How much do game testers get?

I'm getting a little bit of hate mail about this question, but it's not directed at me.

It's directed at the game developers and the companies that employ them. If you're a game developer, ?

I've just played through the new The Longest Journey (no, not the terrible prequel) and I found myself saying to the people I played with, Did you see what I just did? And they would say No. It was one of those moments where you feel like a god. It's pretty much impossible to describe the feeling.

So I ask the question again: how much do game testers get paid? But if you're in the UK, you'll be lucky to get paid over 7,000 a year. Here's the truth: game testers get paid an awful lot less than the actual game developers. The developers have a very privileged life-style because they make such big games, but for testers it's a very tough life. I know I'd have walked away from my career if I'd had to spend most of my time testing. It would have been insane.

There's also a very good chance that the person who's paying you is going to be an idiot and give you a small amount to cover your wages. They are not going to pay you as much as the real game developers, so you will have to work a long time to earn your money.

And then there's the risk of being sued by the real game developers, for taking their job. I'm not saying you're going to be sued. I'm just saying that it can happen, and you can be hit with a big lawsuit.

So if you're in a position where you're getting paid less than a game developer, then you are playing with fire. Game developers are not going to stand by and let you get sued for trying to take their job. They're going to defend themselves. They're not going to give you a dime.

So why does this happen?

Can I be a game tester with no experience?

I am in Canada and want to apply for a Game Tester position.

I have no experience in video games but I have always wanted to do this. Can I be a game tester? If so, how can I get experience in it?

I have already looked at the games that are listed on the website and have played some of them. But I do not know how I can become a game tester. Do I just send in my application and wait for the results?

Thank you! This was my first thought, as well. Here is an article that talks about the requirements: I think you can try asking someone at work or a friend if you can help test some of their games. There are companies that pay you to play games for them. It isn't very hard to find some friends that would be willing to test games for you, and that's the best way to get experience without investing money.

The article is definitely very helpful. I will try to follow that link to find out more information.

I was just thinking the same thing when reading that article. It seems like it might be easier to ask people at work to help test games and see if they would be willing to give you some free practice time.

So I have some friends that I know could help me. We are all very close to each other, and we hang out almost every day. The closest one of these guys is a little bit older than me, and he works at a big computer company. He doesn't like to make new friends, but I think that he would be willing to test some of the games that are listed on the site if I asked him. I think that I can be a game tester just by asking him if I can try out some of the games that he works on.