Unity Developers

The best way to learn how to become a Unity developer is to download the Unity software (https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download) and begin playing around and building things. Unity Technologies offers free personal licenses to developers who have had revenue or funding of less than $100,000 in the last 12 months. It also offers a free license to students who are enrolled in an accredited educational institution and who are at least age 13 (for those who live in the United States). Unity Technologies offers fee-based licensed to skilled developers. The company also provides a variety of useful tutorials and articles to help users get up to speed with the software. Visit https://store.unity.com for more information. Other useful resources from Unity Technologies include a Developer’s Corner (https://unity.com/developers-corner) and the Unity Blog (https://blogs.unity3d.com).

One important opportunity to check out is the National Student Leadership Conference's Game Design program (https://www.nslcleaders.org/youth-leadership-programs/game-design), which is held twice each summer at the University of Washington. Participants will learn about topics such as game mechanics, system thinking and design, Unity 3D C#, level development, sound effects and lighting, and prototyping, and they will use these skills to create their own game. Other opportunities are offered by the Digital Media Academy, which offers Intro to Game Design with Unity, Intro to Game Design with Unity, and other camps for students ages 12 to 18. Learn more at https://www.digitalmediaacademy.org/game-design-development-camps.

Learn how to code so that you have a general understanding of programming. Visit Codeacademy (https://www.codecademy.com), edX (https://www.edx.org), Coursera (https://www.coursera.org), and Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org), where you can learn take free or low-cost basic coding classes.

Talk to Unity developers about their careers. Ask your computer science teacher or school counselor to help set up an information interview or job shadowing experience.