Miguel Casillas
Head of Engineering
About
Engineering leader with a passion for building strong, agile, collaborative teams and helping developers grow into their full potential.
Deeply values clean architecture, sustainable development practices, and cross-disciplinary communication.
Enjoys mentoring, innovating, and creating environments where game developers can thrive.
Areas of Specialization
- Game Development
- Technical Leadership
- C++ / C# / Python
- Artificial Intelligence (traditional and modern/generative)
- Tools Programming
- Gameplay Programming
Experience
Head of Engineering — AMC Studio
2025–Present · Romania
- Oversee technical direction for co-development engineering projects ranging from independent productions to AAA titles.
- Ensure compliance with client technical requirements, including platform certifications and build stability.
- Collaborate with client studios to align technical pipelines, tooling, and architecture with project goals and milestones.
- Work closely with producers and stakeholders to define project scope, estimate timelines, and allocate technical resources effectively.
- Establish engineering best practices and CI/CD processes.
- Created programming exams used for applicants worldwide, which were then adopted by sister studios in other countries like China.
- Direct R&D efforts to improve tooling, engine integrations, and performance profiling workflows.
Lead Programmer — Snowed In Studios
2019–2025 · Canada
- Scaled a 5-person engineering team to more than 30 developers while leading technical co-development for Forza Motorsport.
- Led Snowed In’s Turn 10 Tools Team in developing artist-facing content creation tools for Forza, supporting cars, tracks, materials, and props.
- Directed development of the digital artbook and soundtrack app for Doom: The Dark Ages.
- Worked as AI programmer on an unannounced AAA project under NDA.
- Provided engineering support for As Dusk Falls, Mowin’ and Throwin’, and KATOA: Oceans, including debugging, optimization, and feature implementation.
Gameplay Programmer — PopReach Inc.
2018–2019 · Canada
- Designed and implemented core gameplay systems for Zombie Beach Party using C# and Unity, including AI, skills, interaction logic, and the full 3Cs: Character, Camera, and Controls.
- Built custom Unity editor tools to empower designers and streamline game balancing workflows.
Full Stack Developer — Hothead Games
2016–2018 · Canada
- Developed backend systems for Mighty Battles using C++, Python, and TorqueScript, integrating AWS, Redis, and Grafana.
- Delivered live-ops features including daily missions, guilds, and battle logs.
- Expanded internal support dashboards for customer service, including user data access, compensation issuing, and error diagnostics.
Lead Developer — 2DNutz
2014–2016 · Mexico
- Served as sole programmer for Viva Sancho Villa in Unity and C#, developing all core systems including gameplay, AI, combat, physics, and UI.
- Designed boss fights and balanced core mechanics to improve player engagement.
- Led a team of artists and animators, ensuring strong visual-technical alignment and milestone delivery.
Programmer — Larva Game Studios
2012–2014 · Mexico
- Developed gameplay mechanics and optimized performance for Last Day on Earth using C++ with UDK.
- Implemented monetization systems and gameplay features for Night Vigilante using Unity and C#.
Engine and Tools Programmer — Alawar Stargaze
2012 · Russia
- Developed a new Font Builder in C++ and Qt to automate custom font atlas generation from Photoshop files.
- Programmed 6 mini-games and scripted 4 scenes for Snark Busters: High Society and Twisted Lands: Origin.
- Contributed to a reusable C++ engine used across multiple hidden object puzzle adventure games by external studios.
Game Programmer — Beast Studios
2010–2011 · Romania
- Shipped Princess Isabella: A Witch’s Curse on iPad and contributed to multiplatform development across iOS, PC, and Xbox 360.
- Programmed in C++, Objective-C, and Lua for gameplay, porting, bug fixing, and feature development.
- Worked in a cross-cultural team contributing across multiple projects.
Education
- M.S. in Artificial Intelligence — UNIR México, 2024
- B.S. in Mathematics — UnADM, 2021
- B.S. in Game Development — Full Sail University, 2010 (Valedictorian)
Teaching Experience
University of Advanced Technologies (UNIAT) — 2013–2016
- Object Oriented Programming in C++
- Data Structures in C++
- Discrete Mathematics
- Assembly Programming
Selected Released Titles
- Forza Motorsport (Xbox Series X|S, PC)
- Doom: The Dark Ages (PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5)
- As Dusk Falls (Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 4/5)
- KATOA: Oceans (Mobile)
- Mowin’ and Throwin’ (Xbox)
- Zombie Beach Party (Mobile)
- Mighty Battles (Mobile)
- Viva Sancho Villa (Mobile)
Certifications & Memberships
- SCRUM Master Certified
- Member of MENSA
Languages
- English ● ● ● ●
- Spanish ● ● ● ●
- Romanian ● ●
- Russian ●
- French ●