How to Become a Game Developer & Get Hired

Become a Game Developer

No fluff. No outdated tutorials. No overpriced bootcamp. This Game Development Career Path is your step-by-step roadmap to go from beginner (at any age!) to getting hired as a Game Developer. You’ll be guided through our curated curriculum of courses, workshops, challenges, and action items to build your skills, portfolio and experience, and get hired.

Your career path

What You'll Learn

Learn to use C#, JavaScript, and even AI for game design and development
Master the science and art of developing 3D games with Unity and other popular tools
This path only highlights skills that are trending up and continue to have massive demand in the workplace
Develop your own game storylines and cinematics to make your ideas come to life
Go way beyond the basics and become a top 10% Game Developer
How to ace all of your interviews, get more job offers and a higher salary

Course · optional for you

Beginner

5.5 Hours ·110 Lessons Learning to Learn [Efficient Learning]

Become an efficient learner and best version of yourself. You'll learn scientifically proven strategies, techniques & skills used by the world's top performers!

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Course

Beginner

26 Hours ·356 Lessons Unity Bootcamp: 3D Game Development

This is the only Unity course you need to go from complete beginner (no coding experience) to coding your own 3D games and getting hired as a Game Developer this year!

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Course

Beginner

10.5 Hours ·99 Lessons Build Four Awesome Unity Games with Zero Experience

Build your own versions of the classic video games Pong, Breakout, Space Invaders, and Flappy Bird using Unity - no coding or game development experience required!

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Course

Intermediate

5 Hours ·41 Lessons Level Up: Build an Asteroids Space Shooter Game with Unity

Recreate the classic arcade hit Asteroids while learning Unity, C#, and core 2D game mechanics - perfect for leveling up your beginner game development skills.

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Course · optional for you

Advanced

20 Hours ·165 Lessons Three.js Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery

Learn Three.js from scratch and build your own 3D interactive portfolio. This course is for developers serious about taking their coding and design skills to the next level.

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Course

Intermediate

5 Hours ·80 Lessons Career Guide to Your Dream Job: Resumes, Interviews & Promotions

Learn how to take the next step in your career. Whether you’re job hunting or aiming for a promotion, this course gives you the ultimate career advantage no matter your industry or experience level.

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Action

Apply To 5 Jobs You Really Want

This time around, you have more knowledge and more practice. It's now time to take your job hunt seriously. Find 5 companies/jobs that you REALLY want to work for and make a serious effort applying to these jobs based on the tips you learned in the previous lessons. Don't take no for an answer and see if you can land an interview at one of these companies you chose. Once you have an interview lined up, move to the next section.

Course

Beginner

27 Hours ·255 Lessons Prompt Engineering Bootcamp (Working With LLMs): Zero to Mastery

Stop memorizing random prompts. Instead, learn how Large Language Models (LLMs) actually work and how to use them effectively. This course will take you from being a complete beginner to the forefront of the AI world.

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Course · optional for you

Beginner

1 Hours ·3 Lessons Future Proof Yourself: Goal Setting for Your Career

Learn how to set strategic, actionable goals, adapt to changing trends, and create a career roadmap that keeps you on track for success.

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Action

Take Your Next Step

Now that you have completed this path, it's time for you to specialize and upgrade your skills into a specific market. You are now at the point where you need to decide what you want to do in your career. Take the career path quiz again and update your answers based on your newfound knowledge from this path. We will generate a new personal career path for you to take based on your new interests and skills.

Take Career Path Quiz

See less career path

Still have questions?

Who is this Game Developer Career Path for?

Anyone who wants a clear step-by-step guide to learn to code, become a Game Developer from scratch and actually get hired. Oh ya, and you don't want to waste your money on overpriced bootcamps and degrees.

Also, let's be honest. Some of the topics can be a little dry. So, we're even going to have a bit of fun along the way. No way! Crazy right?!

This Game Developer Career Path is perfect for you if:

You're a complete beginner (of any age!) and want a full 3D game development bootcamp
You don't want to waste your valuable time. You want to learn everything needed to become a Game Developer in one place
You want to build real-world, full-scale 3D games that will push you, challenge you and make your portfolio and resume stand out
You don't want to learn and take this journey alone. You will learn alongside 100s of other students at your same level with similar goals and struggles and 1,000s more that are just a few steps ahead of you
You can handle our amazing sense of humour (it's not spelled wrong, we're Canadian... well, some of us... see what we mean... you've been warned)

And it's definitely for you if you're sick of:

Outdated game development tutorials
Free courses and tutorials that don't go beyond the basics
Learning topics and concepts that are mostly irrelevant in the real-world and don't even get asked in interviews
Courses with no community or support system
Tutorial hell
Feeling like you're going in circles with no clear path or end in sight

Let's be 100% clear. You aren't going to do 100 coding challenges or 50 projects or learn topics that aren't going to get you hired or even be used in the real-world. That's a waste of your time.

The sooner you get hired, the sooner you'll be learning more than you can from any course. That's our goal.

Why become a Game Developer?

