Me holding a BAFTA award and smiling

Portfolio

I've helped ship projects at world-class studios. I work in 'live ops' on the client, server and cloud, making the bits that take games online.

Industry Experience

Since August, 2021

Senior Online Services Programmer

Firesprite

I'm working at a Sony studio on a ground-breaking, next generation PvP shooter project with a Games-as-a-Service focus

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August, 2020 to August, 2021

Online Tech Developer

Guerrilla Games

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A picture of a street with a bridge and canal in Amsterda, where Guerrilla Games is based

July, 2018 to May, 2020

Full Stack Web Systems Engineer

Jagex

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Me holding my head in excitement above a puzzle at RuneFest

April, 2016 to July, 2017

Web Systems Intern

Jagex

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RuneFest 2017

I’ve been playing online games since dial-up, and I feel privileged to help make them now - I get to be technical and creative. I care about designing and building inclusive, living worlds by creating tools to support their development and global communities.

My favourite parts of the job are getting to learn from the diversely talented people around me, and hitting go on some work and watching data move around on dashboards "as if by magic"!

What motivates me? 🎯

Fundamentals

A game engine and game from scratch

With some middleware and a lot of caffeine, I created a game engine in C++ with all the necessary subsystems to create a 2.5D platformer.

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My computing science degree covered game physics, graphics, and human-computer interaction in addition to system and network security.

I'm used to working in Agile teams, and I'm comfortable quickly getting to grips with new technologies.

My strengths are in C++ for Unreal, Java and Python to develop back-end services, and React (TypeScript) for front-ends. I occasionally pick up and forget other domain-specific-languages for dev-ops, and I have experience with AWS and Azure cloud.

Which technologies? 💻

Technical Design

Tools

I enjoy open-sourcing the tools I make to help me with my own work, and sharing them with other industry professionals.

Ambassadorship

Workshop Instructor

Skills Gap

I lead workshops on coding for game design for groups of young adults on behalf of a non-profit skills accelerator

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The games industry has a reputation for being secretive and inaccessible. I'm trying to help change that by promoting the same kinds of inclusive opportunities and mentorship that I've benefitted from throughout my career

Testimonials

"Josh is an asset to our online team and a pleasure to work with. He has one of the best can-do attitudes and applies both solid programming logic and creative design-based thought processes to all the problems he solves for our project. This unique mindset allows him to quickly ascertain issues and plan for contingencies where many wouldn't even see them.

His positive outlook and questioning nature mean that he's always at the cutting edge of implementation and always strives to put our players first and foremost in whatever systems he's working with. Alongside this, he always has an avid interest in systems and games design that ensures he is able to act as a rock solid bridge between design and code, and always works hard to improve himself, the systems he works on, and the overall game and project."

- Mike Moreton, Lead Systems Designer @ Firesprite

"Josh is a proactive and diligent Software Engineer who prides himself in bridging communication between business and end customers. Josh is an evangelist for new and emerging technologies and practices that can better his work, using them to great effect. I particularly like working with Josh because of his positive, thorough and forward thinking principles."

- Adam Barnwell, Engineering Manager @ Jagex

"Josh has been really proactive in supporting us with our online work experience programmes for schools. He gave a real insight into his journey and career which really opened students' eyes. They came away from the event having a better understanding of the variety of roles and skills required within this sector. Josh is a great presenter and we look forward to welcoming him back in future."

- Katharine Olie, Senior Account Manager @ Pathway CTM

Etc.

If you’re interested in knowing if I have experience doing something specific, would like to enquire about consulting, or you're a student looking for a CV/portfolio review, feel free to get in touch and take a look at my blog in the meantime!