Video Game Tester Salary is something that evokes curiousness of many. First of all, there is a widespread misconception that all video game tester has to do is play games.
However, those who are into game testing and knows about the industry would beg to differ.
Game testing is strenuous and requires great skill and technical knowledge.
But have you ever wondered how much they get a salary? If you have, follow this blog and find out.
What are the Job Requirements For Game Testers?
1) Education
As mentioned earlier, game testing has a low education requirement. Also, there is no college or school which teaches this particular subject. Thus, the education requirement for this job is also not specific.
However, having a little knowledge about programming, software and hardware will only prove to be helpful in this field.
More often than not, game testers are trained in computer science or another field related to software.
Thus, if you hold a degree in any of these fields, you will be preferred for the job. This is because you will be able to understand the working of a game better and test it more efficiently.
Degrees that may be preferable for a game design job are computer programming, software engineering, game design, software testing,
2) Skills
There are certain technologies and things you should be familiar with in order to become a game tester and earn higher, like, XBOX, PS3, Android, QA Testing, and Gaming.
These skills are in high demand in the game testing industry as most games are developed for or on these platforms.
Apart from these, the core skills that employers look for in a game tester are:
- Knowledge about the latest games and technologies used in game development
- Game playing skills are very important for a game tester job as you will be expected to play a game in various different circumstances.
- You are expected to have an eye for detail when becoming a game tester. Unless you can detect the minute flaws in the game, your job as a tester is of no use.
- Self-motivation is a skill that you will definitely need as a game tester. This is because you will have to play one game repeatedly, several times, in order to test it for any possible bug or error. This recurrence can get monotonous and so you need to stay self-motivated to work as a game tester.
- Teamwork is very important in this field as you will not only have to coordinate with your fellow game testers but also with game developers and designers working on a particular game.
3) Experience
Experience is another important requirement for this job as the more you work in this field the more skilled you get. You will be able to test any game efficiently if you have experience in this field.
Recruiters look for the amount of experience you have in this field more than the degree you hold when hiring game testers.
Salary of Game Testers in 2021
Let’s take a look at how testers get paid based on different factors:
1) Based on the Education Level
In the game testing field, candidates who are high school pass-outs can also make big bucks as education level is of little to no significance.
According to the Game Developer Magazine survey, those who had nothing but a high school diploma earned the highest $52,500 per annum. In fact, those who held a bachelor’s degree earned the lowest among all, at $43,000 per year
People having an associate certificate or degree received a salary between $49,000 to $50,000.
These stats suggest that game testing jobs do not require a high level of education. If you have the skills, you can earn a handsome amount of salary regardless of the degree you hold.
2) Based on Experience
Game testing is one of those jobs where job experience matters more than your education level. You might have a higher degree in your hands, but unless you are experienced in the field, you will get paid lower than most.
However, to think that freshers cannot expect a good salary is completely wrong.
In 2011, Game Developer Magazine conducted a survey that found out that testers with an experience of 3 years or less get paid an average of $36,136.
Those who have experience of 4 to 6 years can expect a salary of $45,769 annually.
In India, freshers can expect a minimum starting salary of Rs. 5000 per month and as the years pass by, can end up with a salary of 150K per month too!
The average salary of a game tester with 3 to 4 years of experience is 50k to 60k per month. If you have the skills that are in demand like, XBOX, PlayStation, etc, then even people with less than 3 years of experience can get a minimum pay of 25K.
3) Salary Per Hour Basis
According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly wage of Game Testers in the United States is found to be $33.
25 percentile of game testers gets paid $15 per hour whereas the other 75 percentile make roughly $48 in an hour.
ZipRecruiter studied the recent job postings in New Delhi, India, and found those game testers earn a salary of $33 per hour here too, which is the nationwide average hourly salary.
4) Game Tester Salary Per Week
Surveys conducted by ZipRecruiter found that the average weekly wage of game testers is $13.46
The average base salary of a video game tester per month is $3,503
This huge difference between the weekly earnings of gaming testers is the result of the amount of experience in the industry and skills that they have.
5) Monthly Salary of Game Testers
Monthly salaries of game tester salary range from $1,625 to $11,708 as observed by ZipRecruiter. Across the US, 25% of testers have an average monthly salary of $2,625. The rest 75% of people earn an average of $8,667 every month.
In India, the average monthly salary of game testers is $5,846.
Game tester salary in the USA ranges from USD $18,000 and top out around $55,000 based on various factors
.
6) Game Tester Salary in India
In India, game testers are living a good life with the perfect job and the perfect salary too!
According to payscale.com, fresher’s get an average salary of Rs 233,462 per annum. This is an ideal salary to begin your career with.
Payscale.com analyzed the salary structure of game testers in India. This is the salary you can expect at the entry-level:
- Salary at Entry Level Rs 120,145 – Rs 421,567
- Bonus Rs ₹5k – ₹51k
- Profit-Sharing ₹919 – ₹255k
- Total Pay Rs ₹138k – ₹545k
Game testers who have more than 3 to 4 years of experience can expect an annual salary of Rs 800,000 to 1,000,000.
7) Other Factors
The game tester’s salary may get affected based on the region you reside in. In places where the gaming and IT market is widespread, the job opportunities and salaries will also be higher than in places where this job is in low demand.
The survey conducted by Game Developer Magazine in 2013, found out that game testers in the west earned an average of $47,167 per year. In the east, however, the salary of a game developer is higher with an average of $49,643 per year. The lowest salaries of all regions were found to be in the south where the average game tester salary was $ 35,833.
Game testers can earn additional income apart from their salaries too. 73% of video game testers, as surveyed by Game Developer Magazine in 2011, got additional income in the form of a bonus, royalties, stock exchange, etc.
The average bonus calculated was $7,824 in a year.
Another thing noted by Game Developer Magazine is that 95% of game testers are male who earns an average of $48,000 per year. The remaining 5% are the female population who earn significantly higher than men, with an average salary of $62,500 per year.
Conclusion
The gaming industry has a high demand for game testers as games are becoming more popular among people. It is a job that demands a high level of skills and dedication but has a low education requirement.
This makes game testing a very popular career path among young people. The fact that game testers are paid a handsome amount of money makes this job even more desirable.
On average, in the year 2021, experienced game testers can earn around $52,500 per year to as high as $100,000 per year. Freshers can start their jobs with a salary of $20,000 to $36,136.
2021 is the year of gaming and we can hope to see a number of amazing innovations and growth in this industry. Along with that, we may also see a rise in job opportunities and salaries of game testers and developers alike.