Game testers are people who work for video game companies and do thorough testing of games to make sure there are no “bugs”, “glitches”, or other problems. They are also called “beta testers” or simply “game testers.”

A video game tester’s job is not to play the game, but to break it. They purposely move through the video game, play all levels, look through all menus and use all possible characters and options to identify any flaws in the system.

A game tester is expected to perform every possible action in the game to identify all possible bugs and glitches. Essentially, an error is when something is wrong with the programming, and there can be many such errors. An error occurs when the player gets stuck (trapped) somewhere, or when the character animation doesn’t work properly. There are millions of possible bugs that can occur in a game, but thanks to beta testers, most released games are virtually flawless.

One of a tester’s main tasks is to use the game in as many possible ways as possible, taking actions that few users will ever take. This may seem like a time-consuming and monotonous task, but it is a very important responsibility.

Game testers also perform matrix tests. Matrix tests, typically used in fighting games such as Mortal Kombat, Tekken, or Soul Calibur. Let’s say a fighting game has 20 different characters and 20 different levels. In matrix testing, the tester must play for each character against each of the characters (including the character himself against himself) in all 20 levels of the game. That’s 8,000 different matches. This is just one example of the highly detailed, often monotonous work a tester must do.