Developer: Bad Robot Games 

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)

Platforms: PS5 | PC

Role: Senior Gameplay Engineer (Unreal Engine 5)

Can't talk too much about this, since it hasn't released yet. However, my work spanned the core features of the game, including accessibility, controls, camera, movement, weapons, items, and performance. I also joined super early during the prototype stage, and experienced the full development lifecycle. 

Developer: Hi-Rez Studios

Platforms: PS5 | PS4 | Xbox Series X/S |Xbox One | Switch | PC

Role: Gameplay Programmer (Unreal Engine 4)

My biggest body of work was building and hardening Umbra’s kit: the remote-controlled spider, including end-to-end spawning, possession/re-possession flow, movement, camera, controls, and the crawler’s combat abilities (boost, jump, detonate) backed by full damage/health/death rules and UI hooks. For Umbra’s RC crawler, I had to refactor from UE4’s vehicle base to our custom Character-based hierarchy to leverage CharacterMovement replication/prediction and reuse core shooter systems (damage, aim assist, UI hooks, perks/mods), while avoiding physics-vehicle assumptions that didn’t fit our gameplay needs. This was a lot of work touching a 3+year old system and making sure everything worked just as it did before. 

Beyond Umbra, I contributed to broader feature work: bot behavior and backfill logic improvements (work that started from Rogue Company Elite), game modes, such as Capture-the-Flag, and R&D experiments around weapon skin applications and match data for equipped skins. 

Outside of gameplay, I also was part of the narrative team that was planning the lore for the Rogue Company universe. We aimed to reveal that story with each hero trailer. 

Prototypes

I also voluntarily participated in game jams, where I pitched several prototypes, which you can learn more about here... fun times :)

Developer: Hi-Rez Studios

Platform: PC

Role: Gameplay Programmer (Unreal Engine 4)

Also joined in the early stages of this project. I helped prototype and implement core roguelike shooter building blocks: an arsenal of powerful gadgets (Bubble Shield - prevented enemies from entering and blocked projectiles, Stasis Field - slowed down fast moving enemies, Healing Field - healed nearby players), a Gravity Lift (similar to Halo 3), door systems, and an Extraction Drone that allowed players to escape with all their loot.

I also worked on progression-facing systems like the weapon upgrade paths (including early elemental upgrades, such as Incendiary ammo that burned targets over time and Electric ammo that shocked nearby enemies leaving them immobile), respawn cash rules, and structuring temporary perks into style choices that changed the game drastically as you progressed. 

As part of my work as a paid freelance Tester at Keywords Studios (formerly VMC Consulting Corp.), I tested the functionality of 6 AAA games, such as Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War 4, Assassins Creed Unity, Watch Dogs 2, and Tom Clancy's The Division. I also participated in paid playtests on-site at Red Strom Entertainment to playtest Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Far Cry 4. My work was mainly comprised of reporting bugs and providing design feedback after each test session. This was all during my time as a grad student at DePaul University, where I was earning my Masters in Software Engineering, with a concentration in real-time game systems.