Matthias JOHAN

About header

Places I've lived in

Pune | 2 Ubisoft internships

HCMC | Gameloft internship

Recife | Boyhood

Valenciennes | Studies (SIG - Rubika)

Newcastle | GD at Ubisoft Reflections

Newcastle | AI Designer at People Can Fly

Paris | Carpool Studio

Profile

Skills

My key skills are prototyping, my knowledge of design methods, and most importantly, communication.

Over time and through various projects, I developed a passion for Game Design. I specialize in systems, 3C and AI but I'm also very interested by progression, customization, balancing and readability.

When designing a feature, I always think of my responsibilities as problems to solve, through both rational documentation and prototyping. The key is to offer several solutions. Indeed, there is never a 100% fit, you always end up with a list of pros and cons. Even though I push for one of the options in particular, keeping others on the side allows me to bounce back quickly!

During my studies and jobs, I tried out as many positions as possibles: Level Design, UI, UX, Sound Design, Management, Marketing, Programming, Art (checkout my artworks here). In a team, a Game Designer is a bridge: knowing the other roles technical and creative constraints is a huge plus to discuss and understand their intentions.

On a day-to-day basis, I stay positive, and open-minded. Those traits developed a high sense for human relations and a motivational-oriented leadership.

Career goals

I enjoy working on a lot of aspects of Game Design, AI and systems being my favorite, while also being interested by progression and systems. My past student, personal, and professional projects showed me that I felt the most fulfilled when I had more dependencies with not only other designers but also artists, programmers, sound designers, producers etc... In short: I love communicating!

Once I gather enough knowledge and experience, I would love to become a Lead Game Designer, making me able to handle important responsibilities, carry a vision, advice game designers, teach methodologies, and communicate with all direction and other disciplines!

Background

I am very adaptable, being born of a French father and a Flemish mother. When I was 11, I moved to Brazil and studied in an American School so I embraced two more cultures and languages.

After my High School graduation in 2015, my experience at Gameloft in Saigon, Ubisoft in Pune, India, and later in Newcastle, UK, helped me develop that multicultural background from a professional point of view.

Showcasing

As a student between 2015 and 2020, I grabbed any opportunities to showcase games for other developers. Loving to meet passionate players and directly connect them with their experience, whether it for mobile games, alternate controllers, indie games, board games, an AA games:

Joan of Arc at the Essen Game Fair
Old Man's Journey at the Indiecade Europe
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius during a private event
Styx: Master of Shadows at the Paris Games Week
Hyper Olympic at the Paris Games Week

Passions

Apart from videogames, I spend time playing classical guitar and listening to music. I'm a huge Hip Hop head and regularly share friends' work on my youtube channel.

Physically active, I go to the gym, am an active salsa dancer, and occasionally do yoga to channel my energy. I also enjoy team sports such as football, basketball, and voleyball, and dancing salsa and kizomba.

Apart from that, I've got an odd obsession for flags and bake bread on a daily basis!

Childhood games

I keep playing a wide variety of games every year, worth discussing if we ever meet. But if I had to make a top 10 from my childhood/boyhood picturing my tastes both as a player and a game designer, here they would be.