How PC Game Testing Reduces Development Costs in 2024

How PC Game Testing Reduces Development Costs in 2024

When you want to make real money from the PC game, you need to focus on three things: making a good product or service, making sure your end-users are happy, and cutting costs. The first two things are clearly important for keeping income steady and building it, but the third thing might not seem as important when your budget is high.

If you can afford something, it doesn’t mean that you should. It is better to cut costs as much as possible during the development process so that the final profit is higher. But note that we don’t mean that you need to spend less on the game dev’s salaries or the hardware or tools they use.

Mistakes are the most expensive thing that can happen during and after game development.

But is it possible to avoid it? Yes. And the answer lies in professional PC game testing.

Bug Fixes—Great Money-Savior

Don’t forget how much a bug can cost. It might not seem important at the time, but if you don’t pay attention to it, it can cause big problems later on that may ruin the whole project, lower the quality of your game, and make users unhappy. Which will result in you losing your money fast. 

It may be smarter to spend more on game testing (PC) early on in the development process rather than having to deal with reputational damage and lost money later on. So, test. Test until you’re sure there’s nothing left that could go wrong and let down the end user.

According to Forbes, bugs cost the US economy about $2.08 trillion a year. One bug found during the requirement gathering step could cost you $100, which you may think is not that important. But because it lasts from the very beginning to the end, it can easily hit $10,000. And that’s just one bug and there can be many.

But bug fixes early on save you not just money, but from:

• Losing brand reputation
• Legal implications in some cases
• Losing retaining customers

Early detection of a bug means that it will take less time and resources to fix, and the impact will be minimized. It turns out to be much cheaper to spend on testing PC games and fixing bugs early on than to wait until the release. It is better to avoid than to treat.

Still not sure? Let’s explore the benefits of PC game beta testing that go beyond just saving you money from the development budget!

Reducing Time to Market

PC game testing speeds up the development process and makes it more efficient. You spend less time and money on game development, and your TA gets a product that works best at its potential faster, therefore using the moment before your competitors. Also, a faster launch of the game without compromising quality allows for quicker returns on investment!

Improving Game Stability & Performance

To prevent performance and stability issues in your game, it is important to invest in load testing PC game as well as other forms of QA. For example, compatibility testing for different OS and hardware is crucial as it allows your game to reach a wider audience, and avoid issues in performance, crashes, or graphical glitches. Game developers who neglect this step will need to deal with costly patches and updates post-launch, aka more expenses.

Enhancing Player Satisfaction & Retention

A well-tested game leads to higher player satisfaction, resulting in better reviews and increased player retention. Providing your customers with high-quality software and making sure it works perfectly will help you build a long-lasting relationship with them. Its results are priceless—excellent brand awareness and growing revenue.

Besides, enhancing player satisfaction, positive reviews, and word-of-mouth can drive sales and reduce marketing costs. So, it means more money for your business!

Mitigating Risks & Avoiding Reputational Damage

Money, in many cases, is not the worst thing to lose. A poorly tested game can lead to reputational damage and lost sales. Reputation is hard to build and even harder to rebuild.

Not sure that it can be that serious? Check out examples of the business impact of poor game testing:

• Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The game faced a backlash and huge disappointment because of bugs, bad animation, bad voice acting, and many other reasons, resulting in over $15 million flop.
• Cyberpunk 2077. The game’s reputation was severely damaged because of the game-breaking bugs, crashes, and poor optimization. It led to CD Projekt Red (the developer) facing backlash, refund requests, and legal actions, which totaled $1 billion.

And the list can go on to Fallout 76, Cities: Skylines 2, The Last of Us Part 1, and there are many more. So, don’t underestimate the power of PC game testing.

Long-term Benefits of Continuous QA Integration

Continuous QA integration brings many long-term benefits that can enhance the PC game development process, including:

• Faster development
• Better consistency 
• Catching bugs early
• Reduced risks
• Better code quality
• Higher team productivity
• Reduced maintenance costs
• Sustained player engagement

All of the benefits are worth adding testing and QA early on, as it can not just save you a ton on your development budget but also provide many long-term perks.

The Bottom Line

Clean code—big income. No doubts there. Investing in QA and testing is a proven secret to saving money and ensuring successful launches of PC games. If you want to have that, partner with SnoopGames, PC game testing leaders!