, 📐 Maths and data.
Key strengths: attention to detail, logic.
Where to study
- Course QA courses, ISTQB Foundation
- Vocational Games development college course (BTEC / HND / associate degree)
- Bachelor's Games or Computer Science degree (for automation roles)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Computer Science, English Literature.
🧗 No degree required: studios hire from college courses or short courses, valuing attention to detail and clear bug reports. Pay is low; it is a stepping stone into game dev.
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
Similar careers
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