Online gaming and betting quality assurance challenges

Gaming is a trillion dollar industry. The online gaming and sports wagering marketplace offers endless choices to its customers and has a great potential for growth and innovation.

However, the success of an online casino or sports betting website relies heavily on the user experience and the algorithms and software used.

The surge in popularity comes with challenges of security and trust – which are the bedrock for this domain. Businesses must be aware of modern quality assurance techniques and make sure the gaming software is tested by experienced QA professionals before it is launched.

Some of the common testing techniques, targets and bugs:

Quality assurance best practices recommend using test cases, a test case management tool and checklists to ensure a seamless, secure and engaging user journey. Some of the most commonly used testing approaches for this domain include:

• Compatibility testing
• Localization testing
• Performance Testing
• Security Testing
• Gaming Authentication Testing
• Regression Testing
• Rollback Path Testing
• Usability Testing

Common use cases for testing a casino website or app such include graphics, sounds, rules, doubling, winning combinations, etc.

Bugs can creep in anywhere. From minor glitches in design to invalid use of buttons to some bigger defects like incorrect bonus accrual, crashing on mobile devices, incorrect currency calculation etc.

QA engineers and testers require a three-pronged strategy using the best in technology, tools and experienced testers.

Gambling industry testing experience

Gambling industry requires a very niche skill-set that must include the objectives of online casinos, fundamentals of online casino games such as poker, online slots, roulette, blackjack, baccarat etc. If you are also testing a sports betting website because often a single website offers both options, then you may need to understand the nitty gritty of sports wagering.

Testers need to understand how lottery systems work, what are progressive jackpots and random number generators.

Random number generators or RNGs are unique because they don’t need external input or data to provide an output. They work on an algorithm and seed number. The RNG generates new seed numbers and results every millisecond.  Online casinos depend on software called random number generators.

Again, testers need to understand the win selection process, regulatory compliances, geolocation, player privacy, first pass percentage.

Testing services for regulators and licensed operators

Many casinos and regulatory bodies choose third party accredited testing facilities for online gaming and wagering. These providers offer the end to end services for all aspects of online gaming, gambling and betting. Government regulators often need assistance in building appropriate gambling and anti-money laundering regulation and technical standards and they depend on QA service providers to check for regulation, governance and compliance.

Additionally, system vendors look for cost effective controls for security and information governance. Additionally, operators need approved control systems, QA services and systems certification, while investors look for technical due diligence.

How testers test in real time

In the age of Agile and DevOps, where new software is released every week, there is much emphasis on automated testing. Yet, exploratory testing plays an equally important role when it comes to online casinos and sports betting.

Therefore, both manual and automated testing skills are necessary. When testers test the gclub24hr online casino services manually, they actually play games in real-time and write the feedback. Both ad hoc and exploratory testing methods serve well for this purpose.

QA experts who have some idea about coding and development further test the website to find more bugs, glitches and abnormalities in the game. The tester can write custom pieces of code that can find a problem in the logical sequence or performance and can even suggest the solution.

Ultimately, the team of testers compare the results and conduct performance analysis of how and why some anomalies occur. Once the bugs are fixed, a few rounds of stress and performance testing are carried out. Not to forget regression testing, as many a time new defects creep in while fixing bugs.

For compliance assurance and fair play, certain regulatory tests need to be carried out by third party vendors.he next stage might be a comparison of the results and a performance analysis of how and why certain anomalies happen. Then, the problem is being fixed and then the testing goes for another round again, until the game can finally be called perfect, at which point it’s now ready to hit the online gambling market.

For compliance assurance, QA testing might be performed by a third-party company, in order to help ensure the fairness of the game.

While all QA roles are challenging, testing casino and betting websites is more so because of the regulatory and compliance challenges involved. As the gaming industry moves towards Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, the scope and complexity of the software will increase. In the near future, the demand for niche testers and testing companies will skyrocket.