One of the big missions behind Unity was to open up game development to everyone – the democratization of development, as they call it.

But if anyone can use Unity, then what sets apart the experts from the amateurs?

The company itself is working towards making this clearer by setting up its own Certification program, where Unity developers can take an exam set by Unity and become a certified developer.

Standing out

"It's primarily targeted towards people who have just entered, or are entering the industry," says Laetitia Santore, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Unity, "to give them a way to communicate to potential employers that they have the skills that are needed."

The reasoning is that while portfolios and experience can be exaggerated, this would give employers empirical evidence that the developer has the skills they claim to.

The exam is carried out in person, at Unity-run events, with candidates being given a randomised collection of questions to answer, which will help prevent any potential cheating.

That and the invigilators keeping a close eye on everything too.

Back to school

The program seems to be doing well so far – Santore says that Unity has certified people from over 21 countries so far, and exams at Unite Europe 2016 were filling up rapidly.

"We sold out our first two sessions here, and had to open up a third," says Santore.

But now the company is looking to scale everything up and get more people accredited, which isn't easy if they want to maintain the integrity of the exam.

"We can only be in so many places at one time," says Santore," and we can't pack huge rooms of people, because it has to be closely monitored."

Showing off your skills

As well as this, Unity is looking to increase its number of courses and tighten in the focus on various aspects of development.

"You could potentially have a certificate that's just in VR," says Santore.

"Everybody's skillset is very individualised, so we're giving people the framework to communicate that."

Along with this, Unity is providing coursework for developers to follow, and make sure that they're fully prepared for the exam.

"There's lots of learning material out there if you just want to learn," says Santore, "but with self-study is that for some people it can be a little tough when you don't know what you don't know."

You can find out more about Unity's certification program on the official website.