How did I become a Freelance Game Developer in Pakistan?
Published: 2022-07-31 14:49:44

## Starting my Journey

Being from a country like Pakistan, choosing to become a game developer was not that easy. I started learning Unity almost four years ago when I just started university. At that time, the game development industry in Pakistan was completely different. People didn't even know much about famous game engines like [Unity](https://unity.com/) and [Unreal](https://www.unrealengine.com/). There were companies that were making games but it was not common among students to pursue such a career. There were no communities or people from whom I can learn. But yes, I had a golden opportunity because my brother was a game developer. Basically, he was the one who introduced me to this world. 

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## Being a Professional Game Developer

I became a professional Unity developer when I was 19. It was the start of my third semester and I was working on a personal project with my cousin who was a Voxel artist. While working on my own game project, instead of following tutorials, was the time when I actually felt power in my hands through which I can put my creativity into a game. This is when I decided to pursue game development as my career. Soon, I started getting freelance projects from my brother due to my experience. This was something new for me as I was earning as well. Then I started working actively on my freelance platforms and after working with several small clients, I got a great one from the UK. 

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## GameTrain and DVC Shoot

Being passionate about game development, and earning a handsome amount as a freelance game developer, I met [GameTrain](https://www.gametrain.org/). They were just taking a start with a great initiative of bridging the gap between academia and the game development industry in Pakistan. They chose me as their Brand Ambassador and I got featured in their DVC Shoot and an Advertisement. 

> [GameTrain Brand Ambassador Swag](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nabeel-hassan-9b0298137_gametrain-swag-dvcshoot-activity-6843627129054224384-A2T9?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web)
> 
[![GameTrain Brand Ambassador Swag](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/hxb7gnermq5o6h4f01v6.jpg)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nabeel-hassan-9b0298137_gametrain-swag-dvcshoot-activity-6843627129054224384-A2T9?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web)

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## Getting Featured on a Podcast

But this was just a start because soon, a famous Pakistani Youtuber, **[Taimoor Salahuddin aka Mooroo](https://www.youtube.com/c/mooroosicity)** reached out, and I went for a Podcast with him along with three more people.

> The title of Podcast was [Game Development in Pakistan](https://youtu.be/XnOtg5d-dts?t=158).
>
[![Picture from Podcast](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3joycq3z6jdw0wo07hf2.png)](https://youtu.be/XnOtg5d-dts?t=158)

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## Winning ICPC Programming Competition

This was the time when I started becoming famous as a freelance game developer in Pakistan. I started getting more and more clients and offers through my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. But, this was not just due to that podcast. There was something else as well. Basically, just before meeting GameTrain, I won ACM's ICPC Asia Topi Regional Programming Competition with my team, OVERLOADS and we got qualified for World Finals to represent our country.

> [Team OVERLOADS](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nabeel-hassan-9b0298137_woohoo-we-won-the-icpc-international-activity-6829866129817653248-xb3x?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web)
> 
[![ICPC Winners](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/abjpq9gd8p6hr7p0pba3.jpg)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nabeel-hassan-9b0298137_woohoo-we-won-the-icpc-international-activity-6829866129817653248-xb3x?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web)

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## Graduation and Starting my Career

Now, when I have graduated, I adopted my career to be a full-time freelance Unity game developer. When I was in university, I was working on [Fiverr](https://www.fiverr.com/). But now I have started working on [Upwork ](https://upwork.com/) which has better clients with better rates. Other than that, I am applying on [Toptal](https://www.toptal.com/) as well but it has quite a long and difficult process to be part of their network. After all that hard work, this is really a great opportunity. Will write more about my experience later on when I will be part of it. You can see other Unity developers who are part of Toptal [here](https://www.toptal.com/unity-unity3d). 

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## Follow my Journey

If you liked this post, you might like those that will follow.

See you next time! 🙌