Jonathan Charles Evans
Lead Designer • Senior Designer • Scrum Leader
Email: jogo@jogosity.com Threads: @Jogosity LinkedIn: Jonathan Evans
I am a highly experienced, creative and dedicated designer, skilled in all aspects of game development.
Key Skills
Creative:
- System Design and Implementation- Advanced
- Level design and implementation – Advanced
- Level reviews and improvements – Advanced
- Live-Ops design and strategy – Advanced
- Creative leadership – Advanced
- Original concept creation – Advanced
- Narrative Design and Writing – Advanced
- Cutscene and trailer storyboarding – Advanced
- Meta Game Design – Intermediate
- UI and UX – Intermediate
- 3D Level Design – Intermediate
Technical:
- Level Technical Scripting – Advanced
- All relevant software (Adobe Creative Suite etc…) – Advanced
- Technical Design – Intermediate
- 3DS Max – Intermediate
- Ai/Agentic engineering – Intermediate
Management:
Attributes and Soft Skills
- Creativity and Vision – Creating and delivering new ideas, games and narratives from my own “blank page” – or developing ideas from within the team and client structure.
- Practicality – Turning a great idea into a fully functional, polished feature, creating tasks, proposing technical requirements and offering direction to the team.
- Team Collaboration and Cross Discipline Working – Excellent track record of partnering with the Code, Art and UI/UX teams as well as the live-ops teams. I am also very comfortable working alongside the wider structure of publishing, marketing and corporate partners.
- Player Understanding – Empathising with the players emotional experience and their practical needs in terms of knowledge, tutorials and objective communication and feedback.
- External Tuition and Assistance – I have taken part in numerous visits to local colleges and universities to offer guidance and support to student game developers.
Experience
Meta • Game Designer • February 2025 to Present day
- Led the Live Ops on the trailblazing LLM, social chaos game, Profit of Perish
- Designed new game content, defined the schedule and strategy, milestones and internal and external art and code requirements.
- Worked with Data Science team to optimise game and feature releases.
- I was on the core design team of Profit or Perish from the moment of its inception, helping to define the gameplay, user experience and generally “find the fun” of this radical piece of game design.
- Worked as a senior designer on urban monster battler, Kaiju City Showdown.
- Led the monetisation strategy for the game as monetisation as a feature launched on Horizon Worlds mobile.
Rebellion Warwick • Senior Designer • November 2017 to February 2022
- Level Design on the WWII shooter – Sniper Elite 5. Collaborated on the “War Factory” level, including creating whole new play areas, refactoring the play space, scripting all objectives, building collision and extensive work with the art team to guide the vision and get the level complete.
- Created a major game level with unique new mechanics for Zombie Army 4: Dead War. “Death Collector combines open world gameplay with intense Horde action.
- Supervised external team for the creation of a new Horde Map for ZA4 – including milstone definition, weekly meetings, technical support and design leadership.
- Co-led the fundamental system design for the all-new Horde Mode design for ZA4.
- Designed and implemented 5 Horde Mode maps – including all enemy population and event scripting.
- Created and scripted campaign gameplay from blank page through white box and final production.
- Trained and mentored additional team members on the creation of new Horde Maps.
Radiant Worlds • Senior Designer • Aug 2016 to Nov 2017
- Created the rolling Events system for SkySaga: Infinite Isles – this guided and encouraged users to create new UGC games and experiences according to a list of suggested metrics.
- Created “stub” levels for users to build on for their own games if they wished.
- Designed and implemented FTUE menu-flow and video tutorial systems
- Contributed to creative meta game and retention mechanics
Team Lumo • Lead Designer and Co-Founder • Jan 2014 to July 2016
- Created, developed and launched 2 original games – Lumo Deliveries Inc. and Lumo’s Cat.
- Designed and implemented all game levels
- Collaborated with business manager on economy design
- Contributed to social media and promotional copy
- Team Lumo games were created in Unity.
SEGA Hardlight • Level Designer and Script Writer • Nov 2013 to Feb 2014 • Contract
- Devised and completed level designs for on all primary missions on Crazy Taxi: City Rush
- Wrote narrative scripts and storyboards for cutscenes
- Contributed to game structure and progression design
- Crazy Taxi: City Rush was created in Unity.
Modern Dream • Lead Designer • Sep 2013 to October 2013 • Post-Blitz project resurrection
- Led technical design to convert Typing of the Dead: Overkill from light-gun shooter to text-shooter
- Organised and and acted as main contributor to the text writing process
- Converted, edited and re-balanced 3 complete levels
- Contributed to client contact before and after project resurrection
Blitz Games Ltd • Design Manager • Jul 2004 to Sep 2013
- Game design leadership and team management across 8 projects
- Conducted staff training modules
- Contributed to team personal development reviews and recruitment procedures
- Pitched and presented to internal and external stakeholders and clients
- Took charge of game system design and level design – notable achievements include:
- Created Kumo Lumo, an original iOS game – brought to market as Blitz’s first mobile title.
