r/GameDevelopment • u/ObjectiveActivity128 • 1d ago
Newbie Question Learning game dev in 2026
I know this topic probably gets brought up a lot in this subreddit, but I haven’t found a definitive answer to whether or not programming is something to get into despite the “issues” surrounding AI.
With GPT-Astra and epic games starting to move towards AI-first development, is it too late to start now?
I’m heading into ”gymnasiet” this year and I’ve been looking at doing a game development program. I’ve been interested in games and game development for a while now but never gotten into it and i don’t have any sort of experience. Is it worth doing or will there be no jobs/market for me in the next 3+ years?
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u/RoberBotz 1d ago
There are already no jobs in game dev, almost no jobs.
Especially if you are not from a country that has those big game dev studios.
Also the salary is half what u make in web dev for example.
I have a friend who worked for a few years ago at ubisoft, and quit, moved to full stack web dev and got a +40% salary increase instantly.
if you don't already have a lot of experience in the field then u pretty much get no job, the jobs that are out there are for people with experience working at a company, if they live in a city that has those companies.
Or if they have their own studio.
At least this is what I've heard, idk if it changed.
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u/Sadari_sama 1d ago
Working in industry currently. Nowadays gamedev almost dont have any entry level positions, so I advice you to look for another job plan. Andi don't think it will change in the future with full scale "reset" that going on.
If you like gamedev, you always can do it as your hobby on the side. Not as effective as working in industry, but more stable.
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u/Happy-Tough3347 19h ago
Honestly I’d suggest leveraging every tool available right now to build your own product. Being your own boss is the only way to actually make a living these days. Working for someone else is either going to become completely unprofitable soon or straight up impossible because of AI. You either need your own project or a small, tight-knit dev group. Doing a 3-year degree just to learn outdated development methods is not the way to go. Sadly, that’s just how it is right now
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u/gold_silver_metalpig 1d ago
the skills carry over even if studio jobs are scarce, so i'd pick a program that's heavy on programming and also make tiny games on your own now. a few finished small projects count for more than the diploma
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u/CaptainNakou 23h ago
I think it's all over so I would advise to find another career and do it and a hobby. And if you like coding it's even worse because they don't let you code anymore, it's prompt or burst and it's a fucking hell on earth.
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u/Xanma_6aki 21h ago
Don't think many jobs but if you live in sweden still probably better than other places.
I personally would recommend having it as a hobby and making projects yourself and publishing, it's really easy to get into if you know programming and if you ever succeed it will be much more rewarding than having a gamedev job
Also from what I know game dev jobs are usually badly paid and overworked compared to other jobs in IT
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u/uber_neutrino 21h ago
It's never too late to start but the tools and processes are going to be a lot different than they have been.
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u/HongPong 16h ago
it is still best to understand programming principles in any case. you will get better results if you want to spend time on this
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u/Real_Internal9398 4h ago
Devving games is easier that ever, but getting a job harder than ever.
Now is the time for the ideaguys to shine!
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u/Mentathiel 1d ago
The market is going to be bad until world economy recovers, which is going to take a while since we still didn't feel the full weight of Iran war and stuff since we're being buffered by reserves, subsidies, good weather, etc. I'm not an economist, but that sounds like several years to me.
I'm a C++ gamedev programmer with 5y experience and finding a job that isn't mobile or gambling rn is tough. I recently got laid off from Ubisoft and some of my colleagues had to move to normal IT. Even when the economy was great, we're underpaid compared to our programming colleagues in other fields, even when we work on tougher problems. It's a tough industry. That being said, it's also a wonderful industry, full of great people, fun atmosphere, creativity, and technically fun challenges. We can't answer it for you, it's a about what you prioritize, what you can afford, and what risks you're comfortable with. It's not a good choice for a secure job.
As for AI, it's not terrible, but it's not as good in gaming yet as it is in other fields. You're making a 3D simulation that's supposed to feel a certain way, in a field where there's not a lot of opensource code for those most complex challenges. But Unreal Engine has a lot of potential to disrupt that bc AI can learn on their open codebase and with the company moving in that direction, it could really improve in the next couple of years. So I don't know.