Beta Testing

"Dude I got into the alpha test phase for Heroes of the storm!" - Jesus. My friend had been given alpha access to an emerging video from a well-known publisher.

You may be wondering what the big deal is, truth is it's not such a big deal. Alpha testing is a form of testing a product such as a video game in this case. The size of an alpha test is relatively small compared to that of a beta test. Usually only friends and family are invited to test the product. In the alpha and beta test phases, users provide feedback on the product and report any bugs that they may encounter.

Beta sign up for Heroes of the Storm, Activision Blizzard

The difference between an alpha and a beta phase aside from the size of it is that alpha phases usually have user agree to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). An NDA is similar to a contract in which a tester must not disclose any information attained from the alpha test. Sometimes beta tests include an NDA depending on the company. Another difference is that beta tests are usually given to users outside of the company. There are two kinds of betas, open beta and closed beta. Open betas are far larger than closed betas and are usually meant to test the back end servers. Open betas are not good in a sense that if you are looking for good feedback, chances are you will not get exactly what you want since there are far too many testers. "Open betas don't work. You either get too many testers (think Netscape) in which case you can't get good data from the testers, or too few reports from the existing testers."

I have been a beta tester for a few video games and an internal product at my current job. It is fun and exciting to test new features and to play around with new products, but it is also exciting to help shape the way the final product shapes up due to provided feedback.



Spolsky, J. (2004, March 2). Top Twelve Tips for Running a Beta Test. . Retrieved May 14, 2014, from http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BetaTest.html