Many people choose their occupation based on possible income and personal gain/interest. By weighing these two factors against each other, and considering what is the most important for ourselves, it’s easier to get a feel for which assignments might be suitable. Maybe you have an interest in beta testing, but want to know more about what income to expect, before getting further involved. As mentioned in an article on beta testing jobs, there are several factors which can impact the game tester salary.
What is normal compensation for this job in America?
When starting out, it is common to receive about $18 000/year. That is, without higher education or previous experience. However, after a couple of years, the salary can increase to almost double that amount. So the previous amount of experience in this line of work can greatly impact earnings. Another aspect to consider, is an employees position within the testing department. A lead tester, that have kept his/her job for more than six years, often gets more than $70 000/year.
What other factors are impacting ?
Previous education makes a difference, but not always as much as one might think. Some positions require certain kinds of formal schooling. As previously mentioned, this influences an employees pay, by making various positions possible. On the other hand, if the goal is just working as a normal game tester, surveys have shown that people without higher education actually receive a higher compensation. Although this could be due to lack of real work-experience, if people with degrees seek to advance to other positions within the industry as soon as possible, using the beta tester jobs as a stepping stone. Game tester salary also differs, depending what country and region you are in.
The video game industry is dominated by males. But there are games released, geared toward women, which also need testing. Most games are created for both men and women, but since females are relatively few in this line of work, they often receive greater economical compensation as game testers, compared to males. Depending on the different companies, some give out provisional rewards to game testers when bugs are found, or other tasks accomplished. So having greater skill and work-efficiency might actually sometimes increase how much money you can make as a game tester. The last thing I am going to bring up, is company size. Game developer companies, that have more money to spend on the project at hand, are often able to afford paying out higher salaries to their game testers.
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