Behind a successful game are a team of specialized tester, helping to make the game more user-friendly. Quality Assurance(QA) testing is the process of testing gameplay from a technical perspective. A video game QA team tester will play the game multiple times and write a detailed bug report. Depending on the scale and content of the game, this process can extend from the early stages of game development to post-production.
While general software testing is traditionally outsourced, game testing is often done internally by developers. However, the scope of game development and testing is also widening as the global population of gamers grow and the game devices diversify.
Reasons to Outsource Game Quality Testing (QA)
“Why should game testing be outsourced?”
Let’s take a closer look at several key advantages when outsourcing game testing.
1. Widening the Scope of Testing
With the latest mobile and video games released on a variety of platforms, users will download and play these games on multiple devices.
Just in terms of mobile devices alone, gaming performance may vary from device to device, as manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo all offer smartphones with similar screen sizes but have different hardware configurations.
Game developers should consider which devices players will use when developing their games. However, from the perspective of game companies, allowing developers to solely focus on development and delegating testing to professional testing companies could be beneficial. This kind of partnership may help expedite the release of these games to the market.
By outsourcing to professional QA companies, since they possess extensive knowledge when it come to testing various games, they can naturally expand the scope of testing, leading to an overall improvement in game stability.
2. Selecting the Best Testing Tools
Like any other testing process, it is important to select the best tools and framework when conducting large-scale testing. The rigorous testing of mobile game apps will play a vital role in gaining a significant market share.
Although testing is usually conducted with individual testers, focusing on ways to automate the testing process is also important. Test automation frameworks such as Appium, Espresso, Detox, Calabash, Robotium, and XCUITest are all popular for mobile app testing.
Since game app testing companies have teams familiar with a multitude of test automation frameworks, choosing a framework that meets their testing needs is easy enough.
Selecting the right tools (or framework) for automated app testing can yield long-term benefits in terms of game quality.
3. Remote Game Testing
The mobile gaming experience is highly dependent on many factors, such as cell phone hardware (ex: CPU, GPU, RAM, ROM, etc.), software, and screen resolution, which vary with each device.
However, it is practically impossible for game developers to possess the numerous mobile devices needed to thoroughly test their games on each of them. Thus, developers are instead encouraged to focus on expanding the functionality of their apps.
Testing companies, on the other hand, can dramatically reduce the time spent and significantly improve service stability by periodically conducting automated testing on several mobile devices with the same test scenarios and reporting any issues.
4. Accelerated Market Entry
The online gaming market is intensely competitive, with mobile games accounting for 51% of the total market. As with any software, bugs and usability issues can be major obstacles when releasing a game.
Experienced game testing companies can be the quickest to diagnose pertinent issues since they implement standardized procedures based on their expertise. They can also suggest effective approaches by creating testing plans that combine both manual and automated testing.
5. An Increase in Cost Savings
During a typical development, the cost of establishing their own game testing team can be daunting, which is why some companies still stipulate that their developers carry out the testing. However, this can inevitably impose an undue burden on the development team.
By outsourcing the testing to partners with this kind of experience, developers can focus on their central tasks. At the same time, there can be a reduction in costs by 20% to 40%, depending on the functionality and complexity of these tasks.
Final Thoughts
As the game industry rapidly changes, game development companies should consider amending their game testing strategies. To gain a competitive edge, specialized game testing tools, automation, and data analysis from these outsourced companies will be key. Outsourcing game testing is one way to effectively do so.
Latis Global offers its expertise in localization, game operation, and QA services for games aiming towards expansion in markets overseas. With years of experience, we provide game testing services through project management frameworks, QA labs, and high-quality testing infrastructure for your outsourcing needs. If you are looking to partner with a company possessing such expertise, please contact us at contact@latisglobal.com.
