John Hsia

Game Designer

ABOUT

15+ years of professional game design experience with a focus on levels, and most recently lead/management roles.


For detailed breakdown of work experience please view my portfolio.

EXPERIENCE

Principal Planner - End Boss Games LLC (Self-employed)

Oct 2010 – Present

  • Grid Grind (PC)(2026) — Successfully prompt designed a retro arcade game for launch on Steam using Cursor AI and Claude Code.
  • Currently prototyping games in Godot and Roblox Studio.

Sr. Game Designer - Sanzaru Games

Nov 2015 – Jan 2026

  • Unannounced VR project (Quest3) — Co-Lead Level Designer
  • Asgard's Wrath 2 (Quest2/3) (2023) — Lead Level Designer
  • Asgard's Wrath (PC)(2019) — Level Designer
  • Marvel Powers United VR (PC)(2018) — Level Designer
  • Tron Run/r (PC, PS4, XB1)(2016) — Responsible for majority of DISC mode level layout
  • Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice (3DS)(2015) — Level Designer

Contract Game Designer - Sanzaru Games

Jul 2013 – Nov 2015

  • Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS) — level planning.

Nov 2011 – Nov 2012

  • Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3)— level layout, mission scripting, combat setup.
  • Bentley's Hackpack (PSN) — level layout and enemy setup.

Game Designer - Planet Moon Studios

Nov 2008 – Oct 2010

  • Tangled (Wii/PC) — level layout, combat setup, LUA mission scripting, cameras, minigame prototyping.
  • Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) — level design for ~one third of levels; gameplay setup.

Designer - Crystal Dynamics

Aug 2007 – Nov 2008

  • Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3) — fluid movement, grapple, vehicles; combat tuning & scripting.

Jr. Level Designer - Secret Level

Nov 2006 – Apr 2007

  • Gameplay documentation & implementation via proprietary tools.

QA / object support - Crystal Dynamics

Oct 2004 – Nov 2006

  • QA tools & platform lead (PC); editor, Maya exporter, bug workflow.
  • Object support: 3ds Max models, UV/textures for Tomb Raider: Anniversary.