Quality Assurance isn't the most sexy subject, but it is a necessity for all games.

Indeed, according to the QA panel at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2014, QA has become even more important in the world of free-to-play.

"F2P games have presented us with some challenges, particular in terms of time-gates," said Dean Bent, CEO of Finnish testing house QAme.

A new way to test

In order not to charge clients for hours of 'dead time', he says the company has moved to a more 'field-testing' approach whereby its testers play the games at home, as they would any other game.

QAme lead tester Niko was even more positive about the role of QA for F2P games.

'You need an idea to move from a bad game to an okay game, but great games are made by the QA testing process,' he argued.

The reason is that a bug for a paid game is annoying but for a F2P game, it's a trigger for players to stop playing and uninstall the game.

You can see all the talks from Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2014 here. 

Pocket Gamer Connects is the biggest mobile games show in Europe, which brings together the best speakers and delegates from across the industry and from all over the world.

To-date, Pocket Gamer Connects has been held in London and Helsinki, and the show will be heading back to the UK in January 2015.

To find out more about the latest show, head on over to www.pgconnects.com.