(Yes, it’s a job, not just a hobby!) By: Paige Stoner Video Game Tester (Yes, it’s a job, not just a hobby!) By: Paige Stoner

Options available in the gaming field There are: Game Testers: People who beta test games that find and report glitches. Game Designer: People who map out the games and come up with new updates. Game Chain Owner: People who own the games overall company. Game Programmer: People who handle the technical coding and programing. Game Artists: People who draw (and possibly color) the characters and setting. Game Store Owners: People who have to schedule when games come in, have an overall knowledge of them, and price the games fairly.

Salary Ranges Depending on the option you choose, will effect your pay. A game designer would make around 86,510 a year, while a game tester would only make around 25, 000 yearly. A game programmer would make around 95, 300 and a game artist around 75,000 yearly. Game chain owners and store owners salaries vary depending on how popular the store or game is.

Education and special requirements To do most of the options, you most have a high school diploma, and have either a college Associate’s degree (two years) or a Bachelor's degree (4 years). A Bachelor’s degree tuition and fees cost around 8,655. Not including housing and books. Some classes you should take for this job are introduction to game development, character animation, history of video games, 3D modeling, game analysis, level design, and simulation design.

Schools You Can Attend University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology

Special Qualities and Abilities Writing skills (grammar, spelling, etc.) Attention to detail Gaming experience Strong communication Game knowledge Computer knowledge

Well Know Gamer: Elizabeth Dwyer, yes, the girl on YouTube who goes by the alias LDShadowLady. She started off her YouTube career Beta testing games, and now that her channel has grown greatly, she get’s paid to do it! She was born on October 7 in England and has an older sister named Madison. Elizabeth went to college in Liverpool, England for computer animation and sometimes will post her animations. She has become well known for all her quirky Minecraft series and has over 1,000,000,000 views. Her subscriber count is over 3.8 million and she now gets paid around 110.9 million monthly! She is currently 25.

My Reaction I believe that I could not make a full career of game testing, but it would be cool to minor in college for it. I already decided I wanted to Major in either private investigating or forensics. It would also be cool to test games while in college. I know a lot about forensics, so I chose this as a topic I thought was cool, but didn’t 100% want to be.

Websites used: Study.com Gameindustrycareerguide.com -Glassdoor.com Study.com Gameindustrycareerguide.com Successfulstudent.org