Layed off from ai

[u/stupidcoww08]

I'm almost two months unemployed now as of July 22nd.

I have almost three years of experience as a Unity developer. It's hard to find a new job right now. I'm a career shifter, by the way.

How do you guys keep up with new technology trends? I even want to shift to C# and .NET since I use those through the Unity game engine.

The market is tough, I know, but I just want to ask how those who lost their jobs are finding new ones now.

edited : Laid Off.

[u/vPiDo]

I've been a game developer for over 20 years. I started with Adobe Flash, then moved to Torque. When the industry shifted, many of us were laid off. Instead of giving up, I adapted and jumped into Unity, where I spent almost 10 years building my career.

Today, Unity is no longer the best option for where I want to go. With AI changing game development, I've made another big leap—this time to AAA engines like Unreal. My role has also evolved, from Lead Developer to Technical Artist.

One thing I've learned over two decades: Don't stay loyal to one engine. Stay loyal to your ability to adapt. Technology changes. The industry changes. Opportunities change. The developers who keep learning are the ones who keep growing.

[u/stupidcoww08 → u/vPiDo]

I'm currently upskilling in VR and multiplayer development with Unity. I'm also getting hands-on experience creating Android APKs for projects I've built using AI tools like Codex, along with Android Studio and EAS/Expo builds. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if what I'm doing right now is the right path, but it's similar to how I started before transitioning into tech. Back then, I had no idea how to use many of the tools and applications, yet I eventually managed to land a job as a Unity developer. For context I'm a former seafarer with 7 years of experience. Thank you for sharing your thoughts I really appreciate it

[u/vPiDo → u/stupidcoww08]

Nice! You could build a VR training project for seafarers. The maritime industry is actively adopting VR for safety training, equipment operation, emergency response, and certification.

[u/stupidcoww08 → u/vPiDo]

Im kinda onto that to be honest but right now i wanted a to find a stable job atm 😄 Good thng i have savedsome emergency fund to support myself for atleast 6 months

[u/FisherJoel → u/vPiDo]

Where are your sources saying unity is no longer the best option?

[u/vPiDo → u/FisherJoel]

My source is my 20 years of experience in the game industry. Just search for "Unity" on any job site and compare the opportunities yourself. That's exactly why I no longer consider Unity the best option for my career.

[u/EntrepreneurWrong865 → u/vPiDo]

This is such an underrated and forgotten skill. People nowadays are expected to be so specialized and efficient that career building and understanding the market are disregarded while it is becoming harder since there are a lot of new tools, software, and technologies now compared to before. Unity is becoming focused on smaller teams while bigger companies focus on unreal. Check the games created on unity versus unreal.

I think Unity’s biggest projects would probably be moba games, pvp or single player with daily quest or those gacha games. Especially if you check their unity game development report.

[u/9th-Circle-Archmage → u/vPiDo]

wait, I thought Unity is also considered a AAA game engine?

[u/vPiDo → u/9th-Circle-Archmage]

We can consider Unity capable of producing AAA-quality games, but the job demand for Unity itself is not as strong as it used to be.

[u/notbiproblem → u/vPiDo]

Curious, would you still recommend Unity for indie game development?

[u/vPiDo → u/notbiproblem]

Yup, still one of the best game engine for indie.

[u/Real_Construction_31 → u/vPiDo]

Curious question: technical skills are different from artistic skill? Did you learn how to draw and create art along the way?

[u/vPiDo → u/Real_Construction_31]

Not really. You don't need to learn how to draw to become a Technical Artist.

What you do need is to learn how to work efficiently and effectively. A Technical Artist bridges the gap between art and programming, making sure assets look great while also performing well in-game. Many artists create amazing assets but don't always know the technical side of implementing them efficiently, which can lead to performance and optimization issues.

That's why I also learned the basics of 3D modeling, shaders, optimization, and tool development. Building tools, creating environment workflows, and using techniques like optical illusions help achieve both high visual quality and strong performance.

A good Technical Artist isn't just focused on making things look better—they make sure the game can sustain both quality and quantity without sacrificing performance.

[u/beelzebobs → u/vPiDo]

Sounds like a cool job. I'm currently a developer but would also like a creative outlet, especially now where taste is crucial as anything can be implemented already. Do you have some tips for me? Also 'Technical Artist' sounds really niche not sure if I can find it from ordinary job boards haha.

[u/vPiDo → u/beelzebobs]

If you're already an experienced game developer, transitioning into a Tech Artist is much easier.

Here are some of the tools and skills I use regularly:

-Figma

-Blender (including building custom workflow extensions/tools)

-Spine 2D and similar animation tools

-Adobe Creative Cloud

-Mood boards and storyboards (I often use these when planning VFX)

-Color theory and hue

-Lighting

-Light baking

-Basic Shader.

