Hey guys,
I am a media student who found out in the middle of my university program that I want to program. Even though my university doesn’t offer many programming related courses, so I taught myself C++, C#, and Javascript over the years.
My problem is now that I would like to focus on a specific framework and become proficient with it. I know Unity and Unreal but are at a point where I feel like I need to choose one and focus more on it to have higher job chances. And this is where my question comes in.
An unbiased opinion, which technology offers more jobs and perspectives? Especially since I have no CS degree but only a semi-related one (I still know about algorithms, processors, memory and design patterns, etc., I learned all of them in private courses or online to not stay behind the CS grad competition in knowledge).
Grateful for some insight into the Game engineer market and the demand.
I should mention that I have 2 years of industry experience. Besides going to university I work as a Development Tester for big AAA company. (Which also showed me that one does not want to work in AAA but rather in cool AA or B dev projects…)
The two most important technical skills are the ability to learn and the ability to deliver. Tools change from project to project. Make lots of stuff so you can show potential employers that you can learn how to do things and that you can finish them.
That said, if there’s a possibility you’ll work in AAA, or even AA, make sure your C++ skills are strong. But make sure your communication skills and portfolio of accomplishments are just as strong.
Good luck getting an unbiased opinion on Unity vs Unreal on the Unity forums 
AAA often uses an in house engine for their games. Hard to get training on that before getting the job.
Outside of AAA, Unreal is more popular for bigger budget games of certain genres which the Unreal engine traditionally has excelled at (FPS for example). Unity dominates in small team indies and solo endeavors. Unity also dominates the mobile games market and certain consoles.
In general Unity is more ubiquitous, while Unreal still has this reputation as the engine with superior performance and graphics. That isn’t strictly true anymore, but reputations have a way of sticking, and reputation still impacts a company’s choice for their next project.
Last I checked unity gets considerably more mentions then unreal on my local job board. Validate this yourself for your area.
I know Unity is even used in certain types of industry, besides of gaming, where Unreal haven’t been even considered past engines comparison stage.
Not an exact answer, but UnReal is probably a simpler introduction to the basic ideas in game engines. For example, it makes complex colliders and death zones for you, and I think is easier to create an environment with. I’ve seen people easily go from UnReal to Unity. Coming straight to Unity can feel like a research project for every little thing. Then, as with programming, you don’t know something until you’ve seen two ways to do it.