Game QA pricing for PC studios on Steam
Two fixed-price checks and one monthly option. Prices are per engagement, excluding VAT, with no retainer and no minimum. You see the report before you decide on anything else. A machine-readable version is at /pricing.md.
Smoke Test
€290 excl. VAT, one-off
- 1 tester, 8 hours of hands-on testing
- First launch, settings, controls, saves, the first 30 minutes, on hardware you do not own
- Prioritized bug list with repro steps and video where useful
- Report in 2 business days from receiving the build
- Logged into your tracker or sent as a standalone report
Launch Health Check
€590 excl. VAT, one-off
- Up to 2 testers, around 30 hours of testing
- 5 hours of a Team Lead: planning, triage, review, one clean report
- Critical path, saves, settings, controller, three hardware tiers
- First prioritized report in 3 business days
- 30-minute debrief: what to fix first
Ongoing QA
from €1,000/month
- The same testers stay on your game month to month
- Scale up before a demo or launch, scale down in between
- Regression on every patch, with your bug history in hand
- Add-ons: localization QA and French translation, achievements, multiplayer, playtesting
Which one fits your milestone?
| Milestone | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Next Fest demo | Smoke Test, or Health Check if the demo is over an hour long | Players judge the first 30 minutes on their own PC. One tester on a clean machine finds the first-launch and settings bugs; two testers add Steam Deck and more hardware. |
| Hotfix or small patch | Smoke Test | Regression on the changed areas and saves, in a day, before you set the build live. |
| Early Access launch | Health Check | Critical path plus saves plus performance on min spec, with a Team Lead prioritizing what blocks the launch. |
| 1.0 or a major update | Health Check, then ongoing | Thirty hours covers the launch build; regression on the patches that follow needs testers who already know the game. |
| Alpha, “is this fun yet?” | Ask on the call | Playtesting is scoped per game; the Health Check report can include game-feel notes. |
Not sure? The QA hours calculator estimates testing hours from your genre, build length and milestone, using the Steam Launch Bug Index.
What is in every report
Severity on four levels (Critical, Major, Minor, Cosmetic), priority on four (P1 fix before release to P4 backlog), repro steps one action per line, hardware, build ID, reproducibility rate, attachments. Read the sample report.
Questions studios ask about pricing
Which option should a small studio pick first?
If you have one build and one question (does the demo survive a stranger’s PC, does the hotfix break saves), the Smoke Test answers it in two days for €290. If you are heading into Early Access, 1.0 or a large update, the Launch Health Check gives two testers, a Team Lead and 30 hours, which is enough to cover the critical path, saves, settings and three hardware tiers.
Are the prices really fixed?
Yes. €290 and €590 are one-off prices excluding VAT, with no retainer and no minimum. You decide what comes next after the report; most studios book a second round, some do not, and either way you keep the report.
What does ongoing QA cost?
From around €1,000 a month. The exact number depends on how many tester hours you want per month and whether you need add-ons such as localization, achievements or multiplayer. The same testers stay on your game, and you can scale up before a demo or launch and down in between.
What do you need to start?
Access to the build, usually a Steam branch key, one contact person, and an NDA if you use one. If you want bugs in your tracker, add us to Jira, Trello or ClickUp. A one-page brief speeds things up; there is a free template in the article on writing a QA brief.
Is the Smoke Test price final?
The Smoke Test is a new option introduced in October 2026 at €290. If the price changes after the first bookings, this page and the quote you receive on the call will say so; a booked price never changes after booking.