What is Beta Testing in the Game Industry?

If you’ve heard nothing else about game testing, you’ve probably heard the term “beta testing” before. This is the phase of testing in which the game is getting incredibly close to launch and players are needed to check on certain features that might cause minor bugs like texture ripping, reset bugs, or other small bugs that can hinder the gaming experience without quite breaking it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there are no bugs in the game that can lead to flat out breaking of the system – that’s always a possibility (even after the game is released), but usually, a good beta test is designed to simulate what real world circumstances will look like when thousands or even millions of gamers pick up a game and play it for the first time.

Types of Beta Testing

There are actually two types of beta testing for video games – the first being the internal round of betas that are done by employees. Most games don’t have open beta testing – rather they have a number of internal beta tests that strive to remove any of the bugs that will make the developer look bad and the game play poorly.

The number one reason that beta testing is done internally is that when you pay someone to check for bugs as they do with beta testers, they get far better results. Certain criteria are followed and the game is broken down into many small parts to make sure nothing is missed. In short, it’s more of a chore than what most people would want out of a game.

So, open testing usually is only done for very large games that will have a multiplayer aspect to them. These games have so much content that they need hundreds or even thousands of outside people to test the system and look for any and all bugs possible. The most common open beta tests are for online RPGs like World of Warcraft that generally have thousands of bugs, even just before game launch. The open beta also allows developers to tweak game balance issues so that the characters are well suited to face each other.

Open beta testing is not always easy to get into, however. Many times there is an application process and players are either chosen based on their computer systems or through random lottery. For those interested in console betas, they do exist, but they are even rarer and usually are relegated to online based games that need heavy testing like Halo or SOCOM.

Becoming a Beta Tester

If you want to be a beta tester, start applying now. Play games frequently, start taking notes of what you see in the game and be ready to showcase your talents when asked. Most people think this is a glamorous job with free game and big pay, but it can actually be very gruelling with lots of small detail-oriented tests. If you’re serious about being a beta tester, be ready for the hard work. It will pay off, but only if you put in what is required by the developers.