Fortnite (Live Game)

ROLE: Balance Designer II

DESCRIPTION: Fortnite is a live online third person game available in three distinct game modes (Battle Royale, Save the World, and Creative). I work as a Balance Designer focusing on Battle Royale. In this game mode 100 players jump from a Battle Bus onto an island and attempt to be the final player or squad remaining. Players need to survive fights with other players while also running from The Storm, which creates an increasingly smaller playable area. As a Balance Designer, I have an influence on everything that is involved with the Fortnite Battle Royale player experience. Prior to my role as a Balance Designer, I worked on in game events and the Battle Pass as a QA Analyst.

CORE Work TASKS:

- Analyze player feedback and demonstrate player empathy to make player motivated decisions

- Ensure weapons, items, loot tables, and gameplay is always balanced for all player skill levels and all play styles

- Theorycraft and create new player augments, weapons, and items

- Documenting processes and design changes to futureproof our work

- Playtest live daily to ensure we always have a pulse on what’s happening in Fortnite

- Screen and interview potential candidates of multiple disciplines for new employment opportunities within Epic

- Support additional Design features as needed

Owned design features:

Click or hover over images for more info:

**Updated Stark Industries Rifle**
- Primary balance owner for the Updated Stark Industries Rifle

**Heavy Impact Sniper Rifle**
- Owned the start-to-finish design of the Heavy Impact Sniper Rifle

**Vehicle Mod: Mortar**
- Primary balance owner for Vehicle mods and vehicle mod revisions in Ch5s3

**Vehicle Mod: Machine Gun**
- Primary balance owner for Vehicle mods and vehicle mod revisions in Ch5s3

**Water Bending**
- Primary balance owner for Water Bending launch and Water Bending balance revision

**Harbinger SMG**
- Owned the start-to-finish design of the Harbinger SMG

**29.10 Balance Patch**
- I contributed significantly to one of the larger balance tweaks in this patch
- Click image to see tweet

**28.01 Balance Patch**
- Significant weapons balance patch launched early in the new season
- I owned one of the weapon changes
- Click image to see tweet

**26.10 Balance Patch**
- Significant weapons balance patch launched midseason
- I owned one of the weapon changes, and implemented all changes to live
- Click image to see tweet

Past Features Developed as a QA analyst:

Click or hover over images for more info

**Chapter 4 Season 3 Battle Pass**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution on this feature

**Chapter 4 Season 1 Battle Pass (Battle Pass 3.0)**
- Battle Pass Overhaul
- I was the overall owner for all test execution on this feature, as a new transfer to the Battle Pass Team
(Click image for more info)

**Vikora’s Level Up Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with placed in game tokens that unlock cosmetic rewards
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Axion Sentinel’s Level Up Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with placed in game tokens that unlock cosmetic rewards
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Strange Transmissions Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with cosmetics and unique in game quests. Executed as a collaboration with a third party partner
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Bioluminescence Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with cosmetics and unique in game quests
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Saint Academy Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with cosmetics and unique in game quests
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Phantasm’s Level Up Quest Pack**
- Purchasable pack with placed in game tokens that unlock cosmetic rewards
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Snap Quests**
- Unique in game quests that unlock parts of a buildable character
- I was a supporting analyst of this feature, as part of my onboarding to a new space

Live Events developed:

All images are clickthrough links to in depth breakdowns of the live event

Additional Features Supported - Design:

Hover image for more details

**Fortnite Reload**
Our team was the direct owning team on Fortnite Reload. As such, I provided significant playtesting and design feedback throughout the modes iterative design process

**Fortnite Hunters (new season)**
- Supported overall development through significant playtesting and design feedback

**Fortnite Absolute Doom (new season)**
- Supported overall development through significant playtesting and design feedback

**Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury. (Event)**
- Supported the Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury. event through playtesting and design feedback

**Fortnite Wrecked (new season)**
- Supported overall season through significant playtesting and design feedback

**Fortnite Midas Presents: Floor is Lava (Midseason Content)**
- Supported overall development through significant playtesting and balance feedback

**Fortnite Myths vs Mortals (new season)**
- Supported overall development through significant playtesting and design feedback

**Fortnite Underground (new season)**
- Supported overall development through significant playtesting and design feedback

**Fortnite OG (new season)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

**Find the Force (midseason content)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

**Vault Breakers (midseason content)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

**Weekly Quests Ch4 S1 (Quests)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

**Indiana Jones Quests (Quest content)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

**Weekly Quests Ch3 S4 (Quest content)**
- Supported overall development through playtesting

Additional Features Supported - QA:

Hover image for more details

**Marvel POIs (Map Feature)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Placed Rifts (Gameplay Feature)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Decoy Grenade (Item)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Hidden Chest (Gameplay Feature)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Foraged Campfire (Gameplay Feature)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**Storm King (Limited Time Mode)**
- I supported development on this feature through playtesting and initial test scope and planning

**Slurpy Swamp (Point of Interest)**
- I was the overall owner for all test execution and quality on this feature

**B.R.U.T.E. (Vehicle)**
- I supported the owning analyst with all test development and execution on this feature

Fortnite / Epic in the Media:

Fortnite just had it’s ‘biggest day’ ever thanks to Fortnite OG with over 44.7 Million players

It’s happening, actual games are being made in Fortnite

Sorry, Meta: Epic Games is already winning the metaverse race

Silicon Valley is racing to build the next version of the Internet. Fortnite might get there first.

‘Fortnite’ was the most important video game of this decade, and it will be for the next one too

Epic Games Store to continue giving away games weekly in 2020

Is ‘Fortnite’ The Most Popular Game Ever? It’s Beating TV and Movies

‘Fortnite’ Maker Epic Games Is Now Worth More Than Twice As Much As Major League Soccer

Awards:

Time100 Most Influential Companies - Epic Games (Time Magazine 2024)

Game of the Year - Fortnite (Samsung Galaxy Store Awards 2020)

Grand Prix Award in “Digital Craft” (Cannes Lion 2020/2021)

Grand Clio for Experience/Activation (Clio Awards 2020/2021)

Nominated: Best Live Special - Travis Scott and Fortnite Present: Astronomical (The Streamys 2020 )

Special Award - Epic Games (BAFTA 2019)

Studio of the Year - Epic Games (Golden Joystick 2019)

eSports Game of the Year - Fortnite (Golden Joystick 2019)

Best Ongoing Game - Fortnite (The Game Awards nominated 2020 - 2024; won 2018, 2019)

Ultimate Game of the Year - Fortnite (Golden Joystick 2018)

Best Multiplayer Game - Fortnite (The Game Awards 2018)

Most Influential / Best Game of The Decade - Fortnite (Wired || Washington Post || Forbes || Business Insider || Time)

BAFTA || Gamers’ Choice Awards || D.I.C.E. || Game Critics Awards

What working on Fortnite has taught me:

My biggest takeaway from working on Fortnite is learning and demonstrating how to build gameplay for a largescale audience while navigating a constantly moving target. Although our overarching vision and launch cadence is very well defined and we adhere to it as much as we can, we are ultimately a live game. As such, the Battle Royale ecosystem has the possibility of moving and shifting as priorities also move and shift. This means that as a designer I need to constantly know what my players are thinking, feeling, and wanting. Overall, Epic has a very high tolerance for risk in our development process. This allows us to rapidly design and iterate, and our goals may change very quickly at any stage of the dev cycle. Fortnite is on the forefront of changing how players and non players alike consume entertainment and the internet as a whole. Given this, and our rapidly changing dev practices, working on Fortnite has taught me how to execute design practices for that rapidly changing entertainment space while still delivering our promises to our players.