GAME DEV EXPERIENCE
As a game dev, Marie has had a lengthy career spanning some of the world’s most famous studios and titles:
- Creative leader with long experience across both PC/Consoles and some mobile & VR
- 15+ years game dev experience, many in AAA with 5 shipped titles
- Experience leading both design teams and cross-disciplinary implementation teams
- Wide experience within gameplay and systems, deep knowledge in AI and 3Cs
- Bachelor in Computer Science at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Nowadays, Marie now runs her own Game Advisory, where she offers services:
- Masterclass in Boss Fight Design
- Workshops in Game Design
- Advisor and coach for teams & their vision
- Audits and strategic advice for funds, gov & VC
Check the Advisory page for more info, or keep reading about her studio career below.
ROLES
Game Advisor
Running her own consultancy where I help various companies within games with game vision & design
- Game studios such as Supercell and Toca Boca
- Funds such as Canadian Media Fund and Government of Cyprus
- Incubators such as Sweden Game Arena and Startup Games Berlin
- Esport orgs such at Team Liquid and Female Legends
- Universities such as Inland Norway Uni of Applied Sciences and Macromedia Uni of Applied Sciences
Within this role, Marie has also ran her Masterclass in Bossfight Design and numerous talks at conferences – check the ‘Speaker’ experience section for more information.
Game Director (mobile)
Owning and driving an unannounced mobile game for META Games (later renamed Legendary Play)
- Creative visionholder and full product ownership
- Building and leading an implementation team
- Strategic planning (budget, roadmap, hiring)
- Partnerships with external parties helping development
- Part of studio leadership
- High level Game Design
- Communication & design feedback with investors
Associate Game Director (AAA)
Worked remotely on an unannounced title for Ubisoft Stockholm
- Owning and supervising the whole 3C & AI division
- Reviewing division results (development) on a weekly basis and providing feedback and direction
- Vision holder for 3C & AI gameplay
- Collaborating with Game Director to set top gameplay vision
- Collaborating and aligning with peer design vision holders (eg. UX, progression)
- Planning and setting goals for future initiatives and milestones with Production
- Collaborating with discipline directors (eg. art, programming) on resource allocation
- Hiring Manager and supervisor for Lead Designers
- Administrative tasks such as time reports, expense approval, yearly reviews, salaries etc
Lead Game Designer (AA)
Lead Game Designer on live game competitive multiplayer game The Cycle
- Head of the Design Department, leading the craft and responsible for all its output
- Long- and short term planning (e.g. milestones and backlog grooming)
- Working together with Creative Director, setting and presenting vision
- Organizing workshops, playtests and other designers learning and development needs
- Setting internal creative process (workflows, approval processes, pitch jams etc)
- Hiring manager for design positions
- Support to the community (i.e. streams, roundtables, coaching tournament organizers)
- Managing 9 designers ranging from combat to MTX to Narrative to UX
- Performance reviews and regular coaching and mentoring
- Reviewing and ensuring the quality of all designs and feature work
- Leading by example; hands-on implementation, teaching and mentoring
- Designs across the board where needed
Senior Game Designer & Product Owner (AAA)
Leading three major features on an unannounced online multiplayer game at Jagex
- Reporting straight to and keeping Creative Director in the loop
- Feature owner over all 3C (Camera, Controls, Character and movement), Progression and AI
- Leading design and delegating to several other designers
- Continuous coaching and feedback to junior and intermediate members of the design team
- Leading cross-disciplinary feature team with animators, artists and programmers
- Advisory in technical implementation
- Market rating analysis in collaboration with Strategy team
Game Designer & Feature Owner (AAA)
Worked at Capcom as Game Designer and Feature owner on an unreleased AAA title in the Dead Rising franchise
- Owned and designed all boss fights
- Led creative sessions to ideate, include, involve and iterate on designs
- Made polished high level designs intents and presented them for Directors
- Coordinated and lead a cross-disciplinary feature team of 20 people
- Implemented assets according to the design in engine (Unreal 4)
- Invented some innovative AI features and tools working closely together with tech
- Driving force in the central AI council putting together level design, tech and game design to make joint decisions, interfaces and guidelines
Technical Designer & Feature Owner (AA)
Worked at Funcom (later renamed to Nvizzio Creations) on theme park simulator game RollerCoaster Tycoon World – successor to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. Owned everything AI (which is a lot in a simulation game). Set the AI vision architected the full simulation loop, implemented initial core systems such as pathfinding, decision making and the hive mind for staff. Had one programmer to delegate to.
Transitioned to pure Game Design during the development of RollerCoaster Tycoon World. Set a new vision for progression and drove the design and implementation, working closely to programmers, designers, level designers, producers and artists.
Also worked on Rokh, a futuristic survival game set on planet Mars. Designed various gameplay elements such as the debuff/buff system and hazards that plagued the planet.
Gameplay Programmer (AAA)
Worked at Eidos Montréal as Gameplay Programmer on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided DLC and game mode Breach. The mode was about hacking and escaping with data from stealth missions. I worked closely with designers, level designers, artists and animators to make awesome stuff, always coming with ideas and smart technical solutions to design problems.
Main features included:
- AI systems
- Experience/Upgrade Systems
- Weapons
Projects:
- Deux Ex Mankind Divided: Breach (game mode)
- Deus Ex Mankind Divided DLC #1
Associate Gameplay Programmer (AAA)
Worked as associate gameplay programmer on my first AAA: Batman Arkham Origins. C++ and UnrealScript programming. For PC and consoles, using Unreal 3+. Worked widely on almost all areas of the game, including:
- AI
- UI
- 3C (Camera, Control, Character animations/movement)
- Core Combat Systems
Boss Fights (Killer Croc, Anarky)
- Side missions
- Experience/Upgrade Systems (Waynetech)
- Dynamic Difficulty
- Character interactions with the world
- Achievements
- Tutorials
Projects:
- Batman Arkham Origins
- Batman Arkham Origins DLC A Cold Cold Heart
Programming Intern (IT)
IBM was researching how to use Virtual Worlds such as Second Life, ActiveWorlds in a business context, inspired by the big MMORPG games at the time (i.e. World of Warcraft). We were working on the OG metaverse.
- Learnt the tropes of UI & UX methodology by some of the best in the industry
- Designed the UI & UX of a GM (Game Master) control panel used to conduct in-game meetings
- Implementation through programming in Java
Game Expert (TV, Freelance)
I was starring as the Game Expert in the pre-season pilot and first season of Swedish tech TV show ‘MetroTeknik’. I was a member of the show’s production planning team, responsible for my part of it. Each week, I came up with different topics and new content such as graphics, video clips, interview questions for the game host, phone interviews and more. A couple episodes were about esports.
Also starred several times as Game Expert at Sweden’s largest morning TV show TV4 Nyhetsmorgon to talk about current game topics.
Game Reviewer (online magazine)
Was Game Reviewer for online game portal Nordic Gamers, testing, analyzing and writing articles and reviews about new game releases. Also represented them at Dreamhack and held competitions for visitors.
