Why QA is Crucial for Successful Game Development!

Why QA is crucial for successful game development!

Skyhook Games’ QA Lead, Cayne, has put together an informative blog on the importance of qa! We think you would find his insight useful!

Game development is exciting, but also complex. It’s not just about creating cool features, it’s about making sure everything works together seamlessly. A game is made up of many interconnected systems, like loading assets, using inventory items, event triggering and so on. While each part might work on its own, it’s important to know how they function together.

Quality Assurance (QA) plays a key role in testing these connections. 4 types of testing you should know about are:

• Unit testing. This checks if a single component of a system works, like the throttle for a car.
• Integration testing. This checks if different systems, like driving a car and swapping gears, work as one.
• System testing. Ensuring everything functions as a whole, being able to finish a level while using the car to get around.
• Acceptance testing. Making sure that finishing the level in the car is fun and meets player expectations.

QA’s job is to develop a strong understanding of how the game functions from a technical aspect. Instead of only looking for bugs, effective QA seeks to understand why the game behaves the way it does. As the development cycle progresses, this approach to testing will help QA assist the design, art, programming & production departments to create the best version of the game.

QA is about exploring the game’s systems and identifying issues that could otherwise be overlooked. The insights QA provides are critical for guiding development and ensuring the game is in the best state it can be. QA’s feedback helps the team refine and improve the game throughout the development process.