Gavin Schmidt Game Designer, Composer, Programmer, and Software Engineer

Work Experience

Professional roles and key accomplishments

  • Mystic Die LLC

    Mystic Die LLC

    Position: Producer & Technical Director (previously Mechanics Engineer and Lead)

    Co-producing a team of 30+ at an indie studio specializing in turn-based RPG development in Unreal Engine, and serving as Technical Director over every change that enters the codebase.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Co-produce a 30+ person team across 8 departments, coordinating 200+ tracked tasks across 6 sprints and measured against dated milestones
    • Serve as Technical Director, reviewing all code entering the project against a C++ standard, module architecture, and Blueprint diff pipeline I authored
    • Hold the interim narrative lead role, directing beat sheets, character profiles, and the Ink dialogue pipeline while the position is filled permanently
    • Lead the studio web backend: a GitHub Projects front end with sprint and per-person stats, a Django and React employee dashboard, and the public-facing site
    • Built the engine-level foundations the team commits through: a nullable vector type, the module architecture, a Blueprint digest pipeline producing 78 committed digests, and an in-house version control application

    Previously, as Mechanics Engineer and Lead:

    • Implemented 3 gameplay systems (combat, grid-movement, dialogue) using C++ and blueprints
    • Created detailed documentation for 20+ scripts and blueprints, enabling designers to build 10+ features without engineering support
    • Ran weekly training sessions, supported 7 designers/artists, resolved 5+ support requests/week with a 3 hr average turnaround
    • Exposed systems to designers via Blueprint-extensible APIs, cutting engineering involvement per new feature from full implementation to targeted review-only (<35%)

    Studio Projects:

    • Reconnection - turn-based RPG in Unreal Engine 5, in production for a Steam release
    • Internal studio tooling - a GitHub Projects front end, an employee dashboard, a shared mood board, and a Slack reference application

    Production Metrics:

    30+
    Team Members Produced
    200+
    Tasks Tracked
    8
    Departments Coordinated
    78
    Blueprint Digests

    Team: 30+ at Mystic Die LLC

    Role: Producer & Technical Director

    Duration: August 2025 - Present

    Engine: Unreal Engine 5

    Skills: Production, Team Leadership, Code Review, Technical Standards, Unreal C++, Blueprints, Python Tooling, Django, React, PHP, Technical Documentation, System Design

  • Starchild PBC

    Position: Gameplay Engineer (full-time)

    Gameplay, animation, and AI engineering on an unannounced Unreal Engine 5 title shipping to iOS. The project is under a non-disclosure agreement. The title, characters, artwork, and implementation details are withheld, and no source, screenshots, or reproducible technical description appear anywhere in this portfolio.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Contribute gameplay, animation, and character AI features across an Unreal C++ codebase, a Swift native framework, and TypeScript behavior scripts, with 19 merged pull requests into a 24-contributor project
    • Work on early Apple Intelligence integration in prerelease Xcode 27 and iOS 27 betas, adding runtime selection between the on-device model and a cloud backend
    • Implement on-device and cloud text embedding in the portable agent library, spanning Swift and C++ with tests on both sides running in CI
    • Extend the character AI's input surfaces, including image input and speech recognition that delivers spoken input to the agent as text
    • Author behavior scripts for the companion character against a JavaScript runtime embedded in the engine, and tune animation layering alongside the art team
    • Grow the project's automation test coverage, and make Windows builds reproducible across the team by pinning the compiler toolset

    Engineering Metrics:

    240+
    Commits
    5
    Languages in Daily Use
    19
    Merged Pull Requests
    iOS
    Shipping Target

    Team: Startup Studio

    Role: Gameplay Engineer

    Duration: April 2026 - Present

    Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (iOS)

    Skills: Unreal C++, Swift, TypeScript, Python, iOS, On-Device ML, LLM Integration, Animation Systems, Automation Testing, CI/CD, Build Systems

  • Slipstream Studios

    Slipstream Studios

    Role: Lead Engineer

    Joined as Lead Engineer for Artkana, a 3D side-scrolling momentum platformer, to bring C++ architectural stability and performance optimization to the project.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Refactored legacy Blueprint "spaghetti code" into organized, efficient C++ systems
    • Optimized game performance by reducing Event Ticks and streamlining update loops
    • Redesigned the upgrade system architecture to be modular and designer-friendly
    • Collaborated closely with design team to translate complex mechanics into performant code

    Projects:

    • Artkana - 3D Graffiti Momentum Platformer

    Technical Impact:

    3+
    Core Systems Refactored
    1
    Upgrade Pipeline Rebuilt
    UE5
    Primary Engine
    C++
    Primary Language

    Studio: Slipstream Studios

    Role: Lead Engineer

    Duration: Current (WIP)

    Engine: Unreal Engine 5

    Skills: Unreal C++, Blueprint Conversion, System Architecture, Performance Optimization, Designer Tooling, Code Review

  • Icebreak Studio

    Icebreak Studio

    Position: Contract Composer

    Contract music role creating original tracks for an upcoming game while reporting directly to the Creative Lead and Producer.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Composed 5 original songs for the game's soundtrack from early February to early April
    • Maintained an expected average turnaround of 1 track/week across the contract production window
    • Translated studio-provided lore and inspiration playlists into cohesive thematic music direction
    • Worked directly with the Creative Lead and Producer on iterative feedback and delivery milestones
    • Owned end-to-end creative execution with full compositional freedom across tone, pacing, and instrumentation

    Composition Metrics:

