Junior Game Developer Resume Example

Lead with shipped projects or personal game projects. Recruiters want to see you've built something playable. List projects with download counts, tech stack (Unreal, Unity, custom engine), and your specific contributions (AI systems, combat mechanics, procedural generation). If you haven't shipped commercially, show polished student projects or game jams with links to builds.

Use action verbs that show ownership: Developed, Implemented, Built, Created, Designed. Even at junior level, you want to signal you drove work, not just assisted. "Developed melee combat system" beats "Helped with combat" every time.

Quantify your impact with numbers. Frame rates (from 45fps to 60fps), player counts (4 million downloads), asset counts (12 weapon types), or team size (cross-discipline team of 8). Numbers make your claims concrete and memorable.

Place technologies inside accomplishments, not in a skills list. Instead of listing "Unreal Engine, C++, Blueprints" at the top, write "Implemented AI behavior trees in Unreal Engine 5 controlling enemy patrol and aggro patterns." Context proves you used the tools in real scenarios.

Show cross-discipline collaboration. Game development is team sport. Mention working with artists, designers, QA, or audio engineers. "Collaborated with level designers during playtesting" signals you understand the full development pipeline and can communicate across disciplines.

Listing game engines and tools without context. Writing "Unity, Unreal, C++" at the top proves nothing. Instead, embed tools in achievements: "Built procedural dungeon generator in Unity using wave function collapse." Context turns a skill list into proof of competence.

Vague bullets that could apply to anyone. "Worked on gameplay features" or "Helped with optimization" tells recruiters nothing. Be specific: "Implemented AI behavior trees controlling enemy patrol, aggro, and retreat patterns" shows exactly what you built.

No shipped or playable projects. If your CV has no links to builds, videos, or GitHub repos, recruiters assume you never finished anything. Even game jam projects with 100 downloads prove more than unfinished course assignments.

Focusing on coursework instead of hands-on projects. "Relevant coursework: Game Engine Architecture" is filler. Replace it with "Built voxel terrain engine with chunk-based LOD for seamless open-world streaming." Real projects beat course names every time.

Passive language that hides your role. "Team built a multiplayer shooter" or "Game featured procedural generation" doesn't tell recruiters what YOU did. Use active voice: "Designed procedural level generator using wave function collapse across 3 biome types."

Include links to playable builds or videos. Recruiters want proof your code runs. Add itch.io links, Steam pages, YouTube demos, or GitHub repos with build instructions. Even a 2-minute gameplay video proves more than paragraphs of text.

Highlight game jams and personal projects prominently. If you shipped a 48-hour jam game with 500 downloads, that's more impressive than unfinished coursework. Show you can scope, build, and ship under constraints.

Use concrete technical terms, not buzzwords. Don't say "used AI." Say "implemented finite state machines for enemy patrol behavior" or "built behavior trees in Unreal Engine's Blackboard system." Specificity proves genuine hands-on experience.

Show your role in team projects clearly. If you worked on a student game with 6 people, specify: "Designed and implemented character controller with dash, jump, and wall-run mechanics." Vague "team member" credits waste space.

Place education after experience/projects if you have shipped work. Recruiters care more about what you've built than where you studied. If you have 2-3 solid projects, lead with those and put your degree at the bottom.