QA Tester Salary (2026)
The median qa tester in the games industry earns $43,382 per year with 6–10 years of experience (global, base salary in USD), with most offers falling between $38k and $49k.
Figures are based on 75+ anonymous community salary reports and public industry surveys, resolved per experience band. Rows marked model estimate have no direct survey data yet — submit your salary to improve them. See the methodology for how numbers are computed.
Salary by experience (global)
| Experience | Low | Median | High | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | $22,993 | $28,722 | $34,452 | Community datan=28 |
| 3–5 years | $27,803 | $37,795 | $52,487 | Community datan=37 |
| 6–10 years | $37,683 | $43,382 | $49,081 | Community datan=10 |
| 11–15 years | $26,953 | $45,334 | $55,307 | Industry report |
| 16+ years | $86,000 | $108,000 | $130,000 | Model estimate |
Salary by region
Median base salary (USD) for the best-covered experience band per region — bands differ where coverage differs. US buying power converts that figure to what it buys locally (World Bank 2023 price levels, see methodology).
| Region | Median | Experience | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of World | $55,080 | 6–10 years | Community datan=3 |
| North America | $43,263 | 6–10 years | Community datan=4 |
| United Kingdom · Western Europe · Nordic Countries · Eastern Europe | $38,044 | 6–10 years | Community datan=3 |
| Asia Pacific | $28,600 | 3–5 years | Industry report |
Open qa tester jobs
Recent listings from games-industry job boards:
- Testeur Assurance Qualité/Quality Assurance Tester at Budge
- Senior Development Tester - Quality Assurance, Audio - Dead by Daylight | Testeur·se de développement - Assurance qualité sénior·e, Audio at Behaviour Interactive
- Anglais/English - Localisation de jeux vidéo | Localization QA Video Game Tester at Side
- Indonésien/Indonesian - Localisation de jeux video/ Localization QA Game tester at Side
How this compares outside games
Official government wage statistics for the closest occupation across all industries. Not games-specific, never mixed into the data above.
| Occupation (official) | Coverage | Low | Median | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | United States (national, all industries) | $61,440 | $104,300 | $167,010 | US Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| IT quality and testing professionals | United Kingdom (full-time employees, all industries) | — | $59,643 | — | UK ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (provisional) |
Sources used on this page
- Community data — public community salary datasets, individual reports shared with us, and anonymous submissions on this site (2018–2026).
- 8Bit Gamedev Salary Pulse 2026 — Games-industry recruitment agency salary report. Cited with permission.
- Skillsearch Games & Immersive Salary and Satisfaction Report 2026 — Annual survey by games recruitment agency Skillsearch. Cited with permission.