When you envision how awesome it would be to do something you love for a living, you also anticipate earning enough to at least live comfortably and not having to worry about monetary problems. While such things are nice to think about, the reality of the situation is that entry-level positions for almost any job are unsympathetic toward your need to pay the rent; however, as your proficiency grows with time, it is natural to expect more satisfactory emolument. With this in mind, why is it that even with years of experience, QA in particular suffers from being the lowest paid of the game development disciplines?

The most obvious answer to this very important question is that Quality Assurance is often seen as an austere entry-level position into the video game industry, thus making entry-level QA a binate entry-level position. It’s a double negative that does not resolve to a positive. Imagine you are in a D&D campaign and your character is trying to haggle with the leader of an adventurer guild on the price of services rendered, but you fumble your diplomacy check then critically fail when you roll to confirm. This is what being paid as a novice game tester is like.

Practically all entry-level positions on the market have basic prerequisites and Quality Assurance is no exception. Looking at the Blizzard Entertainment Employment Opportunities page, every qualification for their Night Shift Game Tester gig is simple and rudimentary. For example, some of the requirements listed include having a passion for games, willingness to work long and odd hours, and possessing good communication skills. Companies can get away with paying QA minor duckets for a thankless job because almost everyone who becomes a game tester has no prior experience with the profession or the industry. Starting salary is very low, with reports showing the average income sitting solidly in the range of 20k-30k for less than three years of experience in the industry.

Being underpaid isn’t just a stigma of the entry-level game tester either. No no, for even lead QA positions earn less than their counterparts from other game development disciplines. According to Game Developer magazine’s 7th annual salary survey (April 2008), the average income for QA Leads with 3-6 years of experience was barely under 42k while an equivalent position with comparable experience in Production made nearly 56k on average. That is quite an alarming difference in compensation for two similar occupations that are so closely connected to one another; especially considering how often QA will move into associate producer roles. This leads me to my final point…

It all boils down to the amount of time spent in Quality Assurance and the video game industry itself. It’s no secret that QA is frequently seen and used as a stepping stone to bigger and better positions. This proclivity to alternative advancement facilitates an existing “revolving door” syndrome: Fledgling QA join specifically to learn the ropes of the industry and then generally transfer out to other branches in game development. The same survey from Game Developer magazine also disclosed that only 38% of all QA total had between 3-6 years of experience in the industry. Sadly, this means there are not enough experienced game testers that stay in QA long enough to substantiate higher salaries.

Each of the game development disciplines is indispensable. While Quality Assurance is paid far less than their counterparts, this does not mean the job is any less important, relevant, or fun. It is awesome to do something you love for a living, even if the stipend is meager at best. Wade Tinney, CEO & Co-Founder of Large Animal Games, once said to me that, “Good QA are worth their weight in gold.” It’s just too bad that they aren’t traditionally paid their worth as well.