🎮 Intro: Why Good QA Still Fails
You spent months polishing your game. The code passed CI. The builds were “stable.” But players still hit weird bugs, crashes, and UX issues—especially on PC. Why?
Because PC QA is a different beast. Between endless hardware combos, OS quirks, and unpredictable player behavior, PC games face unique landmines.
Let’s break down the 7 most common (and dangerous) pitfalls in PC game QA—and how to avoid them before your Steam reviews take a hit.
❌ 1. Ignoring Hardware Diversity
The Trap:
You tested on a dev rig and one QA laptop. But what about that 8-year-old gaming PC with an HDD and GTX 1050?
What Goes Wrong:
Black screens on older GPUs
Frame drops on laptops with throttling
UI glitches on ultrawide resolutions
Fix It:
Set up a hardware matrix: test across low, mid, and high specs, various GPUs (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel), SSD vs HDD, single-core CPUs. Use tools like Parsec or cloud labs if you don’t have all the machines.
❌ 2. Overlooking OS and Driver Versions
The Trap:
Everything works fine on your Windows 11 Pro + latest drivers setup.
What Goes Wrong:
Crashes on outdated or beta drivers
Permissions bugs on regional OS builds
Unexpected popups from Windows Defender
Fix It:
Expand your regression list to include multiple Windows versions, outdated and beta GPU drivers, and localization-specific builds (e.g. Polish Windows 10 Home).
❌ 3. Ignoring Save/Load Edge Cases
The Trap:
You tested loading from the main menu. That’s it.
What Goes Wrong:
Corrupted saves
Mid-combat loads breaking logic
Game freezes after loading giant open-world saves
Fix It:
Automate a save/load stress suite. Test edge cases like saving during combat, low health, mid-cutscene, or while dying. Don’t forget corrupted files and mid-update loads.
❌ 4. Forgetting Control Scheme Chaos
The Trap:
“Works with keyboard and controller” — sounds good, right?
What Goes Wrong:
Switching inputs breaks UI
Hotplug crashes
Weird bugs with flight sticks, wheels, or accessibility devices
Fix It:
Run dedicated test passes per input type. Include scenarios like hotplugging, remapping keys, and using Steam Input configs. Validate on Xbox, DualSense, and third-party controllers.
❌ 5. Not Testing Real-Life Chaos
The Trap:
QA plays in a clean lab environment with nothing else running.
What Goes Wrong:
Alt+Tab breaks fullscreen
Game crashes when Discord overlay appears
Sleep/resume loses audio
Fix It:
Introduce chaos testing. Simulate real usage:
Alt+Tab repeatedly
Receive a Zoom call
Pause for 20 minutes
Use screen recorders, overlays, or even stream live
❌ 6. Skipping Full Localization Testing
The Trap:
“We’ll test other languages later.” 🙈
What Goes Wrong:
Text overflows in German
Crashes with Japanese fonts
Broken layout in Arabic
Fix It:
Use pseudo-localization early, validate with real translators later. Test right-to-left support, missing fonts, and cultural nuances. Run auto-layout tools to catch overflow before it ships.
❌ 7. Neglecting the Installer and First Launch
The Trap:
“Who tests the installer? It’s fine.”
What Goes Wrong:
Missing dependencies
Broken configs on first run
Crashes before the main menu
Fix It:
Treat installation and first launch as critical QA. Test scenarios like no admin rights, low disk space, antivirus interference, or Steam overlay injection.
✅ Conclusion: QA is Prevention, Not Reaction
QA isn’t just about finding bugs—it’s about seeing the game like your players will, across setups, languages, habits, and chaos.
Avoid these 7 pitfalls, and your PC game won’t just be functional—it’ll be resilient, polished, and review-proof.
👉 Want a QA checklist or ready-to-go test strategy?
Drop us a line—we’ve helped studios across genres ship smoother PC launches.