- Led design on a live, server-based enviromental game including true-to-life ecology
- Led design team on Kinect launch-window title; including interaction design and game design
- Designed a procedural “natural language” feedback system for American Idol games
- Voice over direction on several games including major celebrity cast members (Simon Cowell)
- Clients include SEGA, Google, Chillingo, Bandai-Namco, Komani, Microsoft and more
Blitz Games Ltd • Designer/Artist • Jun 1998 to Jun 2004
- Collaborated on game design, level design and scripting
- Contributed to 3D level and prop modeling
- Directed cutscenes on several projects.
Public Speaking
I enjoy speaking at games industry events and have built up a good reputation for delivering fascinating ideas about game design with clarity and humour. Of particular note is my lecture at GDC Europe in August 2015 for which I received rankings of 91% positive. This talk was ranked as the 3rd best in the design track, and the 8th best talk in the entire GDC Europe event that year.
- TIGA: Life After Launch (Leamington Spa 2016) – Porting Emotions (with Steve Stopps)
- Pocket Gamer Connects (London 2016) – What Kind of an Indie Dev Are You?
- GDC Europe (Cologne 2015) – Fear Love and Great Big Ideas
- Pocket Gamer Connects (London 2015) – Design from the Heart
- Independent Game Developers Conference (London 2015) – Fear, Love and Great Big Ideas
- Unity Untied (London 2014) – Games for Busy People
Full video – GDC EU 2015 – “Fear, Love and Great Big Ideas”
Human Stuff
After 21 years in the game industry, I am perhaps more enthused and passionate than ever about creating high quality games, stories and experiences. When I am away from the controller I enjoy reading and writing (I am an enthusiastic fiction writer with short stories and a completed (to first draft) novel in the can.
I also love cooking, walking, photography, astronomy, theatre and cinema, going to the gym, throwing myself through mud during a Wolf Run and down mountains during Snowboarding season.
I have recently joined forces with a small group of friends to create a new tabletop dice/card game called Pistoleros. A wild-west shootout game that is previewing on Tabletop Simulator at the moment and is due for a Kickstarter launch in 2022.
If I wasn’t making games then I probably would be writing novels or comics because I don’t really know how to do anything apart from making things up. So far this has worked out well for me.
Current/Recent Playlist
- Halo Infinite (Xbox)
- Destiny 2(Xbox)
- Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox)
- Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (PC)
- Dishonoured 2 (PC)
- Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (iOS)
- Sayonara Wildheart (iOS)
Personal Projects
Pistoleros – A brand new, tabletop dice and card game due on Kickstarter and Tabletop Sim. Made as part of a 5-person indie team of creative friends. Now in community-beta. Due 2022.
Imprint – A near-future sci-fi novel exploring the power dynamics when humanity discovers that it is no longer top of the food chain. A long-term project now in second draft/rewrite. Due in 20xx…
Full Game Credits
(see Games Portfolio for more details)
Rebellion: November 2017 to February 2022
- Sniper Elite 5 – Senior Designer (due to be released 2022)
- Zombie Army 4: Dead War – Senior Designer
Radiant Worlds: August 2016 to November 2017
- SkySaga: Infinite Isles – Senior Designer/Scrum Lead
Lumo Developments Ltd (Co-Founder): April 2014 to July 2017
- Lumo’s Cat & the Co-op Collider (2016) Apple TV- Design Director/Game Maker
- Lumo’s Cat (2015) iOS – Design Director/Game Maker
- Lumo Deliveries Inc. (2014) iOS – Design Director/Game Maker
SEGA Hardlight: November 2013 to March 2014 (Contract)
- Crazy Taxi: City Rush (2014) iOS/Android – Level Designer & Writer
Modern Dream: September to October 2013 (Contract)
- The Typing of the Dead Overkill (2013) Steam PC – Design Manager (Lead Designer) & Writer
Blitz Games Studios: 1998 to September 2013.
- Paper Titans (2013) iOS – Additional Design
- Kumo Lumo (2012) iOS – Creator and Design Manager (Lead Designer)
- Environmental Game (2011) – Web/social game (unreleased) – Design Manager (Lead Designer)
- Yoostar 2 – In the Movies (2010) Xbox360 Kinect, PS3 +Eye – Design Manager (Lead Designer)
- Karaoke Revolution Series – (2004 – 2009) – 4 Titles Xbox360, PS3) – Design Manager (Lead Designer)
- Pac-Man World 3 – (2004) PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, DS – Design Manager (Lead Designer)
- Bad Boys 2 – (2003) PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC – Senior Designer/Scrum Leader
- Fairly Odd Parents – Shadow Showdown (2003) – Cutscene Director
- Zapper (2002) PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC – Assistant Manager
- Fuzion Frenzy – (2001) Xbox Exclusive Launch Title – Designer/3D Artist
Education
BA (Hons) Animation – University of Wales – Graduated in 1997
(Course taken at Newport School of Art & Design which was merged into the University of Wales whilst I was studying.)