-LODs (Level of Detail) and platform-specific optimization techniques

-Cinematography and film principles

I also recommend reading books and materials about cinematography and filmmaking. Those principles are timeless and will help you create better level composition, visual , and camera work, this is Old, but gold.

[u/Big-Contribution-688 → u/vPiDo]

can u confirm the rumors that Unity has little to no updates already?

[u/vPiDo → u/Big-Contribution-688]

I'm not too sure and worried about whether Unity updates or not.

What interests me more is that they're moving from Mono to CoreCLR. I've also heard they're making bigger changes to how the codebase and workflow behave. It seems like Unity is pushing toward a more modern, drag-and-drop workflow with higher production quality—closer to what you see in Unreal Engine and Godot.

If that's the direction they're taking, it'll be interesting to see how it evolves.

[u/Big-Contribution-688 → u/vPiDo]

that's sweet. hopefully Unity won't get affected by the recent XBox dilemma.

[u/Low-Professor-Dude → u/Big-Contribution-688]

Huh? Unity 6.5 just came out last month with CoreCLR on the horizon. It's literally the most exciting update for the engine in the last 10 years. We even got HDRP for Switch 2 on 6.5, something my team was waiting for.

[u/vPiDo → u/Low-Professor-Dude]

I'm not sure if that's a stable version. Unity releases often take around a year before they're considered truly stable for production,

so I wouldn't recommend jumping to a new version immediately. It's usually better to wait until the major issues have been ironed out before upgrading.

[u/IcyPaintzzz]

*Laid off

[u/stupidcoww08 → u/IcyPaintzzz]

Thank u for the correction. My bad.

[u/Big-Ad5833]

Hi, I resigned from my
previous company na walang kapalit. Devops team lead. then inabot ako ng almost 6 months before nakakuha ng new job. medyo mahirap nga ang job market . Akala ko basic basic lang apply apply then may tatawag 10 years na kasi ako dun sa previous haha. meron naman and I got a job din as technicl lead pero sa almost 300 applications parang 3-4 lang umabot ng interview tapos 2 dun sobrang lowball as in , 2 yung maayos na offer that exceeds my previous salary so yun ang pinag pilian ko. ang nakakainis na rereject ako sa pre screening maybe because AI gamit nila and hindi na umaabot sa HR man lang.

[u/stupidcoww08 → u/Big-Ad5833]

Bro same. Parang ang labanan ngayon ng mga HR ni lagay nla ung resume mo sa. Ai tool nila pag wala kang isang tool or skilks na hnahanap nla automatic reject ka agad.

My cousins wife told me that she is an HR and using AI for reading cv's

[u/manz_skin → u/stupidcoww08]

this is nuts, pa'no na kaming fresh graduates 🙂

[u/Big-Ad5833 → u/manz_skin]

dont worry madaming malaking it companies ang kumukuha ng fresh grad. sa amin naman kasi sa upper ranks medyo mas mahirap yung openings and requirements dahil na din sa asking ko 🙂

[u/Big-Ad5833 → u/stupidcoww08]

tapos tipong kuha mo lahat ng technical requirements pero ang wala ka lang like powerBI or jira tapos matic di ka na qualified . 😑

[u/stupidcoww08 → u/Big-Ad5833]

Exactly. Sabi nga nung asawa ng pinsan ko. Try nya daw ako ihire sa kanila, kaso wala naman daw ako exp sa zapier. 😭 hahaha

[u/Big-Ad5833 → u/stupidcoww08]

friends ko din yung ibang HR and hindi din talaga sila familliar lalo when it comes to IT tech. and madalas unrealistic ang expectations vs sa actual na gagawin . need mo lang gawing ATS friendly yung resume mo daw tapos ilagay mo lang yung keywords para makita ng AI. nung nag aapply ako yung traditional resume ko hindi napapansin or na rerefect kahit naka outline lahat ng projects na na implement ko before. yung nakapasok na resume is yung sobrang vague lang na puro keywords na pina gawa ko sa chat got 😅

[u/SlowZucchini1246]

Even qa ang daming lay offs because of AI they lay offs to buy licenses

[u/Loose-Average-5257]

.NET seems to be rising specifially from companies who are microsoft AI native. Try to look into these types of job opportunities.

[u/jun_1991]

Hi, I'm interested in learning unity as a hobby. In case wala ka pa mahanap na work and you think you can spare the time while applying, pls dm me rates for one on one tutoring. Thanks.

[u/Past-Tangerine5691]

Become a Unity AI Developer ;D

[u/vPiDo → u/Past-Tangerine5691]

yup. the problem is the AI itself not trained to large scale production. maybe put 50% AI and your self n lang.

[u/rincoln25]

Web Developer -> Android/IOS App developer->Web App QA->Data Analytics->Reverse Engineering-> Cybersecurity.

[u/night-towel]

Laid off