Work Experience
Project Design Director
Midnight Forge Studios — Seattle, WA
Led end-to-end design direction for an open-world action-RPG with a team of 14 designers. Owned design pillars, systems architecture, and player experience strategy from pre-production through live service operations.
Systems DesignTeam LeadershipUX StrategyCombat DesignLive ServiceUnreal Engine 5
- Defined and enforced design pillars across all game systems including combat, progression, economy, and narrative
- Managed a cross-disciplinary design team of 14, including senior designers, combat specialists, and UX leads
- Collaborated with Art, Engineering, and Production to align creative vision with technical and schedule constraints
- Established design review cadence and documentation standards that reduced iteration cycles by 30%
- Shipped title to critical acclaim (87 Metacritic) with 4.2M units sold in first quarter
Senior Systems Designer
Orbital Games — Austin, TX
Designed and iterated on core gameplay systems for a tactical FPS with over 8M registered players. Specialized in combat feel, ability design, and competitive balance across ranked and casual modes.
Combat DesignSystems DesignBalancingUnreal Engine 4Analytics-Driven Design
- Owned combat design for 3 major title updates, each adding new mechanics, weapons, and ability interactions
- Built and maintained a comprehensive balance spreadsheet model tracking DPS, TTK, and engagement metrics
- Partnered with the data team to instrument telemetry for player behavior analysis, informing weekly tuning passes
- Mentored 3 junior designers through structured feedback sessions and design documentation workshops
- Co-designed the ranked matchmaking experience overhaul, increasing player retention by 22%
Game Designer
Vertex Interactive — Los Angeles, CA
Designed core gameplay loops, level archetypes, and progression systems for two mid-scope action titles. Contributed across combat, encounter design, and onboarding UX.
Level DesignEncounter DesignGame FeelUnityPrototyping
- Designed and implemented 18 combat encounters across two shipped titles
- Prototyped experimental gameplay mechanics using Unity scripting and rapid paper prototyping
- Contributed to UX flow and tutorial design, reducing new player drop-off rate by 17% in user testing
- Created comprehensive GDD sections including camera systems, control schemes, and accessibility options
Education
Archbishop Grimshaw College
1993 — 1995Mathematics | Physics | Chemistry A-Levels