    5
    Original Tracks
    ~1/Week
    Track Turnaround
    2 Months
    Contract Duration
    3
    Tracks Complete

    Team: Audio + Creative Leadership

    Role: Contract Composer

    Duration: February 2026 - April 2026

    Focus: Original Game Music Composition

    Skills: Composition, Thematic Scoring, Audio Production, Creative Collaboration, Iterative Delivery, Game Music

  • Head or Tail Studios

    Head or Tail Studios

    Position: Lead Gameplay and Systems Engineer

    Leading systems architecture and gameplay programming for an indie game studio developing mobile and PC titles.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Designed 10+ core gameplay/systems modules across 2 projects, defining ~95% of the technical design surface area (data flow, extensibility points, and implementation standards)
    • Document and implement 60+ scripts containing 2,500+ lines of code with automated tests/tools for 65+% of gameplay code, reducing designer implementation time by 25%
    • Planned sprint milestones for 3 engineers and unblocked 5 high-priority issues/week
    • Set coding standards and conducted reviews for a 3-person engineering team, improving consistency and reducing regressions

    Studio Projects:

    • Fearosis - Monster pandemic simulator for Android
    • Deadtective - Supernatural detective puzzle game

    Development Metrics:

    60+
    Scripts Created
    2,500+
    Lines of Code
    50+
    Commits Made
    2
    Games Developed

    Team: Indie Studio

    Role: Lead Gameplay and Systems Engineer

    Duration: August 2025 - Present

    Engine: Unity 6

    Skills: Systems Architecture, Technical Leadership, Unity C#, Mobile Development, Documentation, Code Review, Gameplay Programming

  • Gamers Inc.

    Gamers Inc.

    Position: Front of Store Team Member

    Customer-facing retail role in video game specialty store, combining business operations with in-depth gaming industry knowledge.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Provided product guidance across console/PC accessories and trade-ins
    • Became familiar with gaming hardware and the effects that has on video game production and maintenance
    • Handled 30-40 customer interactions/shift
    • Performed inventory counts for 500+ SKUs with >99% accuracy

    Performance Metrics:

    30-40
    Customers/Shift
    500+
    SKUs Managed
    >99%
    Inventory Accuracy
    7 Months
    Tenure

    Team: Retail Team

    Role: Front of Store Team Member

    Duration: August 2025 - Present

    Industry: Video Game Retail

    Skills: Customer Service, Industry Knowledge, Team Collaboration, Business Operations, Product Expertise, Hardware Knowledge

  • Limbitless Solutions LLC

    Limbitless Solutions

    Position: Assistant Scholar

    Contributed to innovative accessibility-focused game development for children with limb differences as part of Limbitless Solutions' mission to empower through technology.

    Key Responsibilities:

    • Built and integrated player-facing mechanics in Unreal as part of a 25+ person interdisciplinary team; delivered changes on tight playtest deadlines
    • Translated playtest feedback from Bionic Kids into concrete gameplay changes (controls clarity, pacing, feedback/UI), improving moment-to-moment readability and engagement
    • Shipped weekly iteration builds and partnered with design to rapidly scope, implement, and validate changes in short loops

    Project Metrics:

    25+
    Person Team
    3 Months
    Duration
    Weekly
    Build Cycles
    1
    Game Title Supported

    Team: Collaborative

    Role: Assistant Scholar

    Duration: May 2025 - July 2025

    Engine: Unreal Engine 5

    Skills: Unreal Engine, Team Collaboration, Accessibility Design, User Feedback Integration, Iterative Development, Game Training Systems

Education

Academic background and specializations

  • University of Central Florida

    University of Central Florida

    Degree: Bachelor's Degree

    Major: Digital Media - Game Design

    Focus: Systems Programming / Engineering

    Minor: Computer Science

    Expected Graduation: May 2026

    Academic Highlights:

    • Admitted through UCF's prestigious Top Ten Knights Guaranteed Admission Program
    • Awarded Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars scholarship with 100% tuition coverage
    • Recipient of Pegasus Silver Scholarship for academic excellence
    • Made President's Honor Roll for 5 consecutive semesters (4.0 Semester GPA)
    • Member of UCF Marching Knights for four years, achieved Section Leadership position
    • Won 1st place at UCF Game Development Knights Summer Game Jam 2024
    • Mentored 2 students in Unity game development for Game Development Knights club
    • Served on staff for UCF's Esports team, supporting competitive gaming operations
    • Led programming efforts on multiple semester-long collaborative team projects
    • Developed expertise in Unity, Unreal Engine, C++, Java and C# through coursework and projects

    Relevant Coursework:

    • Intermediate Game Development
    • Data Structures & Algorithms (Computer Science)
    • Object-Oriented Programming
    • Game Workshop
    • Game Performance & Optimization
    • Unity Tools and Plugins

  • Indian River State College

    Indian River State College

    Program: Dual Enrollment - Engineering

    Duration: January 2021 - May 2021

    Program Focus:

    • Enrolled in Engineering track to explore STEM foundations
    • Completed General Education Program (GEP) requirements before university
    • Gained early exposure to college-level coursework and expectations
    • Developed time management skills balancing high school and college classes
    • Became acclimated to college life and academic rigor while still in high school
    • Built strong foundation for transition to University of Central Florida

    Key Achievements:

    • Successfully completed college credits while maintaining high school obligations
    • Reduced time-to-degree at UCF by completing prerequisite courses early
    • Demonstrated academic initiative and readiness for higher education
    • Explored engineering discipline before committing to game design specialization