CONTACT

jamesabiddulph@gmail.com

Lichfield, UK

in/jamesbiddulph

SKILLS

Game Design
15 years
Unity Engine (C#)
14 years
Illustration
15 years
Serious Games
10 years
Prototyping
10 years
Management
9 years
Strategist
8 years
Unreal Engine
1.5 years

EDUCATION

BA (Hons) Graphic Design and Illustration 1st Class

Coventry University

2007 - 2010

James Biddulph

Game Designer

About me

I'm a veteran game developer with 15+ years of experience working in all corners of the games industry, from a serious games and indie background, with a heavy focus on design.


I've worked as an artist, programmer and game designer, led teams and built new products for clients, employers and myself. I believe that games can be used to make the world a better place, and that small teams who can maintain independence are able to create and innovate more effectively.

Employment history

  • Lead Designer November 2022 - June 2024
    Roll7

    I was Lead Designer for two ambitious projects at Roll7, which were both sadly cancelled when the studio was closed. I was responsible for both the high level design direction, and leading the team to make sure that the project stayed on budget and met the high quality bar Roll7 achieved with previous projects.

    Here I learned a lot about running bigger teams and bigger projects. It was also my first time managing a project with teams split between two companies.

    • Game Design, Management

  • Prototype Designer November 2020 - November 2022
    Roll7

    As protoype designer I had to work closely with the Creative Director to design and create prototypes of potential new projects.

    Here I learned a lot about what goes into creating new projects in larger studios, how to prepare pitches and scope properly, which set me up for my role as a lead later. During this time, I also helped with projects that were already in production when nearing release.

    • Unity Development, Game Design, Pitching, Prototyping

  • Lead Designer April 2015 - November 2020
    Applio

    I joined Applio as lead designer before a team was in place, so my first responsibility was to help build up the development capability of the studio.

    As it was a small startup, I was responsible for the design of the project and making sure that we reach our goals on budget, as well as being very hands on for development, being split across design, art and code (C#) as needed.

    • Unity Development, Game Design, Management, Art, Prototyping

  • Creative Manager May 2010 - February 2012
    The Playmob

    At Playmob I was heavily involved in creating pitches and prototypes with very small teams for new serious games projects.

    This was my first experience of managing teams and planning projects.

    • Game Design, Art, Unity Development

  • Concept Artist April 2009 - March 2010
    Digital 2.0

    My first game industry job, working alongside the director to create images for project pitches. I soon moved onto designing pitch ideas and small prototypes.

    • Art, Preparing pitches

Independent work

  • Co-Founder / Game Director July 2024 - Present
    Studio Enso

    Alongside two other Roll7 alumni, we have created a prototype and pitch deck for a new multiplayer mech game that has an innovative combat system that mixes turn based and physical gameplay.

    The project is currently still in the pitching stage.

    • Game Design, Business Development, Pitching, Unity Development, Art

  • Founder June 2012 - September 2020
    Jamo Games

    My own studio that I started in 2012, Jamo Games mainly took on client projects. These were a mix of serious games and commercial projects. Project responsibilities were a mix of design, development and artwork creation.

    We also released original games on Steam (PC / Mac) and iOS, and partnered with an audio company to create a tech demo of an adventure game for visually impaired gamers, featured at EGX and in publications such as PC Gamer.

    I closed Jamo Games when I joined Roll7 due to contract conditions.

    • Game Design, Business Development, Pitching, Unity Development, Art

  • Lecturer March 2015
    South & City College Birmingham

    For a short period I taught the video game business module on the games development BTEC course.

    • Lecturing

  • Artist and Illustrator June 2012 - Present
    Various Clients (100+)

    I have worked as an artist on many different projects, including video games, branding, advertising, books and album covers, and once buildings across New York as part of a protest art project.

    I also ran a successful pixel art practice, having produced artwork within games on every major platform.

    • Illustration, Pixel art, Concept art