Game testers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, game testers rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 18% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy game testers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Video game creative director | 4.5 | $90k |
| Game level designer | 4.3 | $90k |
| Game designer | 4.2 | $90k |
| Video game producer | 4.1 | $90k |
| Game artist | 3.9 | $90k |
| Game tester | 3.8 | $29k |
| Multimedia animator | 3.5 | $79k |
| App developer | 3.5 | $71k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are game testers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do game testers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as game testers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are game tester’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are game testers making the best use of their abilities?
Are game testers happy with their salary?
Game testers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Game testers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked game testers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
322 game testers
15% of game testers rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of game testers rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of game testers rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of game testers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of game testers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do game testers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, game testers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.1/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked game testers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
325 game testers
22% of game testers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of game testers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of game testers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
21% of game testers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
16% of game testers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as game testers?
Game testers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of game testers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked game testers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
363 game testers
41% of game testers rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of game testers rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of game testers rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of game testers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of game testers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a game tester’s work environment?
As a whole, game testers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of game testers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a game tester.
We asked game testers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
358 game testers
39% of game testers rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of game testers rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of game testers rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of game testers rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of game testers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are game testers making the best use of their abilities?
Former game testers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most game testers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked game testers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
363 game testers
23% of game testers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of game testers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of game testers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
17% of game testers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
14% of game testers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars