FIGHTBACK

DESIGNER

Following DmC: Devil May Cry, Ninja Theory assembled a small team to explore the booming mobile games market. What initially seemed a simpler undertaking quickly revealed the complexities of mobile development, from monetisation and social integration to live-service systems.

For me, Fightback offered an exciting opportunity to transition from level design into combat design. With guidance from DmC’s combat designer, I developed my first combat system, balancing responsive, accessible touch controls with the depth to encourage creative combos.

Although a smaller project than our console releases, I’m particularly proud of Fightback. It broadened my expertise considerably, introducing me to combat design, analytics, A/B testing and the unique challenges of mobile development.

All the work examples below were created in collaboration with many talented developers who also deserve all the credit and plaudits.

COMBAT SYSTEM

Fightback is an old-school brawler built entirely around touch controls. It was an exciting introduction to combat design, where I drew inspiration from DmC’s enemy-state manipulation to create a responsive combat system that encouraged player creativity and experimentation.