The biggest nightmare of the gaming industry that keeps many professionals up at night is the bugs and glitches in the game. These bugs frustrate players and cause financial setbacks for the company. For example, the CD project faced a major setback with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. The game had many bugs that led to widespread criticism and refund requests. Today, the international gaming industry is booming like never before. By 2025, it will have surpassed $300 billion.
Thus, addressing the menace of bugs has become more crucial. That’s precisely where you will need a robust game-testing strategy for your product. It will guarantee a flawless user experience, resulting in increased player satisfaction. But creating an all round-testing strategy is not a cakewalk. Not only do you have to ensure that the game works well on various devices, but you also have to ensure everything runs smoothly in the online environment. And believe us, it can be tricky. Therefore, we came up with this blog. It is your compass in the complex universe of game testing.
So, join us on this journey to create an unforgettable experience for gamers across the globe. Let’s begin!
6 Must-Do Things When You Perform Game Testing
These are the six essential steps you must follow while creating a robust testing strategy:
Gather Requirements
First, you need to understand all the details about the game, like the story, structure, features, characters, rules, and levels. These requirements help testers create a good performance testing plan.
Devise a Testing Strategy
You must select the exact testing components to make your plan robust and effective. Along with this, you must also have a clear understanding of when to begin your testing process. Another crucial element is the frequency of testing.
Create Test Cases
Developing interesting test cases is the first step to ensure your application works. Therefore, the testers must consider both positive and negative test scenarios. It will help you to evaluate your game’s behaviour in various situations. Testers can take help from multiple methods to design these cases.
Execute Test Cases
During this step, a tester conducted the planned tests to evaluate the game’s functionality. To overcome testing challenges, he may use various automation testing tools. These tools aid in game debugging as well as streamlining the testing process. Testers can even simulate different real-world conditions for accurate and reliable results.
Record Test Results
One of the most essential parts of the testing process is documenting test findings. During this phase, the tester documents the executed test case. The comprehensive record acts as a reference for the testing team. It helps them in accessing the system’s performance and functionality. Documenting also fosters clear communication between development and testing teams.
Categorize Defects
The last but not the most minor step in the application testing process is categorizing defects. Under this step, bugs are organized into many different categories. The classification helps in understanding the multiple patterns of defects. This information aids in preventive measures and continuous improvement of development processes.
7 Different Types Of Game Testing Techniques
There are different types of testing for gaming applications. Here are the critical points for each type:
Functionality Testing
As the name suggests, this tests the game’s functionality under various conditions. This test aims to ensure that the game performs as expected. Testers look for different graphics, audio, scalability, and more issues during the test. They also test how the game behaves in situations like crashes or restarts. Thus, this test is integral to a robust game-testing strategy.
Combinational Testing
This test involves testing the game for various combinations of input values. It combines multiple parameters, including game settings and environmental conditions. Combinational testing helps identify potential issues that may arise when specific factors trigger. It aims to ensure the game works perfectly across different environments.
Compatibility Testing
This test ensures that the game runs correctly on different hardware, screen sizes, and operating systems. It’s essential because players use different devices, and the game should perform consistently. When a game goes through compatibility game testing, it’s tested on various devices, operating systems, web browsers, and hardware setups. For this reason, it is essential to carry out this test to develop an enjoyable game for numerous players.
Exploratory Testing
allows testers to explore the game dynamically rather than following predefined test scripts. Further, it helps the tester to understand how a player interacts with the game in real life. Thus, exploratory tests prioritize the user experience and ensure it is enjoyable. Additionally, it helps in early bug detection in the development cycle.
Cleanroom Testing
This test emphasizes defect prevention rather than finding the bugs within the code. The main objective of the cleanroom test is to create software with minimum defects. The Cleanroom testing helps pinpoint the exact causes of bugs and minor errors. It streamlines the process for automation testing companies and makes testing more efficient.
Play Testing
Any game’s success primarily depends on how the games captivate the end users. Thus, developers and testers must put themselves in the shoes of the actual players. It is where the playtest comes to their rescue. It’s like a trial run before the actual launch. During this testing, developers identify technical glitches and understand how players experience the game in the real world.
Regression Testing
Regression testing ensures that the game remains stable even after updates. It rechecks the entire functionality and compares the results with previous versions to find new bugs. Regression testing helps the automation testing company release frequent updates without damaging the game’s stability.
Now, let’s dive in to find out how to develop a robust testing strategy.
Roadmap For Creating Effective Game Testing Strategy
Plan and Design the Test
It is the first step where testers plan and design the test’s objective. This step is necessary for identifying the features and functionalities requiring testing. Further, it helps in allocating resources and defining the testing environment.
Prepare for Testing
The next step is to create detailed test cases. For this, the tester specifies the input data and expected outcomes. Testing automation companies also consider positive and negative test scenarios for covering various conditions.
Perform the Test
Test suites are executed on the new build of the game. When a bug or error is discovered, testers thoroughly test around it to gather all relevant details that will be documented in a report.
Report the Results
Testers create a report that includes all the errors and bugs they have found during testing. They provide detailed information to all the stakeholders. Testers rank the severity and effect of the defect according to the reports.
Repair the Bug
The testing automation companies team and the development team discuss the identified errors. Together, they determine the best solution to fix the bug. They may also consult various automation service providers for streamlined resolution.
Return to Step 1 and Re-Test
After the bug is fixed, the game is re-tested. This process may cycle through steps 1 to 6 multiple times until the game is free of significant errors and meets the required quality standards.
Challenges You May Face In Game Testing Stability
Complex Game Scenarios
The complex and dynamic nature of game situations makes it difficult to write and update automated test scripts that account for all potential interactions and outcomes.
Emulation vs. Real Devices
Even though simulators and emulators are frequently used in QA automated testing, these tools might only partially replicate user behavior. Therefore, you may require resource-intensive testing on actual devices for reliable and accurate results.
User Interface Changes
Games heavily rely on graphics and user interfaces that can change frequently during development. Automated tests may struggle to adapt to these changes, leading to script failures.
Maintenance Burden
Automated test scripts need constant updates to keep up with game code, UI, and design changes. It can be particularly challenging for rapidly evolving games.
Script Development Time
Due to frequent changes, creating and maintaining automated game testing test scripts during early development may take longer than human testing.
Test Data Management
Managing test data, especially in data-driven testing scenarios, can be challenging. Ensuring a diverse set of test data that covers various player profiles and scenarios is essential.
Limited Test Creativity
Automated tests adhere to preset protocols, which could overlook creative and non-traditional ways players engage with the game. Manual testing is frequently more appropriate for investigating unusual player behaviors.
Exploratory Testing
Automated tests may not be as practical as human testers in exploratory testing, where automation service providers focus on identifying unexpected issues and evaluating the overall user experience.
Wrap Up
As gaming applications continue to gain popularity across age groups worldwide, QA companies strive to improve their testing efforts continuously. Ensuring optimal game functionality is essential for building customer trust and expanding the player base. To achieve this, streamlining testing efforts and investing in the right tools are crucial for delivering the best gaming experiences and boosting business revenue. Why not go for the above mentioned game-testing strategy for flawless gaming experience? Get in touch with us today.
AutomationQA