BUILD | QA AND TESTING


used to this at Testronic,” he says. “The core differences ultimately are the timeframe and spend – typically last minute requests, for a short period of time, and being able to use previous resource expertise on the game.”


TESTING WORKLOADS It is this short timeframe in downloadable content and often during deadlines for a normal title’s development where the controversial issue of crunch has leaked into the QA process. Whilst the concept of squeezing in extra hours and manpower to finish a game is no secret to developers, and often fully anticipated, the heavy workload creeps over to games testers who must then make sure quality is assured and iron out any bugs in a tight timespan. Vigneron describes the situation as an


Testology’s Andy Robson (middle) and Babel’s Richard Leinfellner (bottom)


unfortunate reality for the industry, although believes that this is something that will change in future, but not anytime soon. “It’s not something that we necessarily


appreciate. However, we do see a necessity almost, of the really high-paced, ‘get the game out’ environment we’re working in,” he says. “So we know that these were effects of developers. They don’t necessarily want it. Sometimes they do plan for it, but that doesn’t mean they want it. “Our teams work very closely with


development teams as and when so we can align ourselves with their schedules. There are ways to do it differently, and so I think that things will change, but maybe not drastically. Or not anytime soon at least.” Harsant agrees that crunch can be a


necessity in games development, and says that QA staff are impacted in a similar way to developers, and believes that during the last


56 |MAY 2012


few years this has seen some slight changes in the way games testing operates. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a


shift for ramping teams up in the remaining weeks and days to ensure the coverage is there. We accept it – it is the way of the world we work in – so we embrace it,” he asserts. “However, we don’t lose sight of why we are


here, which is to provide great quality of service to our customers. We don’t do or like to use short cuts in this process, unless of course we are talking about using de-bug.”


Over the last couple of years we’ve seen


a shift for ramping teams up in the remaining weeks and days to ensure .


Alastair Harsant, Testronic Labs


VMC’s Atkinson says that the issue of crunch is less of a problem now than in years gone by, as the development lifecycle has changed, with mobile content and triple-A games being released throughout the year and becoming less seasonal. The result of this has meant workforce


levels have remained more constant as companies do not have to dramatically resize during quiet periods of the year or a particular project’s schedule. “In the past year, we have seen little


discernible variation in workforce levels,” Atkinson states. “This has enabled a more experienced team to maintain full-time and career opportunities, improving quality and


reducing the stress around ramping up that used to be one of the bigger challenges we faced in the QA sector.”


A TESTING FUTURE But despite the issues of crunch, which although notorious in the games industry, the QA firms have taken on in their stride, the sector is undoubtedly becoming significantly more integral to the entire games development process. Whilst many of the core aspects of games


testing remain largely unchanged, companies in the sector have had to make sure their service is more flexible, so as to cope with the influx of small and large projects. “Flexibility, agility, broad platform experience, consultancy, scalability – these are just some of the areas that have and will continue to shape our operational processes going forward,” explains Harsant. “We have gone though a shift in our ways at


Testronic Labs, and we have had to consider all of those topics. “We routinely ask these questions and will


continue to, but we will never lose sight of our primary purpose – which is to provide great quality assurance coupled with excellent client communication so as to ensure a great experience – and get them through submission.” The strive for quality and ambitious large scale triple-A games, coupled with thousands of developers creating content for mobile platforms, has meant that games testing providers are not short of work and customers throughout the year. And with the need to stand out above the rest and receive positive reviews and critical reception, quality assurance is an absolute necessity if developers are to achieve true success.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76