Tips and Tricks for Bug Reporting in Game Testing

1. Title/Bug ID

The title of the bug report should be descriptive enough to give the reader an idea of what the issue is without being too long or complex. It’s important to be specific and accurate in your description so that the developer or QA team can easily understand what needs to be fixed. For example, if you’ve noticed distorted text in the FAQ section of a game’s homepage, your title could be “Distorted Text in FAQ section on <name> homepage”.

In addition to a clear title, assigning a unique ID to the bug can also help to streamline the bug reporting process. This can be especially helpful when there are multiple bugs being reported, as it allows the team to easily differentiate between different issues and track their progress. For example, you could use a numbering system to assign IDs to each bug, such as “BUG-001” or “GAMETEST-002”.

2. Reproduce the Bug

When you encounter a bug in a game during testing, it’s important to try and reproduce the bug consistently so that you can confirm that it’s not just a one-time occurrence. This involves trying to repeat the same actions or steps that led to the bug multiple times to see if the issue occurs consistently. This helps to ensure that the bug is not just a random occurrence or a fluke, and it can also help to identify any specific conditions that might be causing the issue.

Reproducing the bug multiple times also helps to provide more information to the development team, as it confirms that the bug is a genuine issue that needs to be addressed. If the bug is only a one-time occurrence, it may not be a significant issue and may not require immediate attention from the development team.

3. Steps to Reproduce a Bug

Post encountering a bug in a game, provide clear and concise steps to the development team, explaining how to reproduce the issue. The clearer the steps are, the easier it is for the development team to identify the source of the problem and to address it quickly.

Here are some tips for writing effective steps to reproduce a bug:

Number the Steps: Numbering the steps in a clear and consistent way can help developers to easily follow the sequence of actions required to reproduce the bug. This can also make it easier to identify where in the process, the issue is occurring.

Be Specific: Each step should be as specific as possible, including the exact actions required and the expected result. This can help to minimize confusion and ensure that developers are able to accurately replicate the issue.

Keep it Simple: Avoid including unnecessary steps or details that could distract from the core issue. The goal is to provide a clear and concise set of instructions that can be quickly and easily followed.

Here’s an example of how to write effective steps to reproduce a bug:

• Open the game and navigate to the “Settings” menu.
• Select “Graphics” from the options and set the resolution to 1920×1080.
• Start a new game and play until you reach the third level.
• Pause the game and select “Quit to Menu”.
• Start a new game and play until you reach the third level again.
• Observe that the game crashes and returns to the desktop.

4. Environment

One of the key aspects of effective bug reporting in a well-established mobile game testing company is providing detailed information about the environment in which the bug was observed. This is because bugs can often be environment-specific, meaning they may only occur on certain devices, operating systems, or in certain network conditions. In order to effectively identify and resolve these types of bugs, it’s important to provide specific information about the environment in which they were observed.

When reporting a bug, QA testers should include the following details about the environment:

1. Device Type: This includes the specific hardware and device model on which the bug was observed. For example, “iPhone X” or “Samsung Galaxy S21”.
2. Operating System: The name and version of the operating system on the device. For example, “iOS 14.5” or “Android 11”.
3. Tester: The name of the tester who identified the bug, in case there are multiple testers involved in the project.
4. Software Version: The version of the software being tested and in which the bug appeared. This can help developers to identify if the bug has already been fixed in a more recent version of the software.
5. Connection Strength: If the bug is related to network connectivity, it’s important to mention the strength of the internet connection at the time of testing. This can include details like “4G”, “3G”, “WiFi”, or “Ethernet”.
6. Rate of Reproduction: This refers to the number of times the bug has been observed, as well as the specific steps involved in each reproduction. This information can be extremely helpful in identifying the cause of the bug and replicating it for further testing.

Also Read: Difference Between Testing and Debugging

5. Expected Result

The expected result section of a bug report is crucial for developers to understand how the software is supposed to function in a given scenario. By providing detailed information about what the user expects to happen, developers can better gauge the extent to which the bug is disrupting the user experience and identify the root cause of the problem.

For example: When a user selects a product to add to their cart, the expected result is that the selected product should be immediately visible in the cart. This means that the product information, such as the name, quantity, price, and any other relevant details, should be accurately displayed in the user’s shopping cart.

Additionally, the cart should also update in real-time, reflecting any changes made to the selected product, such as the quantity or price. This will ensure that the user has an accurate view of their cart contents and will help them make informed purchasing decisions.

6. Actual Result

The actual result describes what the software is actually doing, as opposed to what it is supposed to be doing. For example, if the bug is causing the software to crash, provide details on when and how the crash occurs. Does it happen consistently or only under specific conditions? Are there any error messages or codes associated with the crash?

If the bug is causing the software to pause or become unresponsive, describe when and where this happens. Is the software freezing during a specific operation or task? Does it happen immediately upon starting the program or after some time?

In either case, it’s important to provide as much context as possible. For example, if the bug is related to a specific feature or function, describe what that feature does and how it is used. This will help developers narrow down the scope of the issue and identify potential problem areas.  Ultimately, the more detail you can provide about the actual result of the bug, the better-equipped developers will be to investigate and resolve the issue.

Also Read: Mobile Game Testing Checklist

7. Provide Screenshots or Videos

Screenshots or videos can show the specific issue or error message that you encountered and can also show the steps you took to reproduce the bug. This information can be especially useful for the development team, as it can help them to identify the root cause of the problem and work towards a solution more quickly.

In addition, visual aids can help to prevent miscommunication and misunderstandings between testers and the development team. Sometimes, the language used to describe a bug may not be clear or may be interpreted differently by different individuals. However, a visual representation of the issue can provide a clear and concise explanation of the problem, allowing the development team to address the issue more effectively.

8. Bug Severity

Assigning the appropriate severity and priority level to bugs is a critical part of the Quality Assurance process. This helps developers understand the extent to which the bug affects the system and prioritize their efforts accordingly.

Bugs can be categorized into four levels of severity: Low, Minor, Major, and Critical. A Low severity bug won’t result in any noticeable breakdown of the system, while a Critical bug is capable of triggering a complete system shutdown. Similarly, bugs can be classified into three levels of priority: Low, Medium, and High. A High priority bug must be resolved at the earliest, as it affects the system adversely and renders it unusable until it is resolved.

Also Read: Guide To Write A Quality Bug Report

9. Test Different Scenarios

Testing a game in different scenarios helps to identify potential bugs that may occur under different circumstances. In fact, by testing the game in different scenarios, testers can ensure that the game is functional and working as intended under a variety of conditions and can identify and report any issues that arise.

Different scenarios can include various aspects of the game, such as different levels, game modes, or multiplayer options. Testers can also test the game under different conditions, such as different network speeds, graphics settings, or device configurations.

For example, testing a game’s multiplayer options under different network conditions can help to identify any network-related issues, such as lag or connectivity problems. Testing a game’s graphics settings under different configurations can help to identify any graphical glitches or performance issues. Testing a game’s levels or game modes can help to identify any issues that may be specific to certain areas of the game.

Testing under different scenarios also helps to ensure that the game is released with the highest possible quality, as it helps to identify and address any potential issues before the game is released to the public.

10. Test with Different User Accounts

Different users may have different preferences and settings that can affect how the game performs, and testing with different user accounts can help to ensure that the game works correctly for all users. For example, a bug may occur when a user has a specific language setting or when a user has a certain type of account. By testing the game with different user accounts, testers can identify these types of bugs and report them to the development team for resolution.

Some of the different types of user accounts that can be tested under game application testing services include accounts with different settings, accounts with different permissions, and accounts with different levels of experience or skill.

