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Rosie Katz

Level Designer since 2006

Games:

COD – Vanguard
COD – AW
COD – BO2
COD – MW3
Dead Space 2
The Godfather 2
Dead Space
Tiger Woods ’07

Education:

Bachelor of Arts in Computer Video Imaging with a concentration in Character Animation from Cogswell Polytechnical College (Now University of Silicon Valley)
2003

About Rosie:

I’ve been a professional game and level designer since 2005 working mainly on Dead Space and Call of Duty franchises. I’ve had my hands in all aspects of game design since I can remember and I love how games allow me to both visually and technically express myself.

As a child I played a lot of Super Nintendo and was deeply engrossed in all things Mario and Zelda but never thought working on video games would end up being my career. I was always encouraged to do art and write short stories and for a long time I thought I’d be a comic book artist. In high school I had passions for both film and music and thought I might go into video game audio and/or 2d animation, specifically for film; which led me to attending Cogswell Polytechnic College and graduating in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Video Imaging with a concentration in Character Animation. Although music has remained a hobby, I decided my last semester in college to go into games. At the time when I was finishing up college, the game industry was emerging and was a great way for me to make a career for myself and stay close to home in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

Upon graduating I began working as a Tools Tester (QA), testing Maya plug-ins and proprietary software tools used to create game content at Electronic Arts. During my time in QA I helped make 3d art assets for Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘07 for a short time as well as continue my QA responsibilities. Eventually, Dead Space adopted the tool I had been testing as their level design and art content creation tool. I had the great opportunity of joining their team as an associate level designer, learning the ropes while also helping them with their new tool. I joined them when they were still a small team working on their V-Slice and stayed with them through to completion. From that point forward I found my future career in design. Since then, I’ve also worked on Godfather 2, Dead Space 2, Call of Duty MW3, Call of Duty BlackOps 2, Call of Duty AW, Call of Duty Vanguard, and now at Twin Suns Corp. Along the way I also met my husband and we have two cute kids. After taking a year off when my first son was born, I decided to go back to work part time teaching Game Design and Game Production at my alma mater; Cogswell Polytechnical College (now called University of Silicon Valley). I also mentor students and love sharing my experience and history to help inspire and motivate others entering the game design industry.

One of my greatest advantages as a designer has come from my diverse set of creative interests that I’ve had throughout my life and I’ve had the fortune to work with so many other creative people who have also come from blossoming creative backgrounds. I truly love collaborating and learning in the creative setting provided by the game industry. I’ve been able to experience all phases of game production from prototyping during pre-production to releasing post-launch bug fixes, DLC, and a live releases. With my background in art, animation, and audio, I’ve been able to effectively collaborate and communicate with a multidisciplinary team and implement on a design vision. I look forward to building community around me, so please feel free to reach out to me any time to chat through my Contact form.

Media:

Feb, 2020 – Sledgehammer Games Developer Profile:

Nov 17, 2015 – Game Dev Unchained Podcast Interview: