Would you believe that there are many serious gamers who make $3000 or more per month just testing games for game development companies? Well, it’s true, and you can do it too. In this article, I’ll show you what it takes to get high-paying jobs as a video game tester.

First, let’s discuss why video game tester jobs are available. The reasoning is simple: a company is willing to pay money upfront to accredited testers to discover bugs and problematic failures. By fixing bugs before the game hits the market, they reduce the number of refunds and complaints they would have received from dissatisfied customers. In other words, they are willing and more than happy to pay you $300-$500 to try out a video game to save themselves from a $10,000-$100,000 catastrophe.

If you already play video games 20 hours or more a week, then it’s an absolute no-brainer that you should consider a career in this field. However, to get a job as a video game tester, you must have certain qualifications.

First of all, you need to be very skilled in the gaming platform you want to test the games on. To be honest, it wouldn’t hurt to have some experience with all the different gaming platforms. Many jobs will be related to computer games, so naturally this requires you to have a computer capable of running these different video games. The more powerful the computer, the better off you will be. Don’t worry if you’re not a big PC gamer, as there are plenty of companies that focus solely on console video games; like XBOX 360 or PS3 games.

In addition to the “equipment” requirements, you also need to be able to meet deadlines on time, every time; Plus, you have to have an excellent eye for detail. Patience is also key as you will have to explore many parts of the game multiple times for bugs and glitches. Finally, above average communication/writing skills are required for you to competently provide feedback and accurate analysis on the tested video game.

If you’re able to do and/or get all of these things, then it’s time to go to the next level and start looking for a job as a video game tester. The best way to do this is to contact game developers and offer them your test resume. Your game tester resume should have a LOT of compelling facts about why you would make a great tester, as well as plenty of references. References will be hard to find at first, which is understandable; but with time and some decent networks, you shouldn’t have much trouble listing powerful and trusted references.

There are many different valuable resources that can help you land these jobs. Your job is to find them and use them to propel yourself to a higher level of professional video game testing. If you can do that, well, the sky is the limit.