11. Use a Bug Tracking Tool

Bug tracking tools help testers to manage and track the bugs they report, making it easier to keep track of the bugs and their status throughout the testing process.

Bug tracking tools allow testers to report bugs in a centralized location, making it easier for the development team to access and address the issues. They also allow testers to provide additional information about the bug, such as screenshots, videos, and detailed descriptions, making it easier for the development team to understand and reproduce the issue.

In addition, bug tracking tools provide a way for testers to track the status of the bugs they report, such as whether they have been fixed or are still under investigation. This helps testers to stay informed about the progress of the bug fixes and to provide additional feedback as needed.

Bug tracking tools also help to ensure that bugs are not forgotten or overlooked during the testing process. By having a centralized location to report and track bugs, testers can ensure that all issues are reported and addressed before the game is released.

Also Read: Top Bug Tracking Tools for Successful Software Testing

12. Avoid Duplicates

Reporting duplicate bugs can waste valuable development time and resources, as the development team may spend time investigating and addressing the same issue multiple times. Before reporting a bug, testers should take the time to check if the issue has already been reported. This can be done by checking the bug tracking tool or communication channels used for bug reporting to see if the issue has already been reported by another tester.

If the issue has already been reported, testers should avoid reporting it again and instead focus on providing additional information or feedback on the existing bug report. This can include providing additional details on how to reproduce the issue or describing any additional circumstances under which the bug occurs.

By avoiding duplicate bug reports, testers can help to streamline the bug-reporting process and ensure that development time is spent addressing new and unique issues. This can help to ensure that the game is released with the highest possible quality and that all significant issues are identified and addressed before the game is released.

13. Provide Feedback

Feedback helps to ensure that the issues are adequately addressed and resolved and that the game is released with the highest possible quality.

After the development team has addressed a reported bug, testers should take the time to test the fix and provide feedback on whether the issue has been adequately resolved. This feedback can include information on whether the issue has been completely fixed, whether any new issues have arisen as a result of the fix, and whether the overall gameplay experience has improved.

In addition to providing feedback on bug fixes, testers should also provide feedback on any improvements made to the game during the testing process. This feedback can include information on any new features or enhancements that have been added, as well as feedback on the overall gameplay experience.

By providing feedback, testers can help to ensure that the game is released with the highest possible quality and that all issues are adequately addressed and resolved. Feedback also helps to facilitate communication between testers and the development team, allowing for a more collaborative and effective testing process.

Also Read: Reasons Why A Professional Game Tester Is Important for Game Testing

Final Thoughts

Effective bug reporting is a critical component of game testing, as it helps to ensure that the game is released with the highest quality. By reproducing bugs, providing clear and specific information, using visual aids, prioritizing bugs, testing different scenarios, testing with different user accounts, using bug tracking tools, avoiding duplicates, and providing feedback, testers can help to identify and address issues that may negatively impact the game’s user experience.

As the gaming industry continues to evolve, the importance of effective bug reporting will only continue to grow. With the increasing complexity of games and the diversity of platforms and devices available, testers will need to continue to adapt and refine their bug-reporting skills to ensure that all issues are identified and addressed.

Advancements in technology, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, are also expected to impact the way bugs are reported and addressed in the future. These technologies may help to streamline the bug reporting process, making it easier and more efficient to identify and address issues.

The post The Art of Bug Reporting in Game Testing: Tips and Tricks appeared first on KiwiQA.

As per reports^[1], the revenue from online games is expected to reach $26.05 billion in 2023. The number of gaming users is expected to amount to 1,252.6 million by 2027. The stickiness factor of any online game depends a lot on game logic, graphics, and prize money.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)

What if these factors are let down due to bugs in the games? Online games are different from other online applications, since most games are intensive on the CPU and GPU fronts. In most of the games, CPU handles the game logic whereas GPU handles rendering of the frames on the screen.

The GPU and CPU speeds will keep on throttling depending on the workloads. Thermal throttling protects the device from being overheated, during which you might experience frame lags as well.

As a game developer, you might not be able to control the speeds at which the device operates, but you can invest in testing the game on supported device combinations. Like any other form of software, games also must be tested at every stage of development.

If you are building mobile games, you need to prioritize testing on real devices over testing on emulators/simulators. You also need to prioritize the test types so that it leads to game improvement from all the aspects. In this blog, we deep dive into the different forms of game testing. We will also cover how a mobile game testing services company can help in getting the maximum ROI from testing.

What is Mobile Game Testing?

In simple terms, game testing on mobile devices is a QA process whereby the corresponding game is tested on different devices. Owing to the device and OS fragmentation, it is nearly impossible to test the games on all the available devices. Hence, the devices for testing must be selected depending on the target market in which you plan to release the game.

For instance, Android developers add the following information in AndroidManifest.xml:

• App components
• Device compatibility
• Intent filters, and more

Since the list of supported devices is in the hands of the developers, it becomes somewhat easy to choose the ones on which you want to run tests on priority. However, that is not the end of the story! You also have to make a wise and long-term decision on testing on local real devices or a cloud device farm!

As game testing is a continuous process, you should look into CI/CD tools (e.g. CodeMagic^[2]) that lets you run continuous tests in a CI/CD pipeline. This ensures that your game is tested whenever any fix/feature is pushed into the repository.

Forms Of Game Testing

Before we deep dive into the game testing types, let’s try to answer the integral question – What tests should you focus on for improving the game quality? The simple answer to this question is “Prioritize the tests depending on the game logic, game type, and leaderboard logic in the same”.

Now that the platform is set, let’s look at some of the major forms of mobile game tests:

1. Functional Testing

Like any other form of software, it is essential to invest heavily in testing the functional aspects of the game. Most of the mobile games come with social media integration so that the players can share their scores with their online connections. Though this sounds like a trivial feature, it plays a key role in long-term retention. It also contributes to the virality of the game.

All the screens that are a part of the game play must be tested thoroughly on the supported mobile devices. You should also test the game on devices with different CPU & GPU configurations so that you can gauge the game’s performance. This test will also be useful in correcting the game logic in case the game’s performance is not up to the mark on certain category of devices.

Since a majority of the games are highly intensive, the tests should also log the  CPU, GPU, thermal temperature, and RAM usage during the process of testing (Source). On the whole, functional tests must be considered at every step since the game’s success depends on a lot on the same!

Also Read: Best Practices of Mobile Game Testing

2. UI Testing

A lot of games like Call Of Duty, Minecraft, Pokémon GO, etc. are available for mobile, tablets, as well as desktops. This strategy is used by many game developers since it helps increase the reach of the game. As the game is available for devices with different screen sizes, you need to test the game logic thoroughly on them.

While testing on emulators and simulators are good to start with, testing on real devices must be a part of every release. Functional and UI testing on real device cloud could reap significant benefits in the long run. Automated frameworks like Appium should be leveraged for running tests at scale. UI and functional tests must be a part of the CI/CD pipeline so that untested code does not make way into the release.

Onboarding a mobile game testing services company can help you make the most of the respective testing strategy and infrastructure used for testing the gaming app.

3. Performance Testing

Like any other form of application, mobile games can also be developed using the hybrid or native approach. Though the choice depends on the development team, the fact is that there should be no degradation in its performance when subjected to heavy load.

Also, game developers use cloud gaming infrastructure for flexible app distribution and enabling cross-play across different form factors (Source). Usage of payment gateways, social media integrations, cloud resources, etc. are mostly a part of every mobile game.

All of this when integrated must be tested on real devices, on varying load and traffic levels. This helps in building a more robust and responsive application. At the same time, it also improves the test and device coverage thereby ensuring that the game performs well on the targeted devices!

