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Ben Wilson

Game Designer & Developer

Summary

I am a game developer with over ten years of experience in the industry across several scales of project and studio size — from small indie to AAA. My skills are primarily in game design, but as someone who has worked solo and in smaller teams, I have a lot of overlaps in expertise, which I find greatly helps with cross-disciplinary cohesion within a team.

Development Roles

Publishing Manager / Producer

Draknek and Friends
2025 — present

Spooky Express (PC) He Who Watches (PC) DITTORI (PC)

In this role, I support the production of in-development projects, and maintain the studio's portfolio of published games. Additional responsibilities include:

  • Technical production support and administration.
  • Developing funding bid materials and game design proposals.
  • Release management responsibilities.
  • Being a part of the selection committee and mentor panel for the studio's "New Voices Puzzle Grant" scheme.

    • Creative Producer

    Die Gute Fabrik
    2020 — 2024

    Saltsea Chronicles (PC, PS5, & Switch)

  • Took active part in gameplay development, and led the design and balancing of the ‘Spoils’ sub-game).
  • Supported and developed game design proposals.
  • Supported team scaling from 5–30.
  • Built production systems, documentation and conventions.
  • Technical production support and administration.
  • Developed & ran DEI & outreach opportunities (Game Devs of Colour sponsorship, dedicated internships).
  • Unity3D, Notion, Slack, Ink, Jira, Git, Google Drive/Docs etc.

    • Game Designer

    Sumo Digital Nottingham
    2016 — 2020

    Hogwarts Legacy (PC, PS5, & Xbox Series X|S)
    Team Sonic Racing (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

  • Experience with both original IP and work-for-hire projects.
  • Contributed to various game genres from FPS, to RPG & racing games as a game designer, including as de facto senior.
  • Developed a strong sense of both design vocabulary and collaborative skills (documentation, comms, etc.).
  • Worked towards pitches and on materials for both internal and external milestones.
  • Also worked as a mentor, trainer, and supported DEI efforts.
  • Unreal Engine 4, Starlight (proprietary engine), Perforce, Confluence, Jira.

    • Solo Game Maker

    Independent
    2014 — 2015

    Link to solo work portfolio

  • Developed several small games as a solo developer, exhibited at the GameCity Festival, Game Devs of Color Expo, the Gadget Show Live, Multiplay Insomnia Festival and the EGX Leftfield Collection.



    • Skills

    Engines + Middlewares

    • Unreal Engine 4 (Blueprints)
    • Unity3D
    • FMOD
    • Git
    • Perforce
    • Steam SDK + Backend
    • Playstation SDK + Backend
    • Nintendo SDK + Backend

    Design Skills

    • Systems Design
    • Paper prototyping
    • Unreal blueprint prototyping
    • Concepting
    • Accessibility

    Studio/Production Skills

    • Notion (inc. databases)
    • Jira
    • Build management
    • System Administration

    Education

    • Information Management and Computing (BSc)
      Loughborough University, UK
      2010 - 2013

    Recent Accolades

    • Selected for the Lil AVCX 2025 Puzzle Roster
    • GDC 2024 Speaker - Design Track
    • Games London ENSEMBLE 2023

    • IGF Awards Jury Panellist