In a recent study published by modl.ai, it was revealed that a whopping 77% of developers polled felt like they didn’t conduct enough QA for their studio’s most recent releases. Additionally, 50% of developers surveyed felt that QA budgets aren’t ‘growing fast enough’ to keep up with the ‘increasing complexity of modern games’.
The study was pieced together to take stock of the quality control ecosystem in the world of gaming development. It was focused primarily on gauging the adoption and anticipation of artificial intelligence in QA processes and procedures.
Not Ready But Released
In recent years, we’ve seen some big-budget games released in a woeful state. More than a few titles have hit the open market in a paltry condition, boasting bugs across the board and performance issues left and right.
Last year, STALKER 2 was released to an eager reception but it was hampered by a stack of bugs – particularly on console platforms. In 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was released in such a bad state that it faced legal concerns from investors.
In the report published by modl.ai, it was revealed that 94% of developers (extrapolated) believe that AI will ‘play an important role in the future of game QA’. But with that being said, it comes as a surprise that just 18% of developers feel they’re ‘fully prepared to implement AI in all QA processes’.
They recognise that it’s the future of QA and testing, but they’re not ready to adopt it just yet.
In the numbers, 70.3% of survey respondents said they’d never launched a bug-free game.
In a statement on the data, Dajana Dimovska, the CEO of Indium Play, said:
You’re never going to catch every bug, but AI can get you closer. It can take on early testing responsibilities, reducing the need for large QA teams throughout the production phase.
As the game reaches a more playable and polished state, manual QA testers step in — working alongside AI to identify and address quality issues. This collaboration between experienced testers and AI ensures a better final product.
Many are ready to place stock in the implementation of AI-based QA. In one slide in the report from modl.ai, it was revealed that 21% of developers feel that AI testing is much more effective than traditional methods.
Presently, the blockers preventing industry-wide adoption include the complexity of setting up and operating AI-based systems, the costs of doing so, and the resistance to change – and fear of facing redundancy.
Do you think more AI in QA processes would eliminate more bugs ahead of launch? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum what you think.
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