Performance testing of mobile games ensures that the game performance is always up to the mark, even when a large number of concurrent users are playing the game.

Also Read: Complete Guide To Game Performance Testing

4. Interrupt Testing

We all know how many interruptions (e.g. SMS popups, battery alerts, etc.) can occur when using any mobile application. During such cases, the context is switched from the current application to the other application that has caused the interruption. For instance, low battery or temperature alerts on a mobile device prompts you to take actions for handling the condition.

The mobile gaming application must be robust enough for handling such interruptions, without causing any performance or experience degradation in the game. What happens in the game if there is a temporary network loss or what happens if the network switches from 3G→4G or vice-versa.

The game logic should be able to cater such dynamic situations without impacting the end-user experience. This is why interruption (or interrupt) testing becomes an absolute necessity for mobile games.

Apart from these tests, you should also focus on cross browser compatibility tests for verifying the scenarios (e.g. login, social media sharing, etc.) where the respective web browser is used for completing the operation.

Lastly, you need to keep a continuous watch on Google Lighthouse reports for auditing the page and app performance under different CPU and network throttling conditions.

Also Read: Detailed Mobile Game Testing Checklist

Conclusion

Game developers must weigh development and testing equally, as it helps in improving the quality and robustness of the game. This is where an integrated game testing strategy can be super useful as it aids in testing every aspect of the mobile game.

Most games follow the freemium strategy for building the virality in the game. Hence, it is recommended to thoroughly test the integration with different payment and Ad providers since it eventually contributes to the revenue generated from the game.

Onboarding an experienced game application testing services company like KiwiQA will help you in reducing the time-to-market and improving all the aspects of game quality. All of this will lead to maximization of gaming revenue and improving the key metrics (e.g. ARPU, DAU, AMU, Installs, Retention Rate, Churn Rate, stickiness, Lifetime Value) of the game.

The post [Guide] Major Forms Of Game Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

In this article, we’ll try and examine one such essential aspect of game development which is called testing by name. Furthermore, we’ll discuss how to improve game functionality by using testing techniques to their best level.

What Is Game Testing?

Game testing is a process of verifying the functionality, performance, and optimization of a game or application. This process helps ensure that the final product is bug-free and meets desired quality standards.

The steps involved in game testing are as follows:

1) Define the scope of the test

2) Identify which functions to test

3) Set up the environment

4) Conduct tests

5) Analyze results

6) Take corrective action where necessary

7) Report findings to management

Also Read: Complete Guide To Game Performance Testing

Various Stages In Game Testing

The game testing lifecycle is a process that game developers and publishers use to ensure that their games are as bug-free as possible before they are released. The process begins by developing a game plan, which outlines the steps that will be taken to make the game error-free. Then, the game must be tested in an environment similar to the one it will be released so that any problems can be identified and fixed. After the game is tested, it must be polished and ready for release.

Stage1- Development Stage

Mobile game testing services are a critical part of the development process. They allow developers to test and validate their games before their public release.

There are three stages in the game testing cycle: pre-production, production, and post-production. Pre-production is when games are designed and planned. Production is when the game is created. Post-production is when the game is released to the public.

1. Pre-Production: In this, developers test their games conceptually by creating working prototypes. They use these prototypes to create a design document that describes how the game will play, look, and feel. This document helps them decide which features to include in their game and helps them determines if their game concept is feasible.
2. Production: With this phase, developers create a full version of their game by naming it a development environment (e.g., Unity or Unreal). They use this environment to create graphics, sounds, and gameplay mechanics. They also use it to test the game conceptually and mechanically by creating user scenarios (tests).
3.  Post Production: After production has been completed, developers submit their final product to an external tester who will review it for quality assurance purposes. If necessary, they may make changes to the product before it is released to the masses.

Stage2- Testing Stage

Testing is an essential stage of the game development cycle. In order to ensure that a game is of the highest quality, it must be tested and reviewed by different individuals before release. There are many steps that must be followed to test a game properly.

The first step in testing is creating a test plan. This document outlines the steps to be followed, how everything will be tested, and who is responsible for what. The test plan should also include any special requirements or modifications that need to be made to the game in order to accommodate testing.

Once the test plan is complete, the next step is setting up the testing environment. This includes creating copies of the game files so that different individuals can play them on different platforms and hardware configurations. It is important to have as many people as possible playing the game to quickly identify any issues.

After building a testing environment, you can start testing. Testing can involve playing through the entire game multiple times to make sure that all major issues have been identified and fixed. It is also important to test all gameplay mechanics to work as expected.

1. The Pre-Game Testing Phase: This phase is where the team tests the game mechanics, flow, and user interface. This is also a time to test any new ideas or changes that have been made since the last build. Any major issues that come up during this phase will need to be fixed as soon as possible so that the game can move on to the Gameplay Testing Phase.
2.  The Gameplay Testing Phase: This is when players get to try out the game and see how it plays in its current state. A lot of fine-tuning will occur during this phase, including balancing gameplay elements and fixing any major issues found during pre-game testing. If any significant changes are planned for the game, this is also an excellent time to test those out.
3. The Post-Game Testing Phase: After all of the gameplay and testing have been completed, it’s time for final touches and bug fixes. This phase can also include adding new content if necessary. Once everything is finalized, it’s time to prepare for launch!

However, before release, the game application must undergo another round of tests called beta testing. Beta testers are chosen based on their experience with gaming software and are asked to report any problems they encounter while playing the game. This helps to ensure that the final product is of excellent quality.

Also Read: Best Practices of Mobile Game Testing

Stage3- Post-Final Release

Many people believe that responsibility gets over post-release of a game. But this is a common misconception because the after-release game requires more maintenance as developers and testers need to ensure that the game remains satisfying and enjoyable for players.

Testing Tips To Make Game More Engaging

1. Functionality Testing

It is a method of testing software to determine the extent to which a game’s features fulfill the requirements of its user. It is also known as black box testing and system testing. It focuses on internal or “functional” aspects of applications but can also include considerations for usability and branding.

In general, a game’s geometric bugs, user interface problems, sound issues, or mechanical defaults will be detected during this stage.

There are numerous types of functional testing, but some standard tests include:

1. Input validation

Ensures that data entered into a system is valid and error-free.

2. Checking user input against predefined values

Scans for invalid or unexpected inputs that could lead to user confusion or incorrect actions.

3. Database connectivity

Verifies that data is being pulled from and inserted into the correct tables in a database.

4. User interface tests

See if user input goes into the system correctly and results in an output that is expected.

5. System performance tests

Measure how long it takes for the system to complete certain tasks and how responsive it is under various conditions.

6. Fault tolerance tests

Look for cases where parts of the system fail so that they can be fixed before anything bad happens.

Overall, functional testing is an important step in ensuring that game is bug-free and operates as intended.

Also Read: Functional and Non-Functional Testing To Improve Software Quality

2. Adhoc Testing

Adhoc game testing is a methodology used to assess the quality of games in an informal environment. The process consists of designing and conducting short, self-contained tests that can be executed quickly and with limited resources.

The benefits of Adhoc game testing are that it can provide quick feedback on the quality of a game without requiring extensive resources or time. Additionally, it allows developers to make changes to a game based on results from individual tests rather than waiting for large-scale reviews.

There are many modes that can be used to execute ad-hoc game tests. One approach is to use player surveys to gather feedback on specific aspects of a game. Another is to ask players to rate their enjoyment of different parts of a game on a scale of 1-10.

3. Regression Testing

Mobile testing companies spend countless hours testing games for a better user experience. But what happens when they push a button or make a tweak in-game code? They would need to run the game again, this time with the new feature in place. This is where regression testing comes in.

A regression testing process is a set of automated tests that check the functionality and correctness of your game after changes are made. This helps ensure that any new features or bugfixes introduced into the game don’t cause any regressions in the user experience.

Regression testing can be done manually, but using automated tools is often more efficient. There are several different types of regression tests that can be used, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

The most common type of regression test is a user interface test. This test checks whether the various buttons and menus in the game work correctly, as well as checking for any unexpected behavior.

Another type of regression test is a gameplay test. This test checks whether the various actions in the game lead to the desired outcome or if there are any unintended consequences.

4. Compatibility Testing

The game testing companies use compatibility testing to ensure their games run on different devices. The various gadgets a game can be played on include desktop computers, laptops, tablets, phones, and even gaming consoles.

By performing this test, developers can avoid releasing games that may not work properly on a large number of systems.

5. Security Testing

Video games are becoming more and more popular, with huge development budgets poured into them. It is important to have security testing practices in place, to prevent players from hacking the game and disrupting the experience of other gamers.

Security testing is basically all about identifying and correcting vulnerabilities in a gaming system or network. It is essential to ensure the safety and security of any information or assets that reside within the game.

Also Read: Mobile App Security Testing Checklist

Conclusion

Knowing where to start when trying to improve your game’s functionality can be challenging. But not anymore, because in this article, we have shared top-notch tips that will help you gain first-rate game functionality in as little time as possible. So do follow them and enjoy a thrilling experience by yourself.

The post Tips To Gain First-Rate Game Functionality With Game Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

The game business is facing new challenges and expectations due to the increasing need for eye-catching graphics, animations, and rich media. Players’ gaming experience should be consistent across all aspects, including functionality, security, compliance, and seamless activities. It will ensure that players have exceptional user experiences.

What Do You Understand By The Term Game Performance Testing?

Testing for performance is a measure used to detect bottlenecks in performance-related areas. When you measure taxed things, the speed, responsiveness, and stability of a computer, network, software program, or device by the typical metrics used in performance tests. Some scaled features include the amount of CPU load, memory consumed, and frames per second (FPS).

It ensures that the produced gaming system satisfies speed, responsiveness, and stability requirements to provide a more positive experience for the user. Utilizing performance testing makes it simple to fine-tune, further plan improvements on graphics, gameplay, and connections, and optimize the game in a manner consistent with these plans.

Also Read: Performance Testing for Large-Scale Gaming Applications

Advantages Of Game Performance Testing

1. You can increase the functionality and flexibility of your application by selecting the kind of tests, tools, and testing procedures that can fully connect with the processes already in place inside your organization.
2. You will be able to attain greater game functionality and overall game quality if you provide thorough test coverage for the gaming app. It will result in an improvement in the game’s quality.
3. You can achieve a quicker turnaround time since the testers can carry out the testing process in parallel with the production of other game components. Your game needs testing thoroughly throughout.
4. The interface that is user-friendly and easy to browse an intuitive interface is built according to your target audiences’ behavior and is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Layout For Game Performance Testing for a Game Testing Company

• Get a quick grasp on the requirement, and start recruiting people from the outside. Make a strategy that includes all the different server-side processes that need functioning. Make it a point to check the product’s quality at each successive level as the number of users you serve grows.
• Testers can opt to use an open-source performance testing tool to produce automated tests by scaling them across multiple test computers and carrying them out using automated test scripts.
• It is developing automated scripts that carry out a variety of server-side actions since this enables smooth integration with a varied number of concurrent users and permits the recording of response times inside a network.
• Performing an analysis of the test results, providing the tools, intellectual property, and best practices, and developing visual charts to draw attention to any bottlenecks. Ensuring that products meet the requirements of international regulatory bodies despite a significant rise in the amount of time needed for separate operations to respond.
• A tester must share the test results with the client and perform duties requested by the client, such as the production of test scripts, along with their observations and comments regarding the application’s fine-tuning.
• Tests conducted with analytical tools that manage users’ experiences and feedback on an application must demonstrate to the client meeting the needs. The testing procedure needs to assist the client in comprehensively addressing the scope of problems and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the amount of traffic the website can manage.

Also Read: How To Build An Effective Game Testing Strategy?

Optimizing The Methods And Strategies Of Game Performance Testing

Examining Various Cases

Testers must pay attention to how the user experiences the system’s performance.

• Lag is a primary performance indicator used to examine the program’s behavior, particularly in the main gameplay. The fluency of the game refers to as “lag.” When testing the game, pay more attention to the frames-per-second statistics, frame lag rate, and other metrics.
• Players of video games don’t want their games to experience crashes when the number of people using them gradually increases. When testing, pay close attention to how often the system crashes.
• Because of the risk of overheating, mobile phone producers may opt to either lower the frequency or lock the core, which will result in a lag in the game. The power consumption of the game, in particular the usage of GPU and the CPU, will therefore be the primary focus of the testers.
• The mobile phone battery milliampere is a vital sign of mobile phones to identify operations. If the resource is heavy, and the rate of power consumption is too high is most certainly a problem.

Testing Data And Commonly Used Tools

As a result of advancements in hardware equipment, the memory requirements for each level should become increasingly stringent. Be careful not to let memory leaks occur, as this might cause your program to become unresponsive or even crash due to the slower memory allocation. It is essential to exercise strict control over the allotted mono memory, which can only increase and never decrease. The memory made available to the player by the game’s script is mono.

You must optimize the audio resources if the audio module occupies significant space. Quality assurance testers need to locate multi-game battles, scene jumps, and open and close to determine whether a memory leak exists in the user interface.

Optimizing The Methods And Strategies

The art produced by various tools and machinery varies significantly in quality. The process of optimizing performance is not a one-and-done kind of deal. Consequently, the following is a list of optimization procedures for multiple models.

Optimization Of Memory

Memory pools help to assist in resolving the issue of excessive memory fragmentation. The object pool may be able to overcome problems caused by the frequent generation and destruction of memory. In addition, ensure that the activities of script and configuration, timely uninstallation, and split, among other things, are carried out for each resource. The logic of the game type is closely related to the packaging mode, which combines all of a hero’s resources into a single package. Last but not least, be aware of memory that loads slowly and uses excessive memory.

Optimization Of CPU

You may assess the centralized processing of a significant number of server messages by using statistics on the amount of time consumed by each module and function and the amount of time it takes to call those modules and functions. Combine different kinds of batch processing to cut down on draw calls, employing both dynamic and static batch processing. Also, consider the number of engine resources used for animation and physics.

Optimization Of GC

Utilizing technology known as object pools allows for the reuse of items such as bullets. Don’t continually allocate heap memory in functions called if you want to reduce the quantity of garbage stored in memory. In addition, you can operate the GC at non-sensitive times and make every effort to avoid doing so during crucial windows of the day.

Also Read: Detailed Mobile Game Testing Checklist

Different Kinds of Performance Evaluations

The two primary approaches to evaluating a system’s performance are load testing and stress testing. On the other hand, you can determine the game’s performance through the use of a variety of various sorts of testing methodologies. Here are a few instances that illustrate the point:

Load Testing

A QA tester can measure the system’s performance via load testing, which immediately switches the test case to a code base as the amount of work done rises. “workload” may refer to the number of concurrent users or transactions. Tests of this kind help ensure that you effectively talk with either your server or the memory. Before a program or system is made available to the public, its developers must identify the maximum number of users it can support.

In addition, it can help offer in-depth insights into the capability of the hardware to load test-specific functionalities and the number of resources required for the games. It has the potential to provide meaningful information about the game’s capability to check predicted response times and discover bottlenecks. The testing load might involve anything from the most fundamental server upload and download functions to a database connection. Queries and a wide variety of inputs are sent to the game and its infrastructure so that optimization can occur.

