How Much Are You Paid to Play Video Games?
Posted on | October 13, 2009 | 16 Comments
Probably the most common question after questions on legitimacy is “How much do you get paid to play games?” The answer? It varies, but easily above minimum wage. Expect $9-$15 per hour to start off with. It’s not a career by any means, but when you consider the fun games you get to play, and the fact that you play them before anyone else, it’s definitely a fair deal.
But you do have to wonder, why are these multi million dollar companies so willing to skimp on their QA testing salaries? I think it’s probably because they realize they will always have plenty of people lined up at their door looking to get paid to play game. I’ve also talked to some more experienced testers, guys that have been doing this literally since before I was born, and found out that since the industry has evolved and there are both more games addicting games to play and players addicted to playing them, and found out two really Earth shattering things (to me, anyway):
1. Video game testers used to play games for free, practically. They were paid very little back when most development teams were a group of five guys working out of their basement.
2. If you become more experienced, you can become the head of a QA team and earn a permanent position at a game studio which pays like a genuine career (we’re talking $40k a year at least!)
Okay, so maybe it’s not so shocking that you would end up not getting paid much money by a 5 man group back in the late 80s or early 90s, but learning about a true game tester career was humongous.
Imagine making about $20 per hour just playing a game for a company! Or more!
Anyway, I always just tell people basically that it depends, but now that I’ve talked to those guys about their careers in the game testing field, I can honestly say it isn’t a bad salary no matter how you look at it. Who else gets to have so much fun at their job- I know I haven’t heard of any field where you make money by playing great games online or some of the best action games.
Well, that’s about it on video game tester salary. I don’t get to work as often as I like because of school, but if you do manage to get a really nice job and work with a company for a while, you’ll start seeing more money. Right now I’m just kind of freelancing. But getting paid to play games is still the best job I’ve ever seen!
Tags: get paid to play games > play games for cash > video game tester salary
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16 Responses to “How Much Are You Paid to Play Video Games?”
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Who Am I?
Hey, my name's Brian Matthews and I get paid to play video games!
As for who I am (I know you're curious!) I'm just your average Joe that's been obsessed with games since he was about 4. I heard you could get a job in the video game field as a tester even right out of high school, but no one was exactly pointing the way for me.
So I took a stab at some of the programs online and found a great one called Gamer Testing Ground. Now I spend my days chilling and playing video games.
Well, not just chilling and playing video games, I also attend DeVry University where I'm working on my degree in Game and Simulation Programming. I also play some games for free, like Farmville- one of my favorite things is looking up Farmville strategy guides lately
Thought I'd share my experience both as a tester and as a genuine video game fanatic, since so many people wonder if you can really get paid to play games.
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December 8th, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
Thanks for the comment and suggestion, checking it out later!
December 14th, 2009 @ 9:50 am
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December 15th, 2009 @ 4:28 am
Of course! I’d love to have some regular readers, lol! Thanks for your kind comments!
January 23rd, 2010 @ 1:01 pm
I am totally addicted to Farmville at the minute I just can’t stop playing it! I wonder what will be the next big thing to it though? Has anyone started play Fishville yet? Good post though thanks.
January 30th, 2010 @ 1:58 am
farmville and townfarm are both time killers and intresting. actually there is a lot of signing in to it which can be annoying as hell espcially when around the time you need to look in to harvest. both are fun and exciting townfarm will allow you to be more interactive with others like inviting people to pick or plough the ground for you. i suggest it to everyone ? just hope they sort the bugs out soon
February 3rd, 2010 @ 3:00 pm
For certain people, game testing can be a great extra income, or a way of breaking into the games industry without a degree. Don’t assume it’s just sitting down and playing games all day though, it’s tough work, long hours, and the pay isn’t great to start with!
February 5th, 2010 @ 8:27 am
Definitely agree, the pay can be pretty bad at first, but if you stick with it and get a really good testing position, then it’s worth it! Thanks for commenting man!
February 5th, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
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