Vetted Game Designers in California

Scott Hwang

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Senior Game Designer specializing in multiplayer systems and live service experiences

Irvine, California18y exp

“Gameplay systems designer with shipped AAA experience on Overwatch, including end-to-end ownership of player progression and major systems like matchmaking (role delta system cutting uncertainty/volatility by 50%) and Stadium mode round/shop + MMR/balancing systems (second-highest engaging mode). Strong in KPI/retention-driven design, player research, and telemetry-based balancing, with a UE5 Blueprint prototyping workflow built for modularity, data-driven tuning, and handoff to engineering.”

“World of Warcraft quest designer who owned end-to-end quest pipelines and shipped standout content, including the memorable escort/stealth quest “Klaskin’s Great Escape” tuned through playtests and a Dragonflight capstone framing story that drove higher side-quest engagement. Experienced in Lua scripting, reward/economy balancing, and building daily/weekly endgame loops (Beetle Ranch/Rak-Ush), with recent UE5 Avalanche node-based VFX prototyping exposure.”

xiaowei guo

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Junior Game Designer specializing in AI-driven systems and interactive narrative

Irvine, CA2y exp

“Game economy/progression designer who owned an end-to-end multi-currency economy for a top-down kitchen management sim, balancing cash/reputation/XP with sinks like spoilage, maintenance, and rent. Uses telemetry + structured playtests and spreadsheet simulations to tune pacing, reduce mid-game churn, and prevent late-game inflation by adjusting efficiency/skill curves and phase-based balancing.”

“Gameplay/systems designer who owned the end-to-end gameplay redesign of Top Spin 4 (2011)—including player states, ball physics, shot resolution, attributes, and AI—with much of that work later reused in TopSpin 2K25 (2024). Deep experience balancing realism and responsiveness for competitive multiplayer/online play, using extensive playtesting plus telemetry analysis (Tableau) to tune timing windows and core mechanics.”

Rachel Downey

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Mid-Level Game Designer specializing in systems and economy design

Livermore, California4y exp

“Game economy/progression designer with hands-on ownership of end-to-end systems and live-ops tuning on major mobile titles (Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Contest of Champions). Builds spreadsheet-based simulations and telemetry-driven tuning loops to prevent inflation and reduce progression friction, including a multi-iteration optimization that lifted D7 retention ~7% while maintaining monetization targets.”

Anthony Hernandez

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Mid-level Game Designer specializing in systems, balance, and live updates

Los Angeles, CA6y exp

“Game designer currently leading design on a Mario Party-like party game, owning mode design, economy, and meta-progression. Uses playtests and A/B tests to tune fairness-focused systems (e.g., dynamic power-ups accounting for player standing and turn order) and prototypes quickly in UE5 Blueprints. Previously shipped a mixed-reality version of Knockout League’s Knockout Alley mode for a Quest 3-aligned release.”

Bobby Sanders

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Mid-level Game Designer specializing in systems and gameplay

Anaheim, California6y exp

“Game QA tester/designer hybrid with hands-on Unreal Engine 5 technical debugging experience, focused on NPC AI navigation and performance. At Lantern Tower Games (Telmahre), owned end-to-end quality for an NPC system (dynamic navmesh, moving platforms, EQS, actor pooling), using Unreal Insights and asset reference refactors (hard->soft + async loading) to resolve critical memory/performance issues while collaborating closely with engineering and level design in Scrum.”

Ryan Alemania

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Senior Game Designer specializing in game economy, progression, and data-driven systems

Irvine, CA20y exp

“Game economy/progression designer with live-ops experience across MMO, CCG, and F2P strategy titles (ROSE Online, Vega Conflict/KIXEYE). Known for data-driven tuning of loot, currencies, and monetization—e.g., removing a low-performing pay gate drove ~14% DAU lift and improved revenue, and built premium-currency models using real player telemetry to support an ad-to-IAP transition.”

Bria Marks

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Entry-Level Game Designer & Gameplay Programmer specializing in Unity and Unreal Engine 5

Los Angeles, CA1y exp

“Game designer with hands-on experience shipping and tuning a branching memory-deletion narrative system in Unity (Echoes of Memory), focused on creating emotional tension through meaningful player choice. Also builds and iterates cooperative level layouts in Unreal Engine 5 with ~1-week idea-to-playtest cycles, collaborating closely with teammates on Blueprint implementation.”

“Unity/C# engineer with hands-on ownership of a server-backed resource loading pipeline that kept build size small, preserved UI responsiveness via parallel services, and handled dynamic asset replacement with ghost objects and memory cleanup. Also brings a pragmatic, architecture-first approach to AI/LLM integration, emphasizing provider abstraction, testing, cost control, and guardrails for hallucinations.”