Unity developer jobs specialization diversions in the industry 4.0

Are Unity developer jobs in mobile, AR/VR, PC, and console games diversified?

Industry 4.0 networks a wide range of new technologies to create value and digitalize the world that we know today. One of the major Industry 4.0 technologies are augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR or XR in general). Unity skills are highly in demand – it is a direct reflection of the technology itself coming of age for a broader swathe of business outside of gaming. From beauty companies to furniture retailers, many different types of companies are embracing the capabilities of these world-building and enhancing technologies. And Unity remains the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D content making Unity Developer jobs in mobile, AR/VR, PC, and console games in high demand.

If you’re interested, read more on the topic of the demand of Unity Programmers.

Unity jobs demand growth

We’ve taken a look at Hired.com’s “State of Engineering” report to see the growth rate in certain engineering specializations – apparently, AR/VR and gaming engineers had the highest job growth in 2019, at 1400% and 146%, respectively. To give you a point of reference, in 2018 the highest growth rate was 517% (for blockchain), which makes AR/VR developer jobs nearly 3x as wanted as Blockchain was. The surging demand in these fields indicates that Unity Developer jobs are more sought after than ever, making this an opportune time to build and advance your Unity skills.

Unity mobile and PC games

We usually think of Unity as a game engine – it is actually one of the best tools for developing multiplayer 2D and 3D games and is a perfect cross-platform game engine for small and mid-sized games mostly. When it comes to PC or console games, there are some very solid games built for PC such as Rust and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but a vast majority is Unity mobile games development (for PC/console games oftentimes in-house engines turn out to be more effective).

Interestingly, Unity is critical for developing Nintendo Switch titles. In fact, the Unity game engine is the only third-party tool that finds mention on Nintendo’s official developer website.

If you’re keen on making small to mid-sized games, a Unity Developer job at a mobile games studio would definitely be a good fit!

VR/AR Unity jobs

Apparently, it’s the VR/AR industry that is now booming – the demand for such products has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic as virtual reality was the only way to be ‘outside’ during the quarantine. VR/AR solutions provide a perfect solution to interact with new surroundings safely. Companies like e.g. Ikea is using this technology so customers can see what the products would look like in their homes. Unity VR games are also a hit and something we’re going to keep on exploring during the next few years.

The highest demand is shown in Unity VR/AR Developer jobs and the forecast is it’s not going to change soon. If Unity VR games or products, in general, resonate with you, definitely worth a shot.

Alternate uses of Unity

Do you remember the last time you were at McDonald’s and used the touch screen to order? Or the interactive maps in shopping malls? It’s all powered using Unity engine! All these solutions need a multimedia platform to run on and Unity’s extensibility makes it super easy to integrate with their existing software. Though it may not sound as fancy as making VR/AR Unity games, the number of people using these platforms is immensely higher!

Unity jobs in animation and films

Game engines are a great option for animated filmmakers. They come in handy for special effects, graphics processing, and real-time rendering. The industry is now entering an era of a whole new type of filmmaking – Unity VR movies where you are right in the middle of the action and can look around, see what’s going on where real-time processing is key.

Unity is also heavily used in pre-visualization in live-action filmmaking. So far they’ve been using storyboards to plan, but with the Unity game engine, they can get a more detailed and realistic approximation of how these scenes will look.

Architectural visualization for Unity Programmer

There’s no better tool to handle huge amounts of complex geometry and rendering realistic looking lighting and surfaces than a game engine. Unity can be used to prepare 3D visualizations of buildings, so that the clients can have a real experience and sense of what it would look like instead of just looking at the blueprints. Unity 3d development plays an important role in this type of application.

Simulation using Unity 3d and VR/AR technology

We all know there are video games that are simulating certain jobs, but game engines like Unity can actually be used for serious simulators too. For instance, it’s highly used in training in the military and medical industries where staff can practice patient care and clinical management in a virtual environment. It’s an eminent and very beneficial way of training where you can deal with various scenarios virtually before it actually happens.

Another use of such simulations are virtual environments, where companies can train and validate their algorithms e.g. for autonomous cars. Algorithms need enormous amounts of input data in order to perform well. It probably wouldn’t be the best idea to have un-trained cars driving around on real streets so it makes perfect sense to put them in virtual ones. As a result, there is a vast demand for AR/VR Unity jobs on the market now, and the need is growing.

So what’s the best Unity Programmer and Developer job specialization after all?

While it’s certainly good to be aware of the situation on the market, statistics and demand are just factors that should be taken into account. Unity AR/VR development, mobile or PC games, VR games – they’re all in high demand. The most important factor should be the career path that is the most in-line with your interests and one that you feel passionate about. Software engineers genuinely love what they do and their primary motivation for learning a new programming language or framework is simply because they absolutely enjoy it.

So taking all these into consideration, which Unity Developer jobs would you go with? 🙂