Compatibility Testing for PC Games: A Full Guide

What is Compatibility Testing of PC Games?

Compatibility testing, at its core, is a type of non-functional testing conducted to ensure that your apps or games are capable of running on different environments. This includes but is not limited to different hardware configurations & operating systems, different types of screen monitors, as well as various software applications, different network environments, different terminals, different languages, and so on.

When it comes to the compatibility testing of PC games, its scope usually narrows down to the following 3 types:

1. Hardware Compatibility: This involves testing the game on different hardware configurations. It includes different types of processors (CPU), graphics processing units (GPU), memory (RAM), hard disk capacities, and screen resolutions. The objective is to ensure that your game performs optimally across all these different setups.

2. Software Compatibility: This involves testing your game over different operating systems (like Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, etc.), and antivirus software, input methods, and DirectX versions. The goal is to guarantee that your game runs smoothly, regardless of the software environment.

3. Language Compatibility: Apart from English, your game may have players from different regions who speak Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, and other different languages. Testing your game in various languages ensures that all text in the game is correctly displayed and understandable to players, regardless of their language.

Note: For games that run on other devices or platforms, they also need to do console devices, or other kinds of compatibility testing. For example, players nowadays expect games to be released on their preferred platforms. It's not uncommon to see players criticize a game on social media if it fails to launch on their devices during a global release. As a result, developers need to ensure that their game is compatible not only with PCs, but also with devices like PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.

Why Compatibility Testing of PC Games?

Good compatibility testing helps you REACH MORE USERS.

For developers, it's essential to ensure that your PC games can have a good performance on all popular terminals, which prevents potential harm to user experience and loss of players. That's why it's crucial to conduct compatibility tests on various PC devices. By doing so, you can identify compatibility issues early on and fix them promptly, ensuring a smooth gaming experience for all users. Consequently, it leads to heightened customer satisfaction, broader market penetration, and an expanded user base.

However, it could be highly challenging if you choose to do it within your own team:

1. Unable to guarantee full coverage: with so many and diverse device brands, OS versions, and PC screens on the market, it‘s challenging to guarantee that the game product is compatible with most PC devices.

2. Lack of professional QA testers: this slows down the testing process, results in uncomprehensive compatibility testing, and hinders the launch of your product.

3. High costs to get expert testers: Hiring a seasoned tester can be very expensive! Balancing the cost of expert testers with the need for thorough testing might give you a headache.

4. High costs in equipment purchase, updates & maintenance: Ensuring compatibility requires a substantial investment in acquiring various devices, keeping them up-to-date, and maintaining them in optimal condition. This can drain your resources and budget.

Why WeTest?

With a decade of experience in game testing, WeTest provides PC game compatibility testing covering mainstream PC devices. We discover bugs and problems by an experienced testing team to ensure a smooth gaming experience for your players.

Testing Solution

We test core scenarios of your game, including download, installation, launch, core operations, and uninstallation.

For PC compatibility testing, we help you assess hardware (CPU, GPU, screens) and software (OS, antivirus, input methods, DX) compatibility issues.

PC Benchmark

WeTest has crafted a PC benchmark based on the latest market data to optimize your device configuration strategy.

1. Main Functions

• Comprehensively analyze PC gaming device trends across 6 critical dimensions
• Capture multidimensional device information from 3 key lists: TOP → GPU, Latest Released GPU, and Recent Hot GPU
• Data is updated monthly to ensure timely insights into the latest trends in PC gaming devices.

2. Scenarios

• Select and configure testing devices for compatibility testing. Formulate a selection strategy in terms of specific testing objectives, leveraging the authoritative data to devise the optimal strategy.
• Acquire knowledge of the screen resolutions to refine game visualization performance and compatibility.
• Game enterprises can precisely assess common device configurations and operating systems, facilitating to make tailored corporation positions and marketing strategies to expand their user base.

For detailed information, go to Specification benchmark

Key Advantages

1. Comprehensive scenario coverage: We cover core scenarios of your game, including but not limited to: installation, launch, login, character creation, tutorials, store, events, combat, and uninstallation, etc.

2. Covers mainstream devices: We conduct compatibility testing across 10+ dimensions, covering 80% of GPUs used by Steam users, mainstream CPUs including Intel and AMD.

Check full list →：here

3. Quickly detect compatibility issues： Customers simply submit the installation package, no need for game testers or equipment. Our test team will efficiently execute tests, understand scenarios, and quickly identify compatibility bugs and issues.

4. Efficient delivery of professional report：Customizes software and hardware compatibility solutions tailored to Clients, with rapid delivery within approximately 1 week.

Customer Success Stories

Our experiences in computer games compatibility testing

We have tested over 1000 games and support all kinds of game genres: FPS, MOBA, MMO, SLG, IDLE, SANDBOX...

Customer Case - League of Legends (LoL)

League of Legends (LoL) is a world-renowned MOBA online game with a hero theme, which is developed by Riot Games and operated by Tencent Games, whose monthly active players globally exceeded 100 million. LoL has been committed to promoting the development of global e-sports, and has held the largest number of international e-sports events in the world.

1. Challenges

• Hardware components, including CPUs and GPUs, vary widely across models. The team faces a shortage of relevant equipment
• It is crucial to ensure the compatibility of user devices across the global market

2. Solutions

• LoL adopts the WeTest compatibility solutions
• Over 75% of PC hardware configurations are supported, minimizing compatibility issues across different systems

3. Outcomes

• The project promptly discovered a large number of compatibility-related defects, with a total of 9 major categories and 500+ defects.
• Effectively guaranteed the quality of the large version of the project.

How to Conduct Compatibility Tests with WeTest

Here is a quick guide for you to work with WeTest on compatibility testing:

1. Pre-Test

• Test Objectives and Requirements: Clearly define your test objectives, task breakdown, and requirements, such as ensuring compatibility with the top 20 graphic cards, various DirectX versions, and different operating systems (Windows 7, 8.1, 10, and 11).
• Test Scope Confirmation: Confirm the test scope, for instance the test should cover over 80% of users and provide compatible combinations in 10 dimensions, including OS, GPU, CPU, screen, resolution, antivirus, input methods, GPU drivers, RAM, and DirectX versions.
• Test Solution Confirmation: We offer 3-tier testing solutions to serve different needs. Develop an overall test plan for you, including test objectives, coverage, duration, estimated testing period, and test content.

2. During Test

• Test Execution: We collect issues, build deliveries, screenshots, logs, videos, and other relevant information during the testing process.

• Communication: We use test management platform, emails & customer service support for information synchronization and barrier-free communication across borders. 24/7 communication to support your needs!

3. After Test

• Test Report Delivery: We deliver a comprehensive test report, including test conclusions, main issues, details of each device test, different issue details (resolution, antivirus software, input methods), and suggestions for optimization.

For more information, feel free to contact us.

About WeTest

WeTest, with over a decade of experience in quality management, is an integrated quality cloud platform dedicated to establishing global quality standards and enhancing product quality. As a member of the IEEE-approved Global Game Quality Assurance Working Group, it is recognized for its commitment to quality assurance. WeTest has served over 10,000 enterprise clients across 140+ countries.

Focusing on advanced testing tools development, WeTest integrates AI technology to launch professional game testing tools such as PerfDog, CrashSight, and UDT (Next-Gen Multi-Terminal Unified Access Management Automated Testing Platform), aiding over a million developers worldwide in boosting efficiency. Additionally, WeTest offers comprehensive testing service solutions for mobile, PC, and console games, covering compatibility, security, functionality, localization testing and other various services, ensuring product quality for over 1,000 game companies globally.

Give it a try for free today. Register now!