Stress Testing

The analysis of the scalability of a workload is better through stress tests, which enable software techniques to determine the robustness of the software teams. The soak test and the spike test are two subcategories that fall under the umbrella of the stress test. Stress on the system can also result in sluggish data transfers, depletion of available memory, corrupted data, and safety concerns. A system’s resilience, availability, and error-handling capabilities undergo testing during stress testing. You can do it before or after the procedure is put into production. It is more concerned with how the system performs beyond the limits of its predicted capacity when subjected to a severe load than with determining how it should behave in typical circumstances.

A business may also conduct what is known as a stress test in advance of an anticipated significant event. This type of test includes metrics such as transaction response time, transactions per second, pages per second, and connection failure. It approximates the anticipated load using the same tools utilized in load tests.

Also Read: Difference: Load Testing vs. Performance Testing vs. Stress Testing

In a nutshell

The practice of testing games is an essential component of your organization’s overall game development process. For you to deal with scalability, it helps to guarantee that the game is enjoyable and will not crash. Testing the game’s performance is essential to ensuring a fluid gameplay experience. It assures that the player will always make progress, have a seamless experience playing the game, and have consistent performance throughout the entirety of the gaming trip.

The developers and testers must conduct exhaustive performance testing across all essential metrics and gameplay scenarios to produce unrivaled gaming performance. This testing should have an emphasis on quality, cost, and timing.

The post Complete Guide To Game Performance Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

Single player and multiplayer online games are equally popular on the internet. As of 2022, the most online games are PUBG, Call of Duty Mobile, Fortnite, MineCraft, amongst others. However, there is stiff competition in the online gaming market. Consumers have a lot of choices up their sleeves, an abysmal gaming experience can derail your growth plans.

It is important to note that mobile games are also a piece of software that are run over different pieces of hardware (or device view ports). For instance, you could play games on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and/or gaming consoles. Since the game players have the flexibility to play games using different touch points, it is essential to focus on thorough game testing.

However, devising a game testing strategy that does wonders is easier said than done. You need to choose the best-suited framework, tools, and testing infrastructure that can do the work for you! In this blog, we deep dive into how to create a game testing strategy that will help in delivering a top-notch gaming experience to your target audience.

Manual or Automated Testing: Game testing that clicks

Manual vs automated testing is always an on-going debate, whether it is for game testing or any other form of software testing. An ideal game testing strategy must include the right mix of manual and automated game testing scenarios.

Many first-time testers have a wrong notion that automated game testing is entirely different from testing web (or mobile) applications. Well, they are almost the same except that many mobile games consume a good amount of CPU and GPU. The consumption of CPU and/or GPU can go up massively for games that are using high-end graphics.

Automated game testing can take care of testing game-play scenarios that do not require much manual intervention. On the other hand, manual testing must be leveraged for running exploratory tests on the said game. Apart from this, manual testing of games can come in handy for testing different scenarios like offline gaming, corner test cases, gaming performance under throttling network conditions, and more.

UIautomator, Appium, EggPlant, Selendroid, etc. are some of the most popular mobile app automation frameworks that can be used for automated game testing.

Also Read – Best Mobile App Testing Tools for iOS and Android

The automation team can focus on creating scalable and reliable test scripts that can automate the login, game flow (i.e. completing levels, purchasing items from the game store, etc.), and quit the game play on game completion. Load testing and stress testing must also be a part of the automated game testing strategy.

On the other hand, manual game testing must be conducted in cases where automation is not very effective. Let’s be pragmatic – 100 percent automated game testing is a myth which is why you will need a mix of automated & manual game testing to release a game that is loved by the audience!

How To Formulate Game Testing Strategy?

Till now, you would have realized that game creation is all about intuitive UI, great gameplay, social media integration, and much more. Having said that, the above positives will fall flat if the game logic and UI is not tested thoroughly. A game testing company like KiwiQA can play a pivotal role in formulating and executing the gaming test plan at an expedited pace!

Here are some of the major steps that must be carried out when building the game testing strategy:

Understanding Requirements

As mentioned earlier, a gaming project is very much similar to any other type of software project; with some minor set of differences. You could use the Agile approach for development and continuous testing for ensuring that every line of code is thoroughly tested before it makes it to the production build.

All of the above can only be achieved if the game requirements are listed out well in the Game Design Document (GDD). The document comprises the user onboarding process, game logic, game benefits (monetary or nonmonetary), and more.

Once the requirements are well understood, the test & QA teams led by the test architect can work on creating a detailed test plan that outlines tests to verify every aspect mentioned in the GDD.

Also Read – Different Stages of Game Testing

Test Strategy and Test Cases Creation

Now that you have understood all the requirements of the GDD, the next step is to create a test strategy that is aligned with the features mentioned in the GDD. The test strategy must take into account the scalability, reliability, and security of the test scenarios.

There should be a clear cut approach on how to track bugs, test environments, continuous testing with CI/CD, and more. Prioritize types of tests (i.e. functionality, cross browser, load, stress, regression, etc.) that you want to add in the test strategy.

Apart from this, the test plan must clearly highlight the role of manual testing in the big scheme of things. Partnering with an outsourced QA vendor like KiwiQA that provides game testing services can help in building a formidable game testing strategy.

Test Execution

Once the test strategy (or test plan) outlining different types of test scenarios is ready, the next step is to run the tests. Since games comprises different components that involve interaction with touch screen, motion sensors, etc.; it becomes important to devise test scenarios that take all the factors into consideration.

The type & scale of test scenarios will differ depending on the game logic and the devices (or viewport sizes) that are supported for game play. For example, some mobile games are only supported on devices that satisfy certain CPU/RAM configurations, display sizes, etc.

Since there are a number of test automation frameworks for mobile app testing (e.g. EggPlant, Appium, etc.) and web testing (Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, etc.); it is recommended to choose the one that meets your project and team’s requirements.

Also Read – Major Game Testing Challenges Game Testers Face

Publishing Test Reports

Like any other form of testing, test reports play an integral part in covering all the aspects of test execution. Test reports must contain information related to the number of test scenarios, percentage of pass vs. failed tests, potential release blockers, and more.

Game developers must be able to derive insights from the test reports so that they can prioritize the bugs that need to be fixed on priority.

Fixing Issues

The bugs discovered during the test execution phase must be prioritized by the team managers. Respective issues must be assigned to the respective game developers along with setting a deadline so that fixes can make it to the production at the earliest.

Bugs fixes must be tracked using bug tracking tools like Jira. In our experience, it is recommended to fix bugs (or issues) related to game play and performance on priority. These are the two major factors that can halt the growth of an online game.

Also Read – Mobile Game Testing Checklist

It’s A Wrap

Online gaming market is growing at a rapid pace and the growth is not limited only to developed nations but also applicable to developing nations. Rapid proliferation of mobile phones and mobile internet is the major reason behind the meteoric growth of online games.

Since there is a stiff competition in the gaming market, game developers must prioritize game testing so that top quality games can reach the intended audience. It is preferred to onboard an outsourced QA vendor that has experience in providing game testing services to gaming companies.

In a nutshell, game testing must be treated on the same lines as game development since a non-tested game can be a huge turn-off for the users of the game.

The post How To Build An Effective Game Testing Strategy? appeared first on KiwiQA.

As per reports by Statista, the overall revenue from mobile gaming is slated to reach US$109,797 million^[1] in 2021. The number of users in the mobile game segment are expected to grow to 2,228.4 million users by 2025. Increased engagement in games has also resulted in an increase in the ARPU (Average Revenue per User) which is around US$61.02 in 2021.

