Playtester FAQ

Have questions about becoming a playtester?

• How do I sign up?

  You can sign up for our invitation list by visiting our registration page. Once you’re signed up, that’s it! We’ll contact you as soon as we have something for you!

  We don’t send spam and we have a link to our unsubscribe page on every email we send.

• Is this for real? Why would you give me money and games to play unreleased video games?

  Video game developers are good at what they do, but they’re not mind readers! They want to hear from gamers like you to make sure their games are good before spending millions developing them. A hundred bucks or so is a small price for them to pay to know whether actual gamers like you would want to purchase their new game!

• What is a playtest and how does it work?

  We rent state-of-the-art facilities where we will set up a bunch of big screen HDTVs and some video game consoles. You come in and play an unreleased video game for an hour or so and then tell us what you think! You’ll earn some cash or free games just for coming in and playing. The coolest part is that we take your opinions back to the developers of the game, and they will implement your ideas to improve the game before it’s released to the public!

  When you sign up for our invitation list, you give us your zip code. That way we know approximately where you live, and we’ll invite you to playtests when they are scheduled in your area.

• I want to be a full-time game tester! Hire me!

  We are not looking for QA testers or beta testers. Playtesting for VGM is not a job. It’s usually just a one-time thing for a few hours. We also prioritize those who haven’t yet participated over those who have done a playtest more recently, so it’s unlikely you’ll be playtesting more than once every few months or so.

  If you’re interested in becoming a full-time game tester, try going to the corporate website of your favorite video game developer and checking out their career page.

• When will you come to my city?

  We never know where we will go next! The good news is that when you sign up, you give us your zip code, so when we do come to your city we’ll be able to contact you. Typically, we’ll contact anyone within 30 miles of the testing site, but depending on how many people we need for a given playtest, we might go up to 50 or even more!

• I signed up a while ago and haven’t heard anything! Why?

  The main purpose of this list is to find people for in-person playtests. We do playtests all over the country, but it’s a really big country! It’s possible we’ll never have a playtest in your city, but it’s possible that we will! Sign up for our invitation list and if we schedule a playtest in your area, we’ll contact you. If we don’t, we won’t, so what do you have to lose? We may also contact you for online surveys or phone interviews that can be done from your own home!

  Also, it’s possible that our emails are getting redirected to your spam folder. We will only ever contact you from e-mail addresses ending in “@vgm.co”, so if you add that domain to your address book or safelist, we’ll definitely be able to get through to you.

• Are there age limits? Can I register my kids? My grandparents?

  We have done playtests for kids as young as 6 (they really helped us out with Littlest Pet Shop) and adults as old as 70. Any playtester under 13 must have a parent sign up on their behalf. We promise we will never show your kids any content that is inappropriate for their age. After all, when a developer decides what age their playtesters should be, they are thinking about what age the game is designed for. The games with mature content are always playtested by ages 18+ only.

• I did a playtest for you months ago and was never contacted again! Why?

  Several different factors can qualify you for a playtest. Location is of course the most important, but each playtest has unique requirements for age, gender, and possibly even gaming habits. Also, if you’ve playtested with us recently, we may try to give priority to those who haven’t yet.

• What about us girls?

  At VGM, we believe that women are just as likely to be awesome gamers as dudes. The unfortunate truth is that playtests for men are more frequent than playtests for women. The good news is that we have lots more men in our database than women, so it balances out! Sign up all you gamer girls, and represent!