Jay Friso

Jay Friso has a diverse work experience in the gaming industry. Jay recently worked as a Technical Game Designer at Sledgehammer Games since November 2022. Prior to that, they were a Game Designer at Hothead Games from March 2020 to October 2022, where they also worked as a Software Engineer from May 2020 to March 2022.

Before joining Hothead Games, Jay worked at Raccoopack Media as a Designer and Programmer from June 2019 to May 2020. During this time, they designed and led narrative content for the mental health educational game Bear In Mind and programmed a Helix Jump clone game for a client.

From December 2017 to May 2020, Jay worked at Raccoopack Studios as a Programmer, Designer, and Product Manager. In this role, they helped design the mechanics for a mobile culinary rhythm game called Cook to the Beat, programmed various systems for the game, and also led the team behind Plushie Defense as a Product Manager.

Jay gained early experience in the gaming industry as a Software Engineer Co-op at East Side Games from May 2017 to April 2018. Here, they contributed to the implementation of features for Bud Farm 420 and collaborated with the analytics team.

Jay has also held leadership positions at AMS Game Development Association, serving as President from April 2017 to April 2018 and as a Project Manager from October 2015 to April 2017. In these roles, they managed projects and provided assistance to the club by overseeing student-run projects.

Additionally, Jay has experience in the corporate sector, having worked as a Software Engineer Co-op at Visier Inc. from January 2016 to August 2016. Here, they used Scala, the Play framework, and various front-end frameworks to contribute to new features, improve testing services, and refactor systems for corporate organization structures.

From 2015 to 2020, Jay Friso attended The University of British Columbia, where they pursued a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Computer Science.