Beyond the Wire

Lead Game Designer
Offworld Industries | PC | WWI Multiplayer FPS

Overview

Beyond the Wire is a large-scale World War I multiplayer shooter focused on historical authenticity, coordination, and intense trench warfare. As Lead Designer, I directed the evolution of Beyond the Wire's gameplay experience from core pillars to live iteration, owning system design, balance, and feedback integration.

My Impact

• Design Direction & Documentation:
  Defined and documented the game’s evolving design goals, ensuring new features aligned with the gritty, grounded WWI combat vision.
  Authored design specifications for new gameplay systems and improvements to existing features.

• Systems Design & Prototyping:
  Collaborated closely with engineers and scripters to prototype, test, and iterate on key systems—including player mechanics, faction layers, item kits, and game modes.
  Used rapid iteration and a “fail fast, follow the fun” approach to zero in on engaging mechanics.

• Balance & Game Feel:
  Tuned gameplay layers by adjusting faction layouts, map layer configurations, role kits, and item stats to promote realism and balance.
  Ensured all adjustments were consistent with the game’s core fantasy and player expectations.

• Player-Centric Development:
  Created and managed structured feedback forms for community playtests. Analyzed qualitative and quantitative feedback to identify trends, pain points, and feature opportunities.
  Facilitated alignment between player feedback, team input, and design objectives during iteration planning.

• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration:
  Acted as a bridge between design, production, engineering, and QA to ensure feature quality, clarity, and cohesion across disciplines.

Highlights

• Maintained vision integrity while balancing realism, historical accuracy, and playability.

• Supported live iteration during early access with regular balance passes and system tuning.

• Built a structured and actionable feedback loop between the team and player community.