Source

Striking graphics, animations, revenue making opportunities, faster phones with better CPUs & GPUs, etc. are some of the factors that are contributing to the growth of online mobile gaming. Since a majority of the games use the CPU and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) extensively; it is imperative for mobile game developers to seek services of mobile app testing services providers that can help test the mobile game on different fronts.

Reliability and Performance are the two major factors that can make or break the game. It is not an overstatement that performance testing of mobile games should be performed at the early stages of game development. This strategy helps in ensuring that the performance issues are not carried forward to the latter stages of development.

A common performance test for mobile games is evaluating its performance for different loads or user interaction patterns. An important question that needs to be answered is “What should be some of the must-haves in a detailed mobile game testing strategy?”

By the end of this blog, you will have an answer to the above question, as we discuss some of the essential practices that should be a part of the mobile game testing checklist.

Device Performance Testing

Irrespective of the type of mobile application, its performance should not deteriorate; else it might irk the end-users. For example, slowness in rendering of mobile game graphics even on high-end phones can be a huge deal-breaker for your mobile game.

Here are some of the essential things that you need to check as far as device performance testing is concerned:

Game Startup

The very first game performance parameter is the startup time of the respective game. More the time it takes for starting up, the higher are the chances of users being less engaged in the game.

The game should take a maximum 2-3 seconds to load up, else it might annoy the end users.

Battery and Thermal Parameters

Whether it is a single-user game or a multi-user online game, the fact is that gaming consumes a lot of battery. This is because mobile devices are set to run at higher CPU clock speeds and higher GPU clock speeds when mobile gaming is under progress.

This boost up is done to ensure that there is no lag or delay in the gaming experience. Many mobile phones also provide a ‘gaming mode’ and the phone automatically switches to that mode as soon as the user starts playing a game.

Since the phone runs at higher CPU and GPU speeds, it is bound to consume more battery, which in turn results in an increased device thermal temperature. As a part of mobile game testing checklist, you have to keep a consistent eye on the device’s battery and thermal consumption at different stages of game play.

Usage with other applications

In most scenarios, mobile gaming is performed in the landscape view. Gaming will not stop the other apps that are running in the background. Playing games with other games running in the background can be catastrophic but you at least need to test mobile app gaming performance when other essential apps (e.g. email, social media, etc.) are running in the background.

The mobile game testing checklist should include testing with less CPU-intensive apps that can run when mobile gaming is in progress. This will help in replicating real-life scenarios that can occur when your intended users are playing the game.

You can also leverage the assistance of mobile game testing services companies like KiwiQA since it has helped a number of mobile gaming companies achieve scale by accelerating shipping of their games.

Memory Consumption

Adding functionalities in the game can lead to an increase in the memory consumption. This also applies for scoring since the player’s score will only be uploaded after a certain amount of time.

Apart from scoring, there are many areas like leaderboard, social media integration, push notifications, etc. that can consume a large amount of memory.

The mobile game testing checklist should consider the pattern of memory consumption at different stages of the game play. As a developer and tester, you should also look at fixing memory leakages (if any) in the source code.

Also Read – Major Game Testing Challenges Game Testers Face

Device Variations

Mobile fragmentation is one of the biggest challenges that has to be addressed by the mobile game developer. For a start, you need to be clear about the minimum device specifications required for running the game. All these details should be clearly mentioned in the manifest file.

If the above condition is satisfied, you need to test the game performance on different mobile viewports and hardware combinations; thereby ensuring that the gaming performance is top-notch across different device and display combinations.

Network Performance Testing

Most modern-day mobile games require internet connectivity since a lot of vital player and leaderboard data is fetched from the game servers. However, network throttling can have an impact on the game performance, since the time taken to read the data from the server might vary depending on the network speed.

Here are some of the important things that should be a part of the network performance testing:

Network Speeds

The amount of time taken to fetch data using 3G, 4G, and 5G will vary a lot. Apart from the speeds supported by the respective bands; it will also depend on varying factors like location, upload/download speeds, etc. Hence, it is important to test the mobile game on different network conditions. Not only this, you should also test the app when there is a network handover.

The same set of tests should be conducted on the combination of stable and flaky WiFi conditions. Such a test helps in improving the gaming performance, irrespective of the type or speed of the network.

Jitter

A delay in receiving the information (in the form of packets) is called a Jitter. The game should be able to handle jitters so that relevant data is read rightly from the received packets.

In case of jitters, it is recommended to send an appropriate notification to the end-user, whereby the request can be sent again or a wait is performed till the system again starts responding.

Packet Loss

Flakiness in the network can result in packet loss. In such a scenario, the game logic must be developed in a manner that it is able to resend the packet request.

If this situation is not handled properly, it might result in the player receiving incomplete information. This can be a dreadful experience for the gamer. Hence, it is recommended to display an appropriate message to the gamer so that there is no hindrance on the gaming experience.

Also Read – Different Stages of Game Testing

Server Performance

The game logic interacts with the server using an API. Hence, the response time from the API becomes critical for the end-user gaming experience. Here are some of the important factors that should be a part of the mobile game testing checklist from a server/API performance point of view:

Server Downtime

Imagine a scenario where the gamer is in the midst of the game and there is an unexpected server downtime. The game developer needs to make sure that the experience is not hampered even in such unexpected scenarios.

In case there is a server downtime, locally stored data should be used for game play. Many mobile gaming companies have the provision of fail-over database servers, where data is fetched from the secondary servers (in case there is any issue in the primary servers). It is a backup server that has all the integral information present on the primary server.

Also Read – Top 5 Myths About Mobile Game Testing

Time To Service Data

In a majority of the games, the interaction of the game with the servers is limited to gaming, social media updates, leaderboard, etc. More the number of network interactions, higher is the probability of deterioration in performance and experience.

Overall, the game design should be such that it is able to efficiently handle data sent to & from the server. Time to hand network data should be a part of the mobile game testing checklist.

Conclusion

Mobile gaming has taken the mobile world by storm since mobile phones are feature-rich to handle graphic-intensive games. Just like shift-left testing, mobile game testing must be shifted closer to mobile game development; so that game testing can be performed at an early stage.

In this blog, we created a concise mobile game testing checklist that will help you build a fool-proof mobile game testing strategy. KiwiQA is an expert in providing a range of mobile app testing services, partnering with the company can help in expediting the mobile game launch!

The post Detailed Mobile Game Testing Checklist appeared first on KiwiQA.

When it comes to online gaming; the game design, game storyline, and overall UI/UX play a big role in keeping the users hooked to the game. Quality assurance of the game should be tailor-made depending on the type of the game (single player game or multiplayer game).

The major difference between testing of normal applications & games is that games should be able to meet the expectations from the gameplay point of view. In this blog, we deep dive into some of the best practices to realize impactful mobile game testing. The points being covered in the blog primarily apply to mobile game testing since mobile gaming contributes close to 57 percent^[1] of the total gaming revenue worldwide.

Without further ado, let’s get started with the blog…

Major Areas of Mobile Game Testing

Game developers and testers have to keep in mind that performance, compatibility, and gameplay experience are the three major factors that would have a direct impact on the user ratings of the mobile game.

1. Graphics Performance

Graphics plays a major role in engaging the users to a particular game. What if you can deliver awesome-looking graphics to the gamers but they come across lags in the gameplay due to the heavy graphics. This factor should be essentially considered for multi-player games.

When playing games, the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the mobile phone will be used the most. There is a possibility that the GPU will be running at the highest clock rate. If not implemented properly, the said game can slow the device due to excessive heating. Hence, game testers should test the games on a variety of devices before zeroing on the supported devices.

Game testers should run the game on different types of devices and log vital device parameters like CPU consumption, device temperature, GPU consumption, battery usage, data consumption, and more.

2. Security Testing

Many game developers monetize their games by displaying advertisements inside the gameplay. To realize this, the developer makes use of a number of third-party tools like ads, payment gateways, etc.

Access to third-party websites opens up a number of opportunities for intruders to penetrate through your system. If this happens, it could lead to dire consequences for the game developer as well as the gaming company. Hence, game testers should perform penetration tests to make the gameplay impressive as well as secure.

Also Read – Testing Concerns For Mobile Game Testers

The use of third-party tools could also slow down the game performance; hence performance testing should be considered on priority. Functional testing and security testing should be considered on priority for mobile game testing.

It makes business sense to outsource game testing services so that the game developers can concentrate on making the gaming experience smoother and faster. When outsourcing the testing of games, you should consider a game testing company that has significant experience in testing mobile games at a significant scale.

Social media integration has become an essential part of mobile gaming. It drives engagement, stickiness, and participation in the game. Many gamers flaunt their game expertise by sharing their scores on various social media channels. To make the most out of social media integration, game testers need to ensure what part of user data is used for monetization and targeting gamers with hyper-personalized ads.

3. User Interface Testing

UI/UX of the game plays a major role in the gameplay. Gamers feel engaged in games that have superlative UI/UX and performance. Interface testing must be considered on priority as far as mobile gaming is concerned.

The onboarding experience should be simple, engaging, and effective. Gamers will quit the game if they are made to enter tons of information on the onboarding screen. It is recommended to have a ‘revisit onboarding’ button so that gamers can come back to that section as and when required. Choice of colors, fonts, and other aspects related to the game are important factors that can make or break the progress of the game.

Game testers should ensure that game renders properly on different orientations, different device view-ports, etc. They should also test the gaming experience taking the corner cases into consideration.

Also Read – Different Stages of Game Testing

Best Practices Of Mobile Game Testing

As mentioned earlier, certain aspects of app testing also apply to mobile game testing but testers should craft a customized testing strategy to ensure that top quality game hits the online store. Now that we have covered the essentials of mobile game testing, let’s look at the essential practices that should be followed when testing online mobile games.

Here are the major areas that should be considered for mobile game testing:

1. Compatibility Testing

Just like app testing, game testers need to ensure that the said game is performing uniformly on different browsers, platforms, and device combinations. Since games can also be controlled using external devices like VR gadgets, game controllers, etc.; it is important to run compatibility tests on the most popular game controllers.

Based on the major target market, you should run tests on low-end devices (i.e. mobile devices in the mid-market range) along with running tests on high-end devices (that have excellent CPU, GPU, and other device specifications).

Also Read – Major Game Testing Challenges Game Testers Face

2. Functional Testing

As the name indicates, this form of game testing involves testing the entire gameplay. Since different user flows have to be tested as a part of functional testing, it becomes important to leverage automation testing to test user flows and game performance.

Essential tools should be used for logging CPU, GPU, and battery-related information to keep a watch on the gameplay vis-à-vis device performance. Game stability should be considered of prime importance during the functional testing process.

3. Localization Testing

Localization testing is a form of testing that ensures that the mobile game offers functionality and usability in a certain locale. As your game gains wider adoption, there is a high possibility that it will gain traction from different countries across the globe.

What if the game gains adoption in non-English speaking markets? In such cases, the game content (e.g. textual, audio, etc.) should be adopted as per the locale.

This is where localization game testing comes into the picture. There are significant benefits of localization testing of mobile games, which in turn increase the lifetime (or longevity) of the mobile game.

4. Performance Testing

This form of testing is important for verifying websites as well as mobile games. Poor rendering of game graphics, sluggishness in the game performance, and excessive CPU (and GPU) consumption can cause a dent in the growth of the game. The prime principle is ‘performance testing of mobile games should be done on actual devices with different device viewports’!

Game testers have to run functional tests to verify user flows of the game on emulators and simulators of mobile devices. Parallelly, testers should run performance tests on a range of ‘real’ mobile devices for verifying performance aspects of the game.

Also Read – Reasons Why A Professional Game Tester Is Important for Game Testing

Conclusion

In some form, mobile game testing can be considered as a minimal subset of mobile app testing. Since mobile games involve greater intuitiveness, mobile game testers should run tests on mobile emulators (or simulators) as well as actual mobile devices.

Mobile gaming companies should onboard an experienced game testing company like KiwiQA to accelerate the efforts on the testing front. The team at KiwiQA can also suggest the best-suited testing tools so that the mobile game can be tested thoroughly. Outsourcing game testing services have significant long-term benefits and it’s high time game developers (and gaming companies) reap these benefits!

The post Best Practices of Mobile Game Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

Why Game Tester Is Important?

The most obvious way a game is expected to get affected without testers is through the issues of bugs. These issues simply turn the game unplayable, which eventually brings down the reputation of the concerned game development company. Some developers claim to handle bug reports of their own.

It’s certainly not enough though considering the fact that extensive analysis of the game play matters equally as well, which has to be handled by the testers. Apart from this, aspects like emotional connectivity with the game, level of fun, etc., also are essential to be tested. All these inputs are better to be taken from the testers.

Bringing Clarity with Bug Classification

A professional game tester makes things easier for a developer in many ways. Their classification of the bugs and feedbacks brings immense clarity to the developer. With the specific categorization of bug database, it can be easier for the developers regarding future reference.

It naturally lowers the chances of future occurrences of mistakes. It’s always advised for the testing expert and developer to have a direct discussion, especially about the tricky technical aspects like AI. All in all, it is to be ensured that the final report brings productive changes to the game.

This is the reason that the leading game developing houses prefer their developer and testing team to work in concurrence. The biggest advantage of testing professionals working in concurrence with the developers is that it avoids testers getting too strict or critical.

Also Read: Software Testing Vs. Game Testing

Determining Difficulty Level

The difficulty level is another crucial aspect on which the tester’s role can’t be ignored. As discussed above, the best recommendation always is for the developers and testers to work in concurrence. Any recommendation by an expert on testing must be entertained regarding the concept or story of the game. In fact, modern-day testers work from the character development stage or conception stage as well.

Crucial Stages of Testing for An Accomplishing Outcome

Making the scope for testing broader, the enter process starting from development to deployment can be strategically channeled. It works effectively while figuring out the intrinsic aspects that often don’t come into the sight of the developer. Game testing is a wholesome process that passes through different stages in a systematic fashion.

Below are the different stages of testing that can assure a game is flawless in all aspects:

Testing the Installation Aspects

This stage is to ensure that the game is ready to be thoroughly installed and functioned on different platforms or supported by different devices. It obviously ensures or widens the user base of a game. Testers produce comprehensive test case reports about this stage of testing.

Also Read: Different Stages of Game Testing

Testing Its Specs

Ensuring each of the features of the game works well is absolutely crucial as far as its effectiveness is concerned. After all, features are the prominent highlighting factors of any game. The verification report of feature testing is also included in the test case report.

It is basically a two-dimensional approach, where the first dimension is about testing the most obvious specs (those expected to be with all games of its category). The other dimension is about testing the features from the perspective of certain conditions or cases. Apart from these, test matrix test cases are also conducted in those cases where there remain varied features for different players (being a multiplayer game).

Testing Game UI

User Interface testing is indeed one of the crucial steps of game testing. This is an extensive step where the graphical aspects, as well as the contents or plots, are analyzed. If the game has to involve specific twists for a specific location, the same has to be addressed and tested as well.

Also Read: Major Game Testing Challenges Game Testers Face

Testing the Performance-Related Aspects

Testing the performance of the game or performance testing is like the ultimatum step. Here the most common tasks that a player is most likely to perform are figured out and tested. Testers set a specific duration for these tasks while putting those in action. The game is then put into action consistently for straight 24 hours. The duration can be higher for games involving multiple players.

How to Test Games?

Modern-day game testing is indeed the most advanced of all. It though, is compared with traditional software testing in many ways, but game testing is undoubtedly more subjective in nature. As here, the tester remains responsible for addressing the engagement aspects as well; their role seems bigger. Moreover, they have to consider various demographic aspects into account as well. All said and done, the role of a professional tester can’t be ignored for having an accomplishing game development.

The post Reasons Why A Professional Game Tester Is Important for Game Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

The success of a mobile game is affected by a lot of factors. But we would not be discussing all of them here in this article. Here, we will just talk about game testing. Testing mobile games are as important as testing mobile apps. It can alone decide about 80% of the success rate of your mobile game. Game testing has its challenges and risks.

To combat these challenges, many tools are also available in the market. Hence, as a tester, it is your responsibility to detect the risks and plan your way out of the challenges to finally release an effective and productive game to the market. If your game functions properly, it can reach a broad spectrum of end users and can get a good response. This, in turn, would not only give you a high ROI but will also ensure customer trust and loyalty.

Now that you know how effective mobile testing can benefit you and your business let us go deep into the concept of game testing and try to know some important things about the same. Further here, in this article, we will discuss the various stages involved in mobile game testing and see how critical each one is.

Different Stages of Game Testing

1. Closed Alpha

This is a major stage of game testing that takes place at the preliminary level. Closed Alpha testing is performed by a group of users for detecting the bugs that might have been missed out during the development phase or the other test stages occurring at the preliminary level.

Also Read: Things To Keep In Mind While Testing Mobile Game

The main objective of the Closed Alpha testing is refining a particular software system by identifying and fixing errors that remain undiscovered during the earlier stages of the software development process. The Closed Alpha testing is conducted by simulating the real end-user environment with the help of every step which might be performed by the actual end users.

2. Closed Beta

The Closed Beta testing stage is more or less similar to that of the Closed Alpha testing stage. However, there is only one point of difference between the two, and that is- Closed Beta testing is comparatively more extensive. This testing process is even open to the gamers who wish to take part in the test process by figuring out the bugs that create potential obstacles in the natural flow of game-play.

Closed Beta testing is critical as the less number of testers performing the Closed Alpha testing might fail to detect all the errors and bugs. The number of individuals associated with Closed Beta testing may range from hundreds to thousands. The bugs detected in this stage of mobile game testing are fixed before the game goes forward for the next testing. In general, both Closed Alpha as well as Closed Beta includes a confined number of game testers by giving invitations only to specific people.

3. Open Beta

The Open Beta is the pre-release testing stage of mobile games. This test is made open to every user who wishes to try the game. As many of the possible bugs have been already dealt with in the earlier stages, this stage is mainly focused on improving the user experience. By the feedbacks and reviews obtained from the game users, certain functionalities can be included in the game.

Apart from these three stages of testing, other smaller tests are also there in mobile game testing. These tests help to make the live user test process successful. Some of such tests are- Balance Test, ‘Fun Factor’ Test, Reliability Test, and Learnability Test. After all these test processes come the final stage of game testing that is- game submission, here, the mobile game is completely ready to be released, and the testers confirm the testing checklist for the last time.

Also Read: Why To Outsource Game Testing Service?

Before the game is released, the testers run it in a production environment for ensuring the game does not has any broken codes. After this, the game finally receives the certification to get published. Game testing involves a lot of stages, and the testers have to walk down the game successfully through each of them.

Every stage has its challenges. But it’s the responsibility of the game testing team to stay alert and pay attention to every minute detail to obtain a top-notch final product. The testers should avoid rushing through the stages and should conduct the tests thoroughly for the best results.

Want to launch a bug-free mobile game? We can help you! At KiwiQA, We offer game testing services to create a successful game for your audience.

The post Different Stages of Game Testing appeared first on KiwiQA.

That being said, however, testing mobile games isn’t as easy as it is thought to be. Just like mobile application testing, game testing also has its own set of difficulties and hurdles that challenge the game testers. However, to reach out to the target audience and make the game successful in the market, these challenges have to be overcome, and the games have to be thoroughly tested.

So, what should be your first step towards a successful game testing? Well, to carry out an effective game testing process, you first need to know the challenges that you can face during your venture. Having prior knowledge about the difficulties that you may face can help you to curb them or avoid them altogether. So, here is a list of the common challenges that most of the game testers face during game testing. Let’s go ahead and check what these are.

Common Challenges Faced By Game Testers

1. Direct Screen Access

Today, a lot of mobile games make use of direct screen accessing. This is done by bypassing the OS level tasks with the help of various APIs and software frameworks such as OpenGL and ActiveX. Because of this, the conventional frameworks for mobile automated testing turn redundant when mobile games are concerned. The automation only makes use of XY clicks since there is not any access to the object level data.

2. Load Testing

Be it app testing or game testing, none of them is ready to be released into the market without load testing. With the emergence of network-based games, the attention is gradually getting diverted towards MMORPG and MMO games. One of the major challenges faced here is security. Security comes as a big concern when building a testing facility for the console games. Considering the high stakes associated with the console games, the risk of security becomes a big headache.

3. Social Media Integration

Today social media integration has become a mandatory necessity for all the applications, and game apps are no exception. The mobile games are being increasingly connected to different social media networks. With this, the game testers require paying more attention as social media can be both constructive as well as destructive.

If used and implemented effectively, social media can connect like-minded gamers and help them to exchange ideas, enriching user experience. It can also act as a great channel for businesses to introduce their products and software to their targeted audience. However, if it is not done properly, it can have a negative impact on the game. Hence, the game testers need to be careful while performing social media integration.

Also Read: Why To Outsource Game Testing Service?

4. Security Challenges

Today’s gamers are conscious enough to analyze the security a game provides before using it. So, you cannot afford to release an insecure application into the market. Hence, testing for game security is one of the most important responsibilities of the game testers. Before being launched, a game requires being scrutinized for security properly and correctly. Some of the available options for authentication are- Device Authentication, Social Authentication, and User Authentication.

5. Multiplayer Feature

Testing the multiplayer feature can act a huge challenge for the game testers, especially for the scenario when the players are far apart from one another, playing from different geographical regions. The mobile games with the multiplayer feature are quite difficult to test and debug. They can even consist of problems that are almost impossible to fix. To deal with this challenge, the game testers have to check the mobile games for their robust design.

6. Device Fragmentation

New smartphones are being released into the market very frequently. Also, many OS is available with different versions. Moreover, each version has various new features. Testing the games on so many versions of each OS can be quite challenging for the game testers.

The challenges involved in game testing are just many. The ones mentioned above are just a glimpse of the major ones. No matter how small or big the challenges are, as a professional game tester you must find out new methods and techniques to deal with the challenges and overcome them. You can also take the help of the latest tools and technologies available for the purpose.

Testing for game security, game compatibility, social media integration, and device fragmentation are some of the critical factors to consider. If you want to get success with your game, never release it without testing effectively. Always be goal-oriented and pay attention to every minute detail to ensure thorough testing. This will help you to get maximum user response for your game and benefit you with a high ROI.

Looking for a reliable game testing company? Contact us now!

The post Major Game Testing Challenges Game Testers Face appeared first on KiwiQA.