Mobile Game QA Analyst (contract)

Location: hybrid– Santa Clara, CA Employment Type: Contractor (1-Year Contract) Schedule: Flexible 20–40 hours/week (20 hrs/week minimum, 3 days/week Onsite in Santa Clara) Pay Rate: $42.00 – $58.00 / hour About the Role We are seeking an experienced, detail-oriented, and passionate Mobile QA Analyst to join our team. In this role, you will be the quality guardian of our core game, taking full ownership of testing workflows—from early feature development and dynamic core gameplay, to live-ops events and global release validation.

You will work closely with Game Designers, Engineers, and Producers in an agile environment. Rather than just following checklists, you will analyze client-server interactions, catch performance bottlenecks, and help optimize our live production pipeline using modern tools and AI-driven workflows.

Key Responsibilities Execute functional, regression, integration, sanity, and A/B testing across iOS and Android builds for new features, game mechanics, UI/UX, and live-ops content.

Utilize network sniffing tools (e.g., Charles Proxy, Fiddler) to inspect client-server API payloads, mock edge cases, and verify live server responses.

Leverage developer tools (Xcode, Android Studio, ADB, Unity Editor) to fetch device logs (Logcat, Console), capture crash dumps, analyze remote logging errors and warnings, and assist engineers in root-cause analysis.

Manage release validation processes, including App Store / Google Play submission compliance, TestFlight/Internal Track distribution, hotfix deployment, and Live-Ops event gating.

Oversee device compatibility matrix testing across various screen resolutions, OS versions, GPU specs, as well as testing under fluctuating network conditions (latency, disconnection, packet loss).

Validate player progression, account data state transitions, and save integrity across different account profiles, levels, and unlock states.

Create, maintain, and structure clear test plans, test cases, and bug reports in Asana with detailed reproduction steps, logs, and screenshots.

Partner with Producers and Leads during sprint planning to assess QA scope, identify risks early in the design phase, and safeguard game stability.

Qualifications 3–5+ years of hands-on experience in mobile game quality assurance (iOS and Android), preferably on F2P (Free-to-Play) live-service titles.

Solid understanding of the mobile game release lifecycle, including TestFlight, Google Play Console, hotfix processes, and app store compliance standards.

Experience with QA tools and technical workflows for bug/test tracking, debugging tools, and network analysis.

Familiarity with client-server architecture in multiplayer or online mobile games.

Strong communication skills with an analytical, problem-solving mindset.

Passion for playing and analyzing mobile games.

Nice to Have Experience with game engines (Unity or Unreal Engine) for basic scene navigation or inspecting asset bundles.

Experience leveraging AI productivity tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) to assist in test case generation or automation scripting.

Basic understanding of test automation frameworks (Appium, Python, C#) or CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins).