Patryk
Batko.

Get to know my work

I am a skilled professional with a proven track record in game design, leadership and organizational excellence. With experience spanning over 30 video games across mobile platforms (Android & iOS), PC, and Nintendo Switch, I bring expertise in game development, cross-platform projects, and leading cross-functional teams. I excel at collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, iterating on design concepts, and ensuring that players remain at the center of the worlds we craft.

Technical & Management skills

Game Engines: Unity, Unreal, Barok
Scripting: C#, Unreal Blueprints, SQL
Graphics Software: Photoshop, Figma
Version Control: Git, Perforce
Game Design: Core mechanics, Economy, Monetization, Combat, Systems, Metagame, Live-ops, Progression, User experience
Frameworks: Scrum, Kanban, Theory of Constraints
Business: P&L, Budgets, KPI, OKR
Management: Waterfall, Agile, Jira, Trello, Miro, Hiring plans, Daily operations, Scrum events, Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Experience

Lagrange Studios
Jan 2022 - Oct 2024
Head of Studio & Lead Game Designer
Projects: Core, Project MOLD, unreleased game prototypes, unreleased game ports
Engine: Unity Engine
Platforms: Android, iOS

Spearheading a remote video game startup, leading the creation of production pipelines across prototyping, content development, and quality assurance; owned studio operations and game design.    
•  Provided strategic vision and leadership to execute product delivery, created budgets, roadmaps, and execution plans   
•  Cultivated a culture of seamless remote collaboration by leading a team of 15 professionals using Agile methodologies    
•  Led the design team in researching and developing unique game genres, preparing game documentation    
•  Worked on systems, metagame, monetization, combat design and oversaw all other areas of game development   
 • Successfully integrated AI-driven workflows across various domains, including art, design, QA, and programming, increasing development speed in selected areas by up to 37% while decreasing external costs by up to 70%.  

Vivid Games
Jan 2019 - Dec 2021
Product Owner & Senior Game Designer (internal promotion)
Projects: Gravity Rider, Gravity Rider Zero, Eroblast, Knights Fight 2, Mobbles: Chrono Cards, multiple additional internal and publishing soft launched projects and unreleased prototypesEngine: Unity EnginePlatforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch

Managed cross-functional teams of 5-9 internal staff and 2-4 external development teams, overseeing a total of 30+ members. Led game design across multiple projects, with a focus on systems, metagame, monetization, and live-ops.
• Collaborated closely with department heads, including user acquisition and analytics teams.
• Directed daily operations, SCRUM events, and provided feedback through 1:1 sessions, utilizing various Agile methodologies
• Enhanced product value through continuous releases, managing budgets, roadmaps, task allocation, and executing hiring plans
• Achieved 50 million downloads for the Gravity Rider brand and successfully advanced multiple products to the User Acquisition stage
Mentored game designers, set and tracked KPI goals, managed OKRs, and collaborated with C-level executives to drive studio success

Vivid Games
Apr 2018 - Dec 2018
Game Designer
Projects: Gravity Rider
Engine: Unity Engine, proprietary level design tool
Platforms: Android, iOS

Designed a successful racing game and collaborated with a cross-functional team, including artists, developers, and analysts.
• Led the development of the in-game economy and monetization mechanics through comprehensive data analysis
• Created core game mechanics, levels, metagame elements, and features, conducted market research and competitor analysis
• Improved KPI metrics, boosting retention by up to 20pp and tripling ARPU through A/B testing and feature optimization

Baltoro Games
Jul 2017 - Apr 2018
Game Designer
Projects: Super Battle Cards, Street Basketball, Pet Shop Snacks, Quick Golf, Bubble Cats Rescue, Starblaster, Sea Wolf
Engine: Unity Engine
Platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch

Designed casual games within agile, self-managing teams, serving as both game designer and team lead.
• Managed agile teams of 2-3 developers, overseeing multiple projects concurrently
• Developed game concepts, created pitches, and produced  documentation and UI wireframes, designing all aspects of the games
• Focused on level design, core mechanics, UI, UX, economy, progression, and metagame development

Viking Potatoes
Sep 2016 - Apr 2018
Game Designer
Project: 8SUNS
Engine: Barok Engine
Platform: PC

Designed core game mechanics for a dark sci-fi mech game in a remote studio.
• Assumed responsibility for refining and iterating on the work of a previous designer, enhancing existing concepts
• Developed level design, core mechanics, combat systems, enemy behavior, and character customization features
Scripted game content using Lua and operated within the proprietary engine Barok, comparable to Unreal Engine

Artists Entertainment
Feb 2016 - Aug 2016
Game Designer
Project: Cactus Maker, Divinierz: Sudoku, Jungleverse - Tiki Cups
Engine: Unity Engine
Platform: Android, iOS

Designed casual mobile puzzle games within a remote agile team.
• Transformed game pitches from the lead into detailed game design documents and actionable tasks for the development team
• Contributed to core game design, level design, UI, UX, and game balance
• Collaborated with internal teams, providing support in game design, playtesting, and quality assurance testing

