Platform relevance

Before we go into the details of why the choice of platform matters so much in game QA, it’s important to define what we mean by platform in gaming terms.

What is a platform?

A platform is a digital space/ecosystem where our games are published and can be obtained by players either purchasing it, or for free. In order for developers to publish games on any platform, they have to meet a set of predetermined requirements. In some cases, the platform will test the game that its developers are attempting to submit. The process of submitting a game to a platform is called submission and is an important part of game development that also heavily involves QA. We will talk about it in more detail in Chapter 11, Are You on the Right Version? Live Ops and QA.

Players usually obtain the game from the platform by downloading it fully or partially to their own device. It’s the player’s responsibility to ensure that their device is on the specific...