GAME DESIGN

 

VFS Faculty consists of the most highly trained professionals in the creative industries. While our full-time instructors provide more one-on-one time with students than any other school, our part-time instructors are pulled right from the heart of the industry, equipped with the most current, relevant industry experience and credits.

We call this THE VFS ADVANTAGE.

 
 

Christopher
Mitchell

Head of Game Design and Programming for Games, Web & Mobile

Chris is an Educator and award-winning Writer and Game Designer with 20+ years of industry experience on games such as Simpsons: Hit & Run. He is one of the first people in the game industry to receive a nomination from the Writers Guild of America.

 

 

Seán
Conroy

Instructor

Seán is a Motion Designer, Spine 2D Animator, and Game VFX Artist working on a variety of mobile games within the Vancouver gaming industry. He is currently working as a UI Artist at Next Level Games and teaching Cinematics at VFS.

 

 

Glen
Hamilton

Instructor

Glen’s 20-year career as a producer, designer, and project manager has seen him lead teams across AAA and indie studios. He has guided student projects as an Instructor and Mentor for over a decade, with an emphasis on team dynamics through proactive communication.

 

 

Quin
Henshaw

Instructor

Quin is a Unity Programmer with over a decade of experience on indie projects, and is a Founder of Whitebox Interactive. At VFS, his focus is teaching Unity programming and best practices in a digestible manner while providing instruction on advanced concepts.

 

 

David
Hinds

Instructor

David is an Art Director with ten years of experience across numerous studios in the mobile game space at Truly Social Games and as an Artist at Electronic Arts. He instructs students on crafting a strong portfolio to stand out in the industry upon graduation.

 

 

Steven
Kearney

Instructor

Steven has experience in Unreal and Unity and has worked at AAA and indie studios. He founded Valklabs, and continues to create games. He works to improve VFS’s level design content to ensure that students are capable level designers in any game engine.

 

 

Jeff
Plamondon

Instructor

Jeff is a VFS graduate who has worked with Electronic Arts and Capcom as a Lead, with experience in all major modeling disciplines including Characters, Environments, Weapons, Vehicles, & Props. He excels at the art pipelines & workflows for game production.

 

 

Derek
Tam

Senior Instructor

Derek is a Game Designer with a respected career spanning two decades in the games industry leading teams at studios including Microsoft and Electronic Arts. His credits include work on various properties such as SSX, Skate, and Marvel’s The Hulk.

 

 

Daniel
Hwang

Program Manager

 

 

Pradeep
Pillai

Teaching Assistant

 

 

Ashe
Adam

Instructor
Part-time

Ashe is a 3D Artist & alum with modeling, texturing, & baking asset experience in both animation & games. Ashe has worked as a Surfacing/Look Development Artist on The Dragon Prince, & Unicorn Academy, a QA on Gears of War, and 3D Generalist on Tanuki Sunset.

 

 

Seán
Conroy

Instructor

Seán is a Motion Designer, Spine 2D Animator, and Game VFX Artist working on a variety of mobile games within the Vancouver gaming industry. He is currently working as a UI Artist at Next Level Games and teaching Cinematics at VFS.

 

 

Mike
Wuetherick

Instructor

Mike Wuetherick, a proud Métis and Emmy-winning Tech Director, has 25+ years in games, film, and animation, leading teams at Unity, Namco, and Cloudhead. He currently teaches Unity and programming at VFS.

 

 

Soyoon
Lee

Mentor

A graduate of the VFS Game Design program, Soyoon is a 3D Environment Artist skilled in Maya and ZBrush, with experience in multiple studios including Hellbent Games, Kabam, and The Coalition on projects such as Gears Tactics.

 

 

Shane
Elliott

Instructor

An industry veteran with nearly 20 years of experience, Shane has held numerous positions as a QA lead and QA manager, designer, project manager, and producer. He has shipped over 50 titles, both in AAA and mobile games.

 

 

Joe
Bonar

Instructor

Joe has 38 years of experience in the video game industry, working with companies like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Activision, Warner Brothers, Universal, HeR Interactive, and Unity. His credits include NBA Live, FIFA, Nancy Drew, & Scooby Doo.

 

 

Jeffrey
Campbell

Instructor

Jeffrey has held senior, lead, and director-level narrative positions at Disney, Activision, Capcom, Square Enix, & BioWare and has  contributed to storied IPs like Pirates of the Caribbean, Battlefield, Star Wars, Deus Ex, Darkest Dungeon, & Anthem

 

 

Graeme
Jahns

Instructor

Graeme has 15 years of experience as a Senior Programmer on franchises like Madden at Electronic Arts and Homeworld at Blackbird Interactive. A published board game designer and active member of the Game Artisans of Canada, he has taught at VFS for a decade.

