IXie Gaming Head Ramesh Krishnamurthy Talks About the World of Video Gaming QA, the Changing Indian Landscape, and More

In the world of game development, Quality Assurance (QA) testers are the unsung heroes. These testers help developers craft a smooth and bug-free experience for their titles. This makes QA testing a vital aspect of game development, be it AAA or Indie games.

When it comes to QA testing in India, iXie Gaming is a name many developers might be acquainted with. Founded in 2011, the gaming division of Indium Software began with a team of 15. Now, the division has expanded to a roster of over 700.

Over the last decade, the company has worked with more than 100 game publishers to develop more than 450 titles. These games span across a range of platforms including consoles, cloud, mobile, PC and VR.

To know more about the company’s inner workings, the world of QA, and the future of game development in India, we spoke with Indium Software COO and the Head of iXie Gaming, Ramesh Krishnamurthy. Here is our complete conversation with Krishnamurthy:

QA can take place at any stage of game development

To start off, Krishnamurthy broke the myth of QA coming in at the end stages of the game development cycle. He said, “We get engaged right at the beginning itself. Majority of our customers come when the first release is done.” He further described that the team at iXie work on two types of QA work: Functional and Developer.

When it comes to Functional QA, iXie work on the various releases of the game. This includes pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and more. Here, they undertake testing of the game’s various aspects such as gameplay, game progression, graphics, audio, texts, platform compatibility, performance, and more.

On the Developer QA side of things, iXie works hand-in-hand with the developers. “When they develop something, we test it immediately,” revealed Krishnamurthy. “That QA requires a more technical capability and skills.” He mentioned that his team at iXie need to be knowledgeable about game development for such matters in order to work with the developers. This includes having some experience working with engines like Unity, Unreal Engine, and more.

Talent still a concern when it comes to game development in India

With Indian game development on the rise, talent has been a major source of concern for developers and QA testers like iXie Gaming. “If at all there are a few universities or no universities (who teach game development courses),” said Krishnamurthy.

To combat the lack of talent, iXie has its own training academy called Indium Game Testing Academy (iGTA). “We hire people, train them on game mechanics and then we put them through two months of full training program,” stated Krishnamurthy on iGTA. “Once they go through the training program, we put them on projects, and they become skilled over a period of six months.” iXie also works with other institutions and training centers to hire people.

Krishnamurthy laments at the lack of an organized sector, when it comes to education surrounding game development. He points out that in nations like the United States of America, universities provide undergraduate and graduate courses to students who wish to join the game development. “We have to come a long way as far as education is concerned,” he shared. “We are still looking at how we can attract talent.”

QA testing differs vastly between various platforms

Krishnamurthy also points to the differences between QA testing the same aspect on various platforms. From gameplay to visuals, each console and platform handles the same game differently. As part of its testing, iXie has specialists working in different groups focusing on various platforms.

Furthermore, with a developer’s first submission build to iXie, the company undertakes a wide variety of tests. These tests help the game pass the Xbox and PlayStation console specific compliance tests with success that manufacturers require. “You are almost guaranteed that you will get a pass if we go through the checks,” said Krishnamurthy. “We do a very strict and rigorous compliance test.”

The game development scene in India

The game development scene in India has been on the rise for the past few months with more studios taking the jump to produce AAA titles. Krishnamurthy shared how the country has been waiting for a big title that can rival the likes of popular titles in India such as Call of Duty, PUBG, and more.

Krishnamurthy said, “The last couple of years has been very interesting and a lot of indie games are becoming more and more popular.” He continued, “These studios, if you look at it are creating games that are uniquely Indian, and they are gaining a following both in India and abroad.”

iXie also stated how several gaming startups in India are working on big projects with advanced technologies such as motion capture, and more. However, Krishnamurthy noted that this is just the system, and the scene has a long way to go.

When it comes to the challenges faced by the industry, Krishnamurthy explained how it needs improvements in talent. Indium Gaming CTO said, “We have gained a lot of maturity in the art and development in the last five-six years.” He also shared that the industry needs more fundamental education in game mechanics for AAA and MMORPG titles. “Do we have a PlayStation, Xbox, Unity, or an Unreal Engine center of excellence in any (Indian) universities?” asked Krishnamurthy.

Even with all the challenges, Krishnamurthy pines for a better future that begins with the gamification of learning. He points out that gamified learning has seeped into the fintech and healthcare industries where engines like Unity are being adopted. “I’m very happy about that,” said Krishnamurthy. “This will mean that various universities will start teaching Unity, where they are teaching C, C++, Java, and Python.”

A change in the Indian gaming landscape on the cards?

When asked about the current gaming landscape, Krishnamurthy said that there might soon be a major change on the horizon with Battle Royale still in a flux state. “When I talk to colleagues in industry is we don’t have a MMORPG or AAA,” claimed Krishnamurthy.

“If you look at it, we have still not come there,” he further highlighted the impediments slowing down this change. “We need to have an infrastructure in place, which means the adoption of cloud and 5G.”

Krishnamurthy believes that the Indian gaming scene can take the next step with the aforementioned genres. He further observed that 5G will help the market grow as this is the area where development is happening in the country.

Finding telltale mistakes during QA

Over the years, iXie has testing and working on several games across different genres. As a QA company, Indium’s gaming division offers more than just technical expertise. When asked about some of the common mistakes that developers make, Krishnamurthy often noted that a studio’s focus on a game’s objective causes developers to lose sight of player engagement.

iXie undertakes focus group testing, which helps provide insight to developers on how to increase the engagement. The main focus of QA efforts is to find and improve elements that may cause the game to fail.

We also inquired about some fun anecdotes from Krishnamurthy during his time at iXie. He shared that once his team worked and found bugs and errors in an older build. “We tested on a wrong build, and we got excited that so many defects were found,” he exclaimed. The incident took place close to the release of the game, and it resulted in the launch date being pushed by a few days.

Editor’s Note: iXie Gaming provided access to Ramesh Krishnamurthy for this interaction.