[stevezsa8]

In games QA, the deadlines are fixed and development creeps into QA time. So you get less QA time than you originally planned. If you're lucky, a patch will fix some bugs.

In non-games QA, if development takes too long, you typically get an extra sprint to test the changes.

In the games industry QA is considered an entry level job with little respect from other departments.

In non-games testing, QA is a career that pays double and is usually a respected part of the development process.

Basically, I would support the claim that QA could be improved generally across the board in the games industry.

[marcosdumay]

Well, the places that have QA people tend to respect them. But having QA people at all is not very common.

Also, I have never seen any place where they get double of a developer's salary. They usually get a bit less than a developer of the same seniority, with enough variance for some places to pay a bit more.

I have no idea why games have those fucked-up development practices where dropping features or extending deadlines are prohibited (ok, I have some ideas, but little confidence on them). But it's not only QA that is degraded by them. Every single aspect of the development suffers.

[stevezsa8]

Sorry about the confusion. Games QA tends to pay around minimum wage. So similar to working in a supermarket.

Testing any other software tends to pay atleast double minimum wage. But less than a developer salary.

Obviously this is a very general statement but that has been my experience.

I'd heard deadlines couldn't be extended due to console certification timelines. But I think a bigger problem is poor project management and waterfall development methodology... add the fixed deadline and you've got a recipe for a buggy under tested game.

[jxf]

> In non-games testing, QA is a career that pays double and is usually a respected part of the development process.

Pays double relative to developers, or pays double relative to their counterparts in the gaming industry?

[dspillett]

Relative to QA in the gaming industry I assume. I'm pretty sure (though I'm making significant assumptions, apply pinches of salt as appropriate) our testers are on less than our “standard” developers, certainly not more (though I think more than the junior/grad level), and that this holds for places friends work at.

How much “a respected part of the development process” holds true varies a lot in my experience, and depends on your PoV. A lot of places consider QA to be much less skilled work, a step (maybe two) above shelf-stacking, but still consider it vital to project success and needing enough thinking & understanding that it is far from all automatable.

> QA is a career that

In terms of career, I get the impression that QA management is much more respected and paid, but that there is comparatively less demand for people of those higher positions so upwards movement can be slow/difficult. This is one of the reasons why a lot of people who start in QA move sideways into development: there is greater opportunity for moving up.