Cristian Soriano

I'm a Gameplay Engineer

About

Cristian Soriano Portrait

Hi there, and welcome to my portfolio!

I'm Cristian Soriano, a Lead Gameplay Systems Programmer who believes in the campsite rule: always strive to leave things cleaner, more robust, and better than you found them.

For me, that means more than writing good code. I care about building gameplay systems that are maintainable, forward-looking, and user-friendly for the people who work with them, especially designers and other non-coders. I enjoy thinking ahead, making thoughtful architectural decisions, and creating systems that give teams a strong foundation to build upon.

As a lead, I bring that same philosophy to the people I work with. I take pride in mentoring others, but also in giving them guidance, trust, and the space to grow. I strive to create an environment where my team feels safe asking questions, sharing and challenging ideas, and taking ownership of their work, while making sure we stay aligned with the goals set by direction. Over time, I've become a point of reference for teammates looking to grow into leadership themselves, and knowing they feel comfortable coming to me for advice is something I value deeply.

Outside of work, I love immersing myself in co-op video games, exploring the realms of Dungeons & Dragons, and playing board games with friends – I drive them mad sleeving all my cards. Cooking is another passion of mine, and I particularly enjoy baking – so much that my friends are convinced I should audition for Bake Off after tasting my cakes!

If you would like to connect or discuss potential opportunities, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for visiting my portfolio.

Years of Experience coding games
Video Games developed
People mentored
Direct Reports over my career

Skills

Technology

  • C++ / C#
  • Unreal Engine / Glacier Engine / Custom Engine / Unity 3D
  • Gameplay Systems / Gameplay Programming
  • Modular / Data-Driven Architecture
  • Blueprints / Lua
  • DirectX / OpenGL / STL
  • PC / PS4 / Mobile

Development & Tools

  • Agile / Kanban / Scrum
  • Milestone Planning / Technical Roadmaps
  • Visual Studio / Rider
  • Perforce / Subversion / Helix Swarm
  • Team City / Jenkins
  • Jira / Confluence / Trello / HacknPlan

Leadership & Collaboration

  • Mentoring / Coaching
  • Team Leadership
  • Hiring / Interviewing
  • Onboarding
  • Goal Setting / Career Development
  • Cross-Discipline Collaboration

Projects

Project Fantasy

Project Fantasy

Dec 2024 – Present
Project Fantasy is an online RPG and new IP in development by IO Interactive. A world and a game built from the core to entertain players and expand for many years to come
Fantasy
RPG
Multiplayer
C++ / Visual Scripting
Glacier Engine
Project Fantasy
EVE Vanguard

EVE Vanguard

Aug 2020 – Nov 2024
EVE Vanguard is the online sci-fi MMOFPS set in the EVE Universe, taking place 21,000 years in the future on far-flung worlds across the star cluster of New Eden, in which decisions have consequences and loss has meaning.
Sci-fi
MMOFPS
Multiplayer
C++ / Blueprints
Unreal Engine 5
PC
United 1944

United 1944

Apr 2020 – Jul 2020
United 1944 is an immersive WW2 multiplayer shooter that combines scavenging, crafting, building and team strategy. Explore a world in ruins and engage in intense 16v16 urban battles as you forge your own path as a civilian soldier at the heights of war.
FPS
Multiplayer
C++ / Blueprints
Unreal Engine 4
PC
United 1944
Killsquad

Killsquad

Dec 2017 – Mar 2020
Killsquad is a co-op action game that blends twin-stick shooter, hack and slash and drops in a dash of character customization & progression. Join us on a journey to five planets full to the brim with enemies for you to annihilate. Choose your hero, select your skills, weapons, gears and talismans, and unleash hell through waves of relentless enemies and fearsome bosses.
Action
Twin-Stick Shooter
Hack and Slash
Multiplayer
C++ / Blueprints
Unreal Engine 4
PC
PS4
PS5
Unaligned

Unaligned

Jan 2017