sina jafarzadeh

senior game designer at media molecule (playstation studios) with leadership experience and prototyping skills

                       
about me
I'm a passionate Game Designer with over 12 years of experience, who has worked on a range of projects on various platforms leading them from concept to launch to live operation.

I had the honour to work together with Will Wright (the creator of The Sims and Sim City) and have been fortunate to work in various locations around the world (USA, South Korea, Germany and UK).

My goal is to become a key contributor in the game industry and not only use my whole spectrum of knowledge, but also absorb new knowledge, dissect elements and rearrange them in new ways to be able to create fun, engaging and successful games.

As Thomas Edison once said: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

projects

a selection of projects I am working on or have been working on
resume / cv

Media Molecule January 2021 – present

Senior Game Designer

  • Working with the wonderful Media Molecule family on something very exciting (TBA)
Lockwood Publishing Ltd. September 2018 – September 2020

Senior Game Designer

  • Worked on one of the leading and award-winning social virtual worlds on mobile ‘Avakin Life’
  • Created concepts, designs and presentations of social, game and monetization features to discuss with management and team and created product specifications for implementation
  • Worked with the data science team to gather performance data of the product and individual features to influence planning and feature iterations
  • Contributed to the design pillars of the product and educated the team about game design methodologies and studies around group dynamics and social psychology
Platform mobile | Tools Unity, Photoshop, draw.io, Google Docs, Confluence, JIRA
BRAVOCOMPANY, Ltd. March 2018 – July 2018

Senior Game Designer

  • After the acquisition of BiNAREE through BRAVOCOMPANY worked with the team in London and Seoul on the mobile free to play game ‘Forces of Freedom’ (eSports Tactical Shooter)
  • Worked on the design for core gameplay and meta game including economy and monetization
  • Worked on balancing of the economy as well as soldier classes
  • Led the evaluation process of game features through playtests and analytics
Platform mobile | Tools Unity, Balsamiq, Photoshop, draw.io, GoogleDocs, Confluence, JIRA

BiNAREE, Inc. September 2017 – March 2018

Lead Game Designer

  • Led the game design for a new mobile free to play game IP (MOBA/Strategy)
  • Worked on the game design and UX for iOS game ‘Pale Lands’ (Strategy)
  • Worked on the game design for new mobile free to play game IP (Action RPG)
  • Established design pillars and design methodologies within the team
  • Created documents specifying game design, game systems and UX to discuss with management and the team
  • Led the evaluation process for concepts, prototypes and live features to determine iteration steps through playtests and analytics
  • Supported, mentored and motivated other designers within the company
Platform mobile | Tools Unity, Balsamiq, Photoshop, draw.io, Google Docs, JIRA, Google Analytics

MojiWorks Limited April 2017 – July 2017

Senior Game Designer (Contract)

  • Designed a new game mode with multiple levels for mobile free to play game ‘MojiBowling’
  • Worked on the game design for a new free to play game IP (Casual RPG)
  • Established and defined the game design, game systems, UX and monetization strategy for new iOS free to play game IP (Life Sim)
  • Prototyped designs to allow rapid iteration on design nuances and to focus design discussions

Platform mobile | Tools Unity, Balsamiq, Photoshop, draw.io, Google Docs

inochi.life May 2016 – March 2017

Founder, Lead Game Designer, Unity Developer

  • Founded game development collective ‘inochi.life’ (命 Japanese for ‘life’) focused on smaller-scoped games
  • Defined the game design and UI/UX for ‘a dream? – a poetic experience’ from concept to product (submitted to Independent Games Festival, SXSW Gamer’s Voice Awards and itch.io)
  • Created level design and the system behind the reactive generative music and sound system
  • Developed the complete game with Unity and C#

Platform mobile, PC/Mac, web | Tools Unity, Photoshop, Blender, Google Docs, Pen & Paper

Mediagraph, LLC March 2013 – April 2016

Lead Product Designer, Lead Game Designer

  • Defined key concepts and features for new entertainment platform ‘mappable’ from early concept to product
  • Specified design documents, system design and UX of different facets of the product and presented feature designs including prototypes to management and the team
  • Led the evaluation process for concepts, prototypes and live features to determine iteration steps through user tests and analytics
  • Part of the initial core team when establishing the company (with a CEO, a producer, two engineers and myself). The company grew to 15 people over the period of production.
  • The product is an established project from the entertainment think tank Stupid Fun Club, which was led by Will Wright (the creator of The Sims and SimCity)

Platform web, mobile | Tools Unity, Flash, Photoshop, Sketch, Excel, Mixpanel, Google Docs, JIRA

Stupid Fun Club, LLC October 2011 – Februar  2013

Game Designer, Product Designer

  • Designed gameplay and features of digital games and entertainment projects
  • Specified design documents, system design and UI/UX
  • Prototyped designs for evaluation to determine iterations steps
  • The company was an entertainment think tank led by Will Wright (the creator of The Sims and Sim City) and backed by EA
  • The focus of the company was to provide pre-production work for new IPs for the game and entertainment industry (overarching game design documentation as well as pre-production prototypes)

Platform mobile, console, web | Tools Unity, Flash, Photoshop, Sketch, Excel, Word,  Google Docs

Stupid Fun Club, LLC April 2011–September 2011

Intern Game Designer, Prototype Developer

  • Designed gameplay, features and mechanics of digital games and entertainment projects
  • Prototyped designs to determine iterations steps
  • The company was an entertainment think tank led by Will Wright (the creator of The Sims and Sim City) and backed by EA

Platform mobile, console, web | Tools Unity, Flash, Photoshop, Sketch, Excel, Word, Google Docs

Independent Game Developer December 2008–March 2011

Game Designer, Programmer, Prototype Developer

  • Designed and developed games from concept to final product
  • Prototyped designs to determine iterations steps
  • Collaborated with different international artists and specified work to be delivered
Honors
  • Sponsorships by established game portals and features on indie games magazines

Platform web | Tools Unity, Flash, Photoshop, Excel, Word

Dresden University of Technology September 2009–June 2010

Software Designer, Programmer

  • Designed and developed software project “Mediator” as a prototype for the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition as part of a four man team

Honors

  • Winner Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010 National Final Germany (Software Design)
  • Top 12 Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010 Worldwide Finals (Software Design)
  • Presentation at the conference 'Innovation in Technology' at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium (October 10th, 2010)
Education

Dresden University of Technology (Germany) October 2005–March 2011

Master/Diplom in Media and Computer Science - Minor in Art and Design

Activities

  • Master Thesis Topic: 'Cooperative Elements and Potential in Social Games'
  • Thesis Topic: 'Gameplay and Emotions in Casual Games'
  • Tutor in Media Design (4 semesters)
  • Tutor in Media Technology Workshop (1 semester)
  • Speaker with the topic 'Video Games - Aesthetics, Design, Art?!' at OUTPUT 2009
  • Speaker at the seminar eLearning with the topic 'Introduction of eLearning at Educational Institutions'
  • Speaker with the topic 'Mediator - A System to Improve Health Care in Developing Countries' at OUTPUT 2010
Technical Skills
  • Unity with C#
  • Flash with ActionScript 3
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Blender
  • Sketch, Balsamiq, draw.io, LucidChart
  • Microsoft Excel/Word/Visio/PowerPoint, Google Docs
  • Mixpanel, TapJoy, Facebook Analytics, Google Analytics