Introduction to C++ (MIT 6.096)

MIT's Introduction to C++ (6.096) is a free course on MIT OpenCourseWare that teaches C++ through a practical lens, covering classes, inheritance, templates, and the standard library. C++ is the language of game engines, high-frequency trading, and anything where both performance and object-oriented design matter. After finishing, you understand C++ core concepts and can write object-oriented programs. The main limitation: C++ is vast. This intro covers fundamentals; real C++ mastery takes years and multiple books.

Unreal Engine, used to build most AAA games, is written in C++ and exposes its own gameplay framework in C++ for that reason (source: Epic Games' Unreal Engine documentation, dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine).