Jared Greiner
Senior Game Designer.
I love solving problems at the intersection of creative and technical thinking. Today, I have the privilege to do that for Destiny 2's passionate community as a Senior Systems Designer working on the seasonal releases. I have 9 years of game design experience on AAA titles across level design, tech design, ux design, and systems. I’m a detail-oriented introvert who is still comfortable in front of a crowd or the press when presenting a game with which I am intimately familiar. I like to think that a combo of luck, discipline, adaptability, and excellent teammates have gotten me where I am today. It’s a blessing to work in a space I am so passionate about.
Portfolio
Examples of my experience with Systems Design, Level Designs, and Gameplay Scripting
Each image links to a video and description of my role in the project.
Resume
Highlights
9+ years of experience as a professional game designer. Exceptional technical skills and an ability to consistently help others see the glass as half full.
Experienced in combinatorics systems, level design, gameplay scripting, rapid prototyping, game economies/progression, and post-sale monetization strategies.
Proficient in Unreal Engine 4, Unity, Node and Text Based Scripting (UE4 Blueprints, C#, JavaScript, some C++), Photoshop, Premiere, Azure DevOps, Trello, Agile Scrum, Microsoft Office.
Destiny 2
Senior Systems Designer
Senior Investment Designer - Designing game modes, quests, and weapon reward systems for seasonal releases. Shipped 30th Anniversary, Destiny 2 The Witch Queen, and Season of the Risen.
Bungie
1 Year
June 2021 - Present
Minecraft
Senior Game Designer
Mojang Studios
6+ Years
January 2015 - June 2021
Design Lead, Creator Platform – Defined the vision for Minecraft as a user generated content platform. Facilitated cross discipline creative process, prototype goals, and development roadmap. The Minecraft Marketplace has shipped 7000+ items from 200 community creators around the globe.
Senior System Designer, Franchise Personalization – Designed a new character creator and progression system for Minecraft, Minecraft Earth, and future franchise titles. Wrote customization system design specs, balanced item catalogs (2000+ items!), and defined rewarding challenges.
UX Design Lead, Mobile, Console & Windows 10 – Lead a team of four designers to design cross platform user experience as Minecraft consolidated the community and code base across platforms. Collaborated with business and engineering to prioritize the UX roadmap.
System & UX Designer, Crafting – Redesigned the inventory, crafting, and trading system (350+ items) to bring the divergent experiences across game pad, touch, and mouse/KB together as the Minecraft codebase and community were unified across platforms. This included UX design, progressive reveal of what can be crafted, and rebalancing recipe and trade availability.
Technical Designer, Creatures – Reworked all the creatures in Minecraft into reusable data-driven components. This system sped up mob creation, brought official modding support to mobile/console, and enabled a UGC marketplace.
Project Spark
Game Designer
Microsoft
2 Years
January 2013 - January 2015
Level Designer & System Designer - Created showcase levels for our E3 reveal to highlight the capabilities of the game creation sandbox. Built a level with the band Linkin Park featured in the music video Guilty All the Same. Provided technical design support for Creation Quest and Conker’s Big Reunion episodic campaigns.
Xbox Live Arcade
Game Designer
Game Designer - Reviewed concept pitches, competitive analysis, and user research across multiple titles including State of Decay, Ori, and Ascend.
Microsoft
6 Months
August 2012 - January 2015
Xbox Live Arcade
Game Designer
Game Designer - Reviewed concept pitches, competitive analysis, and user research across multiple titles including State of Decay, Ori, and Ascend.
Microsoft
6 Months
August 2012 - January 2015
Education & Awards
University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, CA
B.A. in Interactive Entertainment – Dean’s List - May 2011
United States Senate Youth Program - March 2007
Eagle Scout - Oct 2007
"An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself."