A Little About MJ

MJ (they/them) is a game designer, VR developer, and instructor. The future is important to MJ, and so they put their full effort into exploring new hardware, testing new interactions, and sharing their experience with the next generation of game developers. MJ discovered their passion for experience design while working on an experimental exercise game at Carnegie Mellon University that used heart rate as a game mechanic.

In 2016, MJ founded Astire Games - an indie studio focused on the future. Astire Games offers mentorship to the next wave of game developers by hosting bi-annual internship teams.

In their 10+ years of game development experience, MJ has taken on a variety of roles from gameplay programmer to creative director. MJ's game credits include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (designer / scripter), Mafia III (designer), Virtual Tour of Amsterdam Omni Demo (designer / programmer), Cosmos Arena (creative director), Cat Cave Android and iOS (creative director / programmer), Night in the Woods (tester), Out Foxed (creative director), Death's Daughter (publisher / marketing director), Slapdash Bones (solo dev), and a handful of contract projects under NDA.

Non-human behavior ai

Solo talk at the PAX Developer Conference on designing AI for non-human characters. This talk included an overview of some common AI practices as well as a deep dive into some of the bizarre things that live on our planet and how those creatures can be used for inspiration when crafting our characters for game design.
PAX Dev 2017
Seattle, WA

GAME PROTOTYPING IN UNITY

This online tutorial covers all of the basics of making a game in Unity. It begins with creating a 2D layout and using that to build a whitebox; then replacing the whitebox with art assets and integrating lights, particles, and ambient sounds; it also covers creating a character controller and adding scripted gameplay; and finally implementing a functioning UI including heads-up display, start screen, and win/lose popups. The full tutorial can be viewed on Pluralsight.

Featured Speaker at Unity's Women in Games workshop in Austin, TX - 2016

Panelist at the Texas Women in Games conference 2016

Presented team research on exergames at Games for Health in Boston - 2013

Academic Work

Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Texas, 2018-present
Adjunct Faculty at the Art Institute of Austin 2015-2018
Course topics - UI/UX Design, Level Design, Game Prototyping, and Scripting
Camp instructor at summer camps for high school kids learning to make games
Mentoring current students through an internship program at Astire Games

Training and Credentials

Amplifying New Voices Boot-camp Participant - 2017

Honed existing public speaking and presentation skills in this intensive training day designed to help speakers from diverse backgrounds build the confidence to speak at larger events like GDC.

Certificate in Management and Leadership in the Games Industry - 2015

Worked to improve leadership skills during this 9-month project at the University of Texas where a team of 20 took turns in leadership roles. Returned the following year to give a guest lecture on the different areas of design within game development.

Master's Degree in Entertainment Technology - 2013

Developed skills in teamwork, communication, time management, and project presentation while attending graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University.
Webz of War Project Promotion (0:38, 1:30)
Hop the Fence Final Promotion (0:25, 0:57, 1:41, 2:46)

MJ Johns

A Little About MJ

Panels and Talks

Non-human behavior ai

GAME PROTOTYPING IN UNITY

SURVIVING AS AN INDEPENDENT AAA STUDIO

Technology and User Experience

THE REALITY OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Other Speaking Engagements

What is a Game Designer?

The Current State of VR

Research Presentation

Blogs and Publications

Marketing Vs Promoting

Webz of war

Developer Blog

Speaking at Events

Academic Work

Training and Credentials

MJ Johns

Game Developer

Contact MJ