 

Jason Cormier

Instructor

Jay is an accomplished Board Game Designer and Publisher with over 20 titles including In the Hall of the Mountain King, Junk Art, and most notably, MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage, which he published through his own company, Off the Page Games.

 

Ksenia Krasova

Instructor

Ksenia is a Digital Artist experienced with drawing environments, characters, & icons, and with User Interface design. She is a Lead Artist at Originator Inc. and has experience as both a 2D and 3D Artist at companies like Hothead Games.

 

Dieter Piltz

Instructor

Dieter is a veteran Sound Artist with two decades worth of experience at studios such as Electronic Arts, Capcom, and Blue Castle Games. He facilitates collaborations amongst Game Design and Sound Design students at VFS.

 

Andrea Del Bello

Instructor

A VFS alum from Calgary, AB, Andrea has worked in the game industry for 13+ years as a live operations and monetization specialist, systems and economy designer, and game design generalist.

 

Yuri Mainka

Instructor

Yuri is a passionate designer, writer, & VFS grad with years of experience in both AAA & mobile games. He's designed dozens of impactful narratives and quests, as well as written stories for Disney. Yuri currently works at The Coalition working on Gears of War.

 

Alon Mizrahi

Mentor

A graduate of VFS's Game Design program, Alon is a software engineer at Electronic Arts and has been a mentor at VFS for 16+ years. Today, Alon works at EA Sports on the Football Club franchise.

 

Rodrigo Vicencio

Mentor

Rodrigo is a senior software engineer at Skybox Labs, working on the Halo franchise, and has previously worked for Capcom. Rodrigo has a master's degree from the University of Saskatchewan where his thesis was on player balancing for First-Person shooters.

 

Leo Stark

Mentor

Leo is a versatile Software Engineer at Electronic Arts with 9+ years of experience in various areas of video game development including gameplay systems, performance tooling, optimization, test automation, & pipeline development.

 

Alan Porto da Silva

Mentor

Alan is a software engineer at CD Projekt Red, working on The Witcher IV and Cyberpunk 2. A VFS Programming graduate, Alan is highly skilled with Unity and Unreal Engine, and has worked for Blackbird Interactive and Timbre Games.

 

Spencer Bokrossy

Mentor

Spencer is currently Senior Systems Designer at Treyarch, working on the Call of Duty franchise. A VFS Game Design graduate, Spencer has worked at Kemojo Studios and Electronic Arts, specializing in economy and systems design.

 

Carmine Carpino

Mentor

A VFS Game Design graduate, Carmine is Producer at Next Level Games, a Nintendo-owned studio, where he's worked on a number of Nintendo products like Mario Strikers: Battle League and Luigi's Mansion 3.

 

Filip Foksowicz

Mentor

A VFS Game Design grad, Filip is a Senior Level Designer at Treyarch (Call of Duty franchise). Filip has worked as a level and combat designer at Relic Entertainment, Piranha Games, The Coalition Studio, and Skybox Labs. 

 

Stuart Urquhart

Mentor

A VFS Game Design grad, Stuart is a game designer on Kabam's Marvel Contest of Champions and has a background in computer science & technical writing. Stuart has a rich history in game design, focusing on holistic game design, UI/UX design, & technical writing.

 

Karen Kawas

Mentor

A graduate of VFS Game Design, Karen is a Game Designer at Blackbird Interactive, working on a variety of projects like Homeworld 3. Karen has experience in Unreal Engine scripting, online PVP, pacing, and level design.

 

Erich Kohlweg

Mentor

A VFS Game Design grad, Erich is a senior game designer at Red Hook Studios on Darkest Dungeons II, previously at Electronic Arts, Relic Entertainment, and Kabam. Erich's credits include Company of Heroes 3, Critter Crusade, Marvel Contest of Champions.

 

Don Mostert

Mentor

A VFS Game Design grad, Don is a game designer who's worked at The Coalition Studio, Piranha Games, and Kabam. His credits include Marvel Contest of Champions, AAA console games like the Gears of War franchise, and great indie productions.

 

Maddie Osness

Mentor

Maddie is an artist and art director with a 20-year history in video games at companies like Popreach, Hothead Games, and Backbone Entertainment, and over 20 game credits.

 

Paul Hanberry

Mentor

Paul is a Technical Artist at Full Circle Studios (an EA Studio), working on Skate. Prior to Full Circle, Paul worked as a Technical Artist at EA Sports, and as a Jr Programmer at Mythical City Games.