A great way to get in to the gaming industry is to start as a freelance game testers. Developers will give you their games for you to test for glitches, errors and other problems with inside the levels. You will receive paychecks from the company after you fill out a report on the bug or incident in the game. This money can help pay for college and help you get a better job, perhaps, even working in a game studio. Although all this might sound easy, it can be somewhat frustrating if you haven’t properly learned about aspects of the video game industry. As a game tester you will need to learn a lot in the area of self marketing.
Self marketing is a term that means to act as if you were your own product (if you didn’t guess). Most of self marketing can be done over the internet but more serious video game industry enthusiast will have to venture out further. It is way to get connected with important people that will offer you a job or your next game to test. The first step to self marketing is to create a website or blog on yourself. On your site tell about current projects you are working on and that you are currently available for freelance testing. Act as if your site or blog is a resume.
In order to better understand your environment you need to talk to the gaming community. This can be done through forums, emails and comments. Introduce yourself to forums and your current job occupation, but don’t brag or boast about your success. After you test a few games you can tell people on the forums what you have worked on, ONLY IF: the game developer doesn’t embargo any information you might have. A big part of being a game tester is not to leak projects, game developers think of their projects as art and don’t want you to spoil an unfinished project. On top of that, you might even be doing something illegal. On forums you can tell people your url address in order to drive traffic to your site.
After you have signed up and tested a few video games, you can stretch your wings outside of your home. Going to conventions is the best way to network face to face. The industry leaders will come to these conventions and you will have a chance to talk to all of them about their games. You shouldn’t be intimidated by game developers since they are gamers like you and I. Try to get their email or find a way to contact them. Write a follow up letter to them to ask if them need any help testing their new projects.
The process might sound daunting but this isn’t the only way you will get new games to test. It does, on the other hand, solidify your name in the gaming industry. For more information about the gaming industry and to sign up and get your first game check out The
Game Testers Homepage