Obviously, being a professional video game tester is great. You can play the newest video games and you get paid to do so. Honestly, what more could a player ask for? However, the big question is: how much does a video game tester get paid? After all, if the pay is not good, why would a person continue in that line of work?
The average salary of a video game tester can range from $ 15-20 thousand per year to $ 80-100 + thousand per year. How much a game tester makes is directly related to the number of jobs they get, as well as the developers who hire them. However, since most game testers work job-for-job and not on a contractual salary, let’s break the yearly figure down into an hourly figure and a weekly figure.
Game testers typically charge $ 8 to $ 20 per hour, depending on their level of experience. For this example, let’s take the middle term and go with $ 15 per hour for a mid-level evaluator. Game testers tend to put in a lot of hours a week (40 to 50+), which is usually due to the developer’s inflexible deadlines. With that said, let’s say the tester works the typical minimum (40 hours) and is paid the aforementioned $ 15 per hour of test work. 40 hours x $ 15 is a weekly paycheck of $ 600, assuming the evaluator must work that many hours each week. Sounds like a good salary, right? You can bet it does, and most players would be happy to cash a check like that every week.
The big downside to being a video game tester, as mentioned above, is that your career progresses through work. You won’t get a trial job every month, nor will you get one every week. In fact, it is quite common to have a long wait between many of your test jobs. So unless you’re on top of your game and tons of game developers know you, prepare to wait in line like everyone else. However, fortunately for you, there is a way to increase the number of jobs available to you, and it is known as networking. To read an article on video game tester networks, click here
Does your career as a professional video game tester pique your interest? Well, it should. Game testing is great work and anyone who does it will say the same. The few drawbacks that come with video game testing don’t even come close to making it a “dodgy” decision, and that’s simply because this race is really fun!