Garmory
Jun 2015 - Feb 2016
Game Designer
Project: Margonem, Margonem Mini
Engine: Proprietary unreleased engine, Unity Engine
Platform: Android, iOS, PC, browser

Collaborated with an experienced team as a systems game designer on a classic Polish MMORPG.
• Joined initially as an intern and was promoted to a permanent role
• Implemented community-driven game design solutions to address long-standing balance and other game issues
• Contributed to the development of game systems, balance adjustments, quests, and combat encounters

Additional Experience

Digital Dragons Incubator
2020 & 2022
Game Design Workshops Mentor
Facilitated two editions of a workshops as part of an incubator program designed for emerging and aspiring game developers.

Kazimierz Wielki University
2018 - 2020Game Design Lecturer on Game Studies and Design Degree
Lectured Game Design 101 subject.

European Union ‘Never Again’
2018
Game Designer
‍Project: Memory Gliders
Engine: Unity Engine
Platform: PC
Designed serious game for European Union program Never Again which was teaching about transgenerational trauma and Holocaust.

Hobby
2016 - 2018
Game Designer
Projects: 99Cats, Wirus, Fear
Engines: Unreal Engine, Twine
Platform: PC
99Cats was a hobby game created with friends as means of learning a game engine.
Wirus & Fear were text-based hobby games created in Twine and then ported to Unreal Engine as opportunity to learn game engines.

Frontier Design
2018 - 2020
Freelance Game Designer
Projects: Dogs of the Galaxies, other physical games
Platforms: board games, card games
Co-run game design service for physical games such as board games and card games as an after-hours activity. During two years of operations we designed 20+ small games ranging from printed board games for kids to custom birthday gift games.

Game Studies & Design degree projects
2015 - 2018
Game Designer, Student
Projects: Various assignments - video games, other media
Platforms: PC, Android, iOS, board games, card games, tabletop RPG scenarios, LARP scenarios.
During game design degree I created 12+ assignment games (and even more game design documents).
•  Created in teams of 1-5 students
•  On most projects I was a leader in addition to being a designer
•  Games were created in various technologies and projects run for 4 - 12 weeks
•  Highlight: Empires at War - Strategy 1v1 card game set in Great War which was tested during multiple board game expos
•  Highlight: 89’ - Historical live action role-playing game for 10 people. Players are tasked with reaching an agreement on the new governance structure during turbulent historical period of Poland

Education & Certifications

Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Graduated Jun 2024
‍Master of Science in Psychology in Management

Kazimierz Wielki University
Graduated Jun 2021
Bachelor of Economics in Economics and Finance

Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz
Graduated Jun 2018
Bachelor of Arts in Game Studies and Design

Scrum.org certification
Issued Mar 2021
Professional Scrum Product Owner™ I (PSPO I) - certification file

Stanford Online Coursera certification
Issued Dec 2016
Game Theory Course - certification file

Additional Skills

Project & People management
Methodologies:
Waterfall, Agile
Frameworks:
Scrum, Kanban, Theory of Constraints
Management Software:
Jira, Trello, Miro
Management tools:
OKRs, Roadmaps, Critical Path Analysis
Resource Management:
Hiring plans, Daily operations
Collaboration Tools:
Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams
Collaboration & Version Control:
Git, Google Workspace, Confluence
Product & Project Management:
MVPs, KPIs, Prototyping
People Management:
Cross-disciplinary team collaboration, Team hiring and management

Design & Development
Game Engine:
Unity, Twine, Barok, Unreal
Graphics Software:
Adobe Photoshop, Figma
Core Game Design:
Core Gameplay Mechanics, Core-loops, Full game lifecycle, PowerPoint, Slides
Metagame:
Progression & Retention Systems Design, User Experience (UX) Design, Live-ops
Economy Design: Google Sheets, Excel, Machinations, Balancing In-Game Economy, Virtual Currency Systems
Monetization:
Free-to-Play (F2P) and Pay-to-Play (P2P), In-App Purchases (IAP) Strategy, Ad Monetization
AI Tools:
MidJourney, ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, Runway, Stable Diffusion

Business & Analytics
Business Management:
P&L, Budgets, Forecasting, SWOT Analysis
Market Research:
GameAnalytics, DataAI, SensorTower, GameRefinery
User Acquisition:
Google Ads, Meta Ads, IronSource
Data Analytics:
A/B Testing, Firebase Analytics, Qlik, SQL
KPIs & Metrics:
Data-driven decisions, product owner experience in working with data
C-Level:
strategy creation, execution and responsibility area delegation
Cooperation:
experience in working with leads, department heads, officers

Seeking opportunities as:
Head of Game Design
Director of Game Design
Lead Game Designer
Senior Game Designer
Creative Director
Head of Studio
Game Producer
Product Owner
Project Manager