How Video Game Testing Differs from Traditional Software QA

Imagine booting up your favorite video game. As the intro soundtrack kicks in, you are immersed in the endless possibilities that this crafted world holds for you. Now picture opening a banking app. As a user, you expect quick load times, seamless navigation, and secure transactions. While both of these products are classified as software, their purpose, and the expectations users have for them could not be more different.

In this blog, we will explore the differences between video game testing and traditional software QA. We will compare the different testing techniques, as well as some types of bugs and their impact on different software.

Differences between video game testing and traditional software testing

Traditional software applications such as banking apps, e-commerce platforms, or healthcare software are highly structured and have clearly defined functional requirements and workflows.

Let’s take a banking app as an example: it allows us to pay our bills, manage our finances, and complete transactions without the need to visit an actual bank. The success of fintech apps is closely related to their reliability, accuracy, and compliance with specific regulations - all of which prioritize functionality over creativity or aesthetics.

While video games and traditional software rely on similar testing techniques, the way these methods are applied and the scope of testing differ significantly due to the nature of the products.

Video games are created to entertain, engage, and stimulate the players. The ultimate goal is to craft a world that provides the emotional attachment that brings the players back for more. For this reason, the “feeling” of the software is just as important, if not more important, as its functionality.

Let’s take a closer look at which testing methods each type of software relies on the most.

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Traditional software testing

Unit, integration, and system testing form, what could be considered, the backbone of traditional software QA. These levels of testing ensure that individual components (unit tests), their interactions (integration tests), and overall system functionality (system tests) meet the defined requirements. On top of these, we have regression testing, playing a vital role in maintaining software stability by verifying that new changes or updates have not introduced unwanted side effects or broken any existing functionality.

Test automation plays a pivotal role in software quality assurance. QA engineers use automation tools like Selenium, Appium, Cypress, and many others enable testers to create repeatable and efficient scripts that can test various scenarios. The rise of AI and ML tools is further revolutionizing test automation. As highlighted in the 2024 World Quality Report by Capgemini, up to 71% of companies are using AI-driven tools for automating different testing tasks.

Beyond the functional testing, traditional software often relies on specific testing types that are based on the industry and regulatory needs. For example, banking apps will undergo penetration testing to ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR and identify and eliminate security vulnerabilities.

Video game testing

Video game testing, on the other hand, relies heavily on exploratory testing and manual play-testing. According to a 2021 study by IEEE titled “A Survey of Video Game Testing,” 60% of developers consider exploratory testing to be one of the most crucial parts of video game QA. As the scope of video games grows, so do the possibilities of the players, this, in turn, means that it is impossible to cover all scenarios in well-structured test cases, so exploratory testing is the key to simulating various unpredictable scenarios the players might find themselves in. 

Another big part of video game testing is performance testing. One of the best, or maybe the worst examples of how important performance testing is, is the 2020 release of CD Projekt Red’s “Cyberpunk 2077”. The game's performance issues on older hardware like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One caused a wave of refunds that cost the company an estimated $51 million. This also led to the game being pulled from the PlayStation store for a while and the company being sued by multiple parties. This highlights the importance of testing gameplay on a diverse set of platforms to ensure a consistent experience.

Automation also plays a role in game testing, however, it is nowhere near as prevalent here as it is in the testing of traditional software. For video games, automation testing is mostly used to test AI pathfinding and collision detection. The complex nature of game mechanics means that human judgment is irreplaceable, especially for aspects like narrative coherence and user engagement.

Types of bugs in video games vs. traditional software and their impact 

Bugs are an inevitable part of any software, but their nature differs significantly between traditional software and video games. The inherent differences between the expectations and the purpose of each type of software are the driving factors of why some bugs are more prevalent than others and why some will warrant more attention than others.

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Bugs in traditional software and their impact

Bugs in traditional software can range from simple typos to large-scale security issues and everything in between. The most common types of bugs in this space are functional bugs like a broken login system or a non-functioning “Add to cart” button. These types of bugs can have significant consequences. In 2012, a bug in “Knight Capital’s” trading algorithm caused millions of wrong orders to enter the market. According to the SEC Report, this caused the company a $440 million loss in just about 45 minutes.

Performance bugs

Performance-related bugs such as slow response times or crashes can also be a big concern, especially when people's lives are dependent on it. Downtime of traditional software used in the healthcare sector can delay patient care and cause life-threatening issues.

Security vulnerabilities

However, security vulnerabilities are considered to be some of the most critical issues in the field. Data breaches caused by these types of issues can expose sensitive information and lead to damaged reputations and huge regulatory fines. According to IBM’s 2024 Report titled “Cost of a Data Breach” the average cost of a data breach is around $4.88 million.

Bugs in video games and their impact

Bugs in video games have far less serious consequences than those found in traditional software. Some bugs can even become part of gaming culture. A great example of that is the famous “MissingNo” glitch from “Pokemon Red and Blue”. But, not all video game bugs make for a funny YouTube video as they can often lead to broken player immersion and dwindling satisfaction.

Gameplay bugs

Gameplay bugs, such as broken mechanics or progression blockers, can be some of the more disruptive types of issues found in video games. Games made by Bethesda are notorious for being buggy at launch. When “Fallout 76” was released in 2018, it was no exception. Among the many bugs plaguing the game, one saw players lose large amounts of progression as their inventories were being randomly deleted. This caused the game to suffer a wave of negative reviews, refunds, and significant damage to its reputation and sales. According to a 2023 survey by Statista, buggy game releases are among the leading causes of negative impact on player experiences.

Performance bugs

While most performance bugs are limited to mild annoyances due to framerate drops and the like, some can have a more significant impact. Shortly after the beta release of Amazon’s MMO “New World” players started reporting that their expensive Nvidia RTX 3090 GPUs were failing. Later it was discovered that this was caused by an uncapped frame rate in the game’s menu, which pushed the GUPs beyond safe operational limits.

Final thoughts

While video games and traditional software share many similar testing principles, their QA processes reflect the unique goals and expectations of their respective industries. Where traditional software QA prioritizes functionality and reliability bolstered by test automation, video game QA leans heavily on exploratory testing and manual play testing to ensure player enjoyment. 

From amusing video game bugs to financial disasters that are security bugs in traditional software, the stakes of inadequate QA differ significantly. While players can often ignore bugs in video games they are already invested in, ignoring bugs in critical software is not an option. As both fields embrace AI-driven tools and face increasingly complex demands, the importance of robust and adaptable QA methodologies remains ever-present.

For QA professionals, understanding the nuances of these industries is key to delivering quality products that meet user expectations. Whether you are testing a banking app or the latest AAA video game, the ultimate goal remains the same: to ensure software that works as intended while satisfying the needs of its users.

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