[bumblewax]

With smaller indie games you can spend your time doing everything, which might be safest to do on the side at first. In AAA you’ll need to specialize due to the large teams. AI, gameplay, physics, audio, graphics, engine, network, backend, can all be different code teams. The type of work can be very different and I’m willing to bet you might like one but not the other.

Like others have mentioned, just get started on the side and you’ll likely gravitate towards what you enjoy. Try something like Tom Looman’s course[0] that basically teaches you everything you need to build a game in Unreal. You’ll also pick up C++ and Unreal Engine, which will help if you want to find a full time gig in the industry.

[0] https://courses.tomlooman.com/p/unrealengine-cpp