For an ordinary user, any virtual game is just a ready product. But the path that this game goes from the initial idea to the final release is usually complex. It contains a lot of inaccuracies that are always invisible.

For the development and testing departments, the game design process is an ongoing solution to challenges that are not obvious to everyone else.

The task of QA in this respect is not only to test but also to be able to ask the right questions and document decisions during the development process to have a ready-made template for future checks.

Next, let’s talk about the features of mobile game testing that are relevant in 2021.

Peculiarities of Mobile Game Testing

Mobile software testing on different platforms has its specifics.

1. Display Dimension

As for Apple, iOS has long outlined a tendency to enlarge the screen while maintaining image quality. Nevertheless, Android has a significant choice not only of the display diagonal but of the nominal resolution as well. Almost all latest iOS devices have a system shutter that sometimes just covers critical UI elements (which causes some problems when testing games on smartphones and tablets). In this regard, Android benefits from the wide variety of portable tablet models.

2. Social Parameters in Games

Because of all known restrictions that are connected with the coronavirus pandemic in one way or another, a lot of people are missing face-to-face contact in 2020 and 2021. Most social lines of communication moved to the network. Therefore, it affected the mobile gaming industry. Many analysts of this sphere notice the growing popularity of games with multiplayer participation, game communications with online chats, instant notifications, tracking activity feeds, etc. And all this needs to be thoroughly tested, using both templated test cases and performing regression checks.

3. Player as a Watcher

In today’s reality, people don’t only play mobile games but also watch how other users do it. According to AppSamurai, about 71% of millennial players have watched the streaming of online games. This trend is only growing in 2021, which means that special attention should be paid to such issues as performance testing and all kinds of auxiliary load tests.

4. Using Playable Ads

User advertising experience is gaining steam. The amount of money spent on advertising in applications and on advertising directly for gaming products is growing every year. Playable advertising allows users to try the game before downloading it to their devices. [highlight dark=”no”]Verifying the functionality of a mobile product remotely and in combination with various modifications to local settings[/highlight] is an important task that requires sufficient attention during the testing phase.

5. The Rapid Development of Monetization through Advertising in Games with External IAP

According to ironSource, 2021 has become a kind of springboard for the development of games with the function of monetization through internal online purchases with real money (IAP). In the context of fierce competition, the quality of advertisements is constantly growing, and developers use involving formats and favorable conditions for the user. Testing of such important things as online payments is quite complex but a necessary process that should be established correctly.

To Sum Up

Nowadays mobile gaming industry is evolving faster than ever. It is influenced by many factors: IT innovations, growth of the Internet, changes in huge companies developing mobile products, etc. The rapid growth of the games market and high contestability make owners of these products have only the best and high-quality software. And this can only be achieved by approaching a specialized software testing company.