Concerns for QA Engineers in Mobile Game Testing

With increasing access to smartphones all around the globe, mobile gaming industry is reaching new heights. It’s expected to be valued at $311.2 billion by 2023. This poses a challenge for game developers to deliver high-quality games to stay afloat in this competitive industry. That’s why game developers hire a mobile application testing company that specializes in game testing and use their QA resources to test the game for flaws. Game testing has a similar process to that of software testing. Testers strive to make the game bug-free and up-to-date, keeping in mind the developer requirements and user expectations. Therefore, testers should not only be passionate mobile gamers but should also have deep knowledge and skills in testing.

Developers prefer hiring a mobile application testing company as opposed to a single skilled QA engineer because most games require crowd testing to provide a better quality game. Testing companies like Kualitatem are capable of using various game testing tools by different QA experts in different locations.

But is game testing a piece of cake? Certainly not. Testers require a blend of skills, tools, and strategy to pull-off game testing that satisfies client requirements. While doing so, testers face several challenges and, in this article, we’ll list a few.

Interface Testing

User interface testing is one of the most important steps taken to ensure an understandable and user-friendly mobile game. Testers check common things such as color effects, fonts, resolutions, instructions, the location of the main menu and the app’s behavior when the mobile screen is rotated. Other impactful aspects of the app such as navigation, loading speed, sounds, animation, messages, and notifications are also tested. This requires testing to be done on various smartphones under different conditions.

Graphic Testing

No one wants to play a game that has poor graphics, therefore, high-quality graphics play a significant role in the success of games. Graphic testing usually includes battery life tests and stress tests. Graphic quality significantly affects the battery drainage and speed of the device. These factors also vary from smartphone to smartphone. If a smartphone has a slow processor and low RAM, the loading speed is likely to be less than that of a phone with a faster processor and high RAM. Many mobile games like PUBG provide gamers the option to switch between different graphic qualities according to their device and preference. Similarly, a poorly tested game can cause the device to dry out too quickly. Therefore, both aspects of the game should be thoroughly tested.

AI Features Testing

Some mobile games incorporate AI features that can be very challenging to test. For example, a game like chess would require making complicated and complex tests. The algorithm would have to choose an appropriate move, from several possible moves based on the difficulty level set by the player. Without an elaborate testing process, the game can go terribly wrong.

3D Testing

Be it consoles, PC, or mobile, games on all platforms are competing for realism, making the QA process more precise and demanding. In a 3D game, even the most minute of details matter from characters and their clothes to the movement of bullets and even things like clouds, waves, wind, etc. QA engineers should be experienced enough to test the performance of 3D objects and models in the mobile game.

Conclusion

Generally, any QA process of a mobile game requires multi-functional testing of several app features. Although you can test the application with the help of a small QA team, hiring a mobile application testing company specializing in game testing is a much better option.