Everyone has their own reason(s) as to why they want to become a Game Developer. But here are a few of the best reasons:

Lots of jobs available. The gaming industry is a huge business and growing more and more. In fact it's expected to continue growing over 13% per year until 2030. That means lots of companies are looking to hire Game Developers.
High demand = High salary. The average annual salary for a Web Game in the United States is over $98,000 across all levels (entry-level to senior).
No degree required. It's very possible to get hired as a Game Developer without having any college degree. You definitely don't need a Computer Science degree to be a Game Developer.
Work remotely. Many game development jobs (freelance or full-time) are remote. Work from the comfort of your own home, a coffee shop or even while travelling the world. Some roles even allow you to work on your own schedule.
It's fun. And rewarding. You get to have a real-world impact. The work you're doing on a daily basis can entertain millions and be the next big hit...how cool is that?!

How long does it take to become a Game Developer (and complete this Career Path)?

Everyone is different. So it's hard to give a specific amount of time. The two biggest variables are the number of hours per week you're dedicating to completing the steps in the Career Path and your current experience level.

Don't hold us to it but here's a rough guideline based on feedback we've received from past ZTM students on how long it takes to become a Game Developer:

0-10 hours a week = 6-12+ months. Students from all experience levels but are only able to dedicate a few hours a week.
10-30 hours a week = 4-6+ months. Students who have started from scratch as complete beginners (no matter their age!) and spend a few hours per day.
30-40 hours a week = 3-4+ months. Students who are able to learn basically full-time and/or already have some experience (ex: CS students).

What’s the ZTM Discord community and how can it help me?

The ZTM Discord is our exclusive online community for ZTM students, alumni, TAs and instructors.

How it helps you, short version: Increase the chances that ZTM students achieve their current goals and help them continue to grow throughout their career.

Longer version: Learning alone is hard. We've all been there. We've all tried to learn new skills and struggled. It can be frustrating, daunting, and just plain challenging, especially if you're trying to change careers.

We feel strongly that the Zero To Mastery Discord community is an essential part of the learning experience and greatly increases the chances for students to achieve their goals.

It's crazy to think that Colleges and Coding Bootcamps charge you tens of thousands of dollars to provide you with this type of experience. It doesn't have to be that way!

In fact, ~20% of ZTM students are also enrolled at a College or in-person Coding Bootcamp but feel like they just aren't getting all of the skills and support they need. But with ZTM, they do.

Within the Zero To Mastery Discord community, you can:

Connect with other Developers, Engineers, Data Scientists, Designers
Form study groups and complete ZTM Career Paths and Courses together
Ask questions and get advice from other people at your same level as well as more experienced professionals
Get feedback on projects
Meet other students around the world (and likely even someone from your hometown!)
Learn how to answer questions and help other students which will accelerate your own learning
Get help from others with questions and exercises
Work on coding challenges and real-world open-source projects with other students

It’s pretty awesome to see many ZTM alumni also active every single day, continuing to engage with the community, give back, and level up their own skills and career.

Are there any prerequisites for this Career Path?

A computer (Windows/Mac/Linux) and access to the internet. That's it! No previous experience is needed.

If you haven't already, take our tech career path quiz. We'll give you our recommendation for which path is the best fit for you.

How is a Career Path different from a course?

Career Paths are like a full College curriculum. Our Career Paths give you the exact courses, workshops, challenges, articles and actions to take to go from absolute beginner to getting hired.

Career Paths start with ensuring you know the foundations from scratch. But they go far beyond by teaching you advanced topics and non-technical skills that are essential for your career but aren't taught in Computer Science Degrees or Coding Bootcamps.

Courses are more focused. Different courses have different goals. Some courses are a great fit for experienced Developers, Engineers and Programmers who want to level-up their skills in a specific topic or framework. Other courses cover a wider range of topics teaching the foundations and fundamentals for beginners.

Can I change my Career Path?

Yes. You can change your Career Path anytime. As a member of Zero To Mastery, you have unlimited access to all ZTM courses, workshops, challenges, articles and other materials needed to complete any of the ZTM Career Paths.

Invest in a better you. For less than a coffee a day.

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CONVINCE YOUR BOSS TO PAY

If you’re looking to up skill then you should 100% get your employer to cover the cost of training.

Need a Team License?

With a team license, you can buy a number of spots to allocate to employees.

Only pay once, ever

Get Lifetime Access

You're serious about advancing your career and maximizing your salary

All PRO benefits included

Never worry about staying up to date with the industry again, for life. You'll get access to all ZTM PRO features and future courses for life.

Become a Game Developer

Earn on average $98,032 per year

6 Months

Your career path

What You'll Learn

Apply To 5 Jobs You Really Want

See less career path

What ZTM students are saying

Meet your instructors

Mike Sirman

Luis Ramirez Jr

Jesse Zhou

Andrei Neagoie

Still have questions?

Who is this Game Developer Career Path for?

Why become a Game Developer?

How long does it take to become a Game Developer (and complete this Career Path)?

What’s the ZTM Discord community and how can it help me?

Are there any prerequisites for this Career Path?

How is a Career Path different from a course?

Can I change my Career Path?

Invest in a better you. For less than a coffee a day.

Only pay once, ever