When it comes to games and quality control, processes need to be more stringent than ever before! With gaming having become such a mainstream pursuit in the past two decades, it is safe to assume that most players will be au fait with different glitches and bugs that pop up along the way. In fact, in many cases, a bad enough bug or glitch can and will ruin the whole experience.
This goes for any type of gaming experience – from console gaming and MMORPGs to NetEnt slot games, glitches need to be ironed out as soon as possible before release. Thankfully, developers such as NetEnt have a handle on this – but there have been many big-name console and PC games that have fallen short on the quality front over the years.
So – what do game developers and gaming site providers do to better tackle the bugs and glitches that pop up along the way?
Accept that bugs will arise
Unfortunately, bugs, glitches and errors are always going to pop up in all walks of software and game development. It’s simply not possible to get everything perfect first time around. What’s more, many developers actively create bugs and mimics to help understand how their software will work in the public sphere.
Some people actively suggest avoiding creating these bugs and errors and to just go with their guts. This isn’t always the best plan of action; however, we can assume that taking an open-minded approach to bug potential is worth the time and effort. After all, perfectionism has no place in game design!
Games and software will also develop bugs over time, too – even triple-A games and titles continue to receive patches and updates many years after their initial release. It’s something players expect, to an extent!
Let software manage itself
It’s often very difficult to keep a close eye on bugs and glitches at all times. As many developers will confirm, managing the various opportunities for problems while creating code is nigh-on impossible – which is why it is always a good idea to deploy an error or issue tracker to ensure that these concerns effectively take care of themselves.
In a day and age where more and more of us are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to take care of jobs and tasks that take up too much of our time, developers are also looking for autonomy. Extra software and plug-ins developed to lookout for errors and to actively manage them, too, are highly valuable. They are not 100% error-free themselves – but in the fast-paced world of games development, it’s safe to say that any time saved will be worthwhile doing!
Let the players speak
As mentioned, one route towards a bug-free game is to simply release the title and to see what people think. This may seem to be a fairly maverick move, especially when quality assurance is such a huge deal in this industry. However, there is still some mileage in letting players inform you of what’s going on. Of course, it makes sense to let play testers work their way through games and software before you reach the marketing stages.
Play testers will actively look for errors and glitches. In many cases, for slot games, console games and more, it makes sense for these testers to work separately to developers themselves. It makes sense to have a different set of eyes looking over a project – developers may be blinded to their own successes, for example!
As mentioned, many games still receive patches to this day – that applies to some casino titles, too. After all, feedback is crucial to long-term success. If you’re going to continue enticing new players, it makes much sense to ensure you are playing to their interests and needs!
Bugs are here to stay
Whether developers take a holistic, hands-free or active searching role for bugs and errors in their code, it makes sense to get ‘used’ to bugs. Players, even, are well aware that things don’t always go right. Providing your bugs and glitches don’t completely break a game or ruin the fun at any point, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
That said, in this age of feedback being all around us, developers still owe a duty of care and quality control. Players pay their wages, after all – and reputations are at stake! Therefore, there needs to be a balance – if the new Call of Duty Zombies mode isn’t up to scratch at base level before release, you can’t rely on players to ride through the storm!
