Performance, Stability, and Compatibility Testing
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether the game meets frame-time, memory, load, thermal, and device-compatibility targets over time, not just during a short happy-path run.
Core rules
- Frame metrics: average FPS hides stutter. Track frame time, 1% lows, hitches, and whether the game is CPU or GPU bound.
- Memory: record baseline, peak, and post-level-unload usage. Soak tests reveal leaks that short runs miss.
- Stability: long-duration runs, repeated transitions, suspend and resume cycles, and crash reproduction with logs and dumps.
- Compatibility needs a defined matrix: minimum and recommended specs, console models, GPU vendors, OS versions, storage types, resolutions, and input devices.
- Thermal throttling on mobile and handheld devices changes results after 20 to 30 minutes.
Worked example
A four-hour soak on minimum spec at 1080p shows memory returning to baseline after each level. Actual behavior: memory grows about 80 MB per hour and the game crashes at hour three. The reasoning: monotonic growth across level transitions points to a leak rather than a one-off spike. Capture allocation data and repeatable steps so engineering can fix the cause, not just the crash.
Traps
Reporting average FPS only; testing for five minutes on a cold device; ignoring thermal throttling; claiming compatibility from one device; sending crash reports without logs or dumps; treating a performance dip as a crash or vice versa.