Fortnite

Game Designer

Developed by: Epic Games
Platforms: PC, Consoles
Tech Environment: Unreal Engine, Blueprints, Perforce, UGS, Google Sheets, Miro

Fortnite is the one of the largest battle royale games that was released back in 2017. The game is still running strong, with various seasons, new weapons, items, systems and features that are enjoyed by millions of players daily. I joined the project as a Game Designer in 2023, as part of the Balance Design team.

My main responsibilities as a Game Designer:

One of the responsible for the concept, design and implementation of weapons, items and other gameplay mechanics;
Coordination with the project leadership in order to reach the best quality and alignment to the product goals;
Mentoring some designers and their designs to help the team improve and grow;

Main contributions

For every new season, new weapons, items, augments and systems are developed improving the game's diversity and creating more content for the players to engage with.

Items and weapons

I've actively owned the design, prototype and deliverable version of multiple items along the seasons. Some of my favorite ones:

Tactical AR

This was a gun that was previously available in the game with it's unique mechanic that it had a built-in optic. For this version, it had to be rebuilt from zero, adapting the old and beloved version to the new mods and projectile system introduced in Ch5S1.

It was very fun to build something that the players already had expectations on how it felt and worked before, but make it also feel modern and updated to the new systems introduced to Fortnite. Seeing the players' reacting to one of their favorite items returning to the game was one of the best feelings!

Boom Bolt

Chapter 5 Season 3's focus was on fast paced vehicle combat and we needed a good counterplay option for players that weren't in vehicles. The Boom Bolt came from the idea of shooting very fast explosive projectiles, giving players a versatile item that would be useful against fast moving vehicles and static players. This was built to be fully customizable by the player -add optics, change magazines and add grips- giving even more options to the preferred playstyle.

It was awesome to watch people have so much fun with this item, especially when they first interacted with it and found out how it worked.

Shockwave Rocket Launcher

Chapter 6 Season 2's focus was on collecting gold and a special currency that was introduced on that season. We created a new set of Exotic Weapons -weapons like the regular ones, but all of them with a twist- that would be purchasable with that new currency.

Inspired by Team Fortress 2's rocket jump, this weapon's explosion also created a knockback area that allowed players to jump around the map and outplay their opponents. The high skill ceiling and emergent gameplay it created allowed for player expression, which made it a fan favorite from day 1.