Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India
Portfolio Link: https://samuelraj.notion.site/Samuel-Raj-281c442a4d3b80b4be1fc39d0cef6d76 I am a Game Design Director with 16 years of professional experience, including 12+ years leading design teams across AAA-adjacent, global F2P, and open-world games. Unlike many design leads, I remain hands-on — scripting missions in UE5 Blueprints, prototyping systems, or iterating combat feel — while setting the creative vision and player-first direction for the studio. Highlights: 👉 Directed Project Veer, a narrative-driven co-op PvE shooter in UE5, leading combat, missions, AI, and historical authenticity. 👉 Built Mayanagari, India’s first open-world gangster RPG: designed systems, economy, narrative, and cinematic pipeline. 👉 Shipped MyWhoosh, the world’s largest cycling MMO, designing every feature from prototype → live ops. 👉 Sustained $150M+ peak revenue for Bingo Bash at Scopely through systems, events, and monetization loops. 👉 Authored 4 seasons of quests for Hidden Shadows at Zynga, blending narrative pacing with retention systems. Known for: ✅ Mission & Quest Design (systemic + cinematic integration) ✅ Systems, Economy & Live Ops (retention, monetization, telemetry) ✅ Hands-on Prototyping (Unreal Blueprints, Unity, simulations) ✅ Team Leadership & Direction (mentoring, production alignment) I don’t just manage. I build, balance, and bring the game vision to life.
Led Mayanagari open-world systems, missions, and story. Directed cinematic pipelines (mocap, VO, cutscenes). Balanced progression with KPIs, boosting retention.
Sole designer from prototype → launch → live ops of global cycling MMO. Reduced prototyping time by 27 days via Unreal Blueprints. Designed progression, retention systems, and multi-platform UX (iOS, PC, VR).
Shipped WWE Racing Showdown and Ludo Zenith (Square Enix). Pitched and prototyped systems for Konami, GungHo, Square Enix collaborations.