Secondary Positions

There are several secondary positions that can be important to the development cycle as well. Depending on the budget, these positions may or may not exist at all or could be filled by other members of the team.

Beta Tester

Beta testers test the playability of a game and look for bugs that may occur when the game is executed. This is one of the most undervalued of the positions and should never be filled by the person responsible for programming the game. In reality, because of tight budgets and deadlines, this is also a step that is often cut before it is completed, as due dates will unfortunately take precedence over most decisions. If adequate beta testing is performed, a development team can save a tremendous amount of time and resources without having to produce unnecessary patches at a later date.

Play Testers

The play testers are often confused with beta testers, although play testers actually test only the playability of a game and critique areas such as movement or graphic elements. Again, these positions are often filled with individuals who perform other tasks on the team. Unlike beta testers, the play testers do not actually attempt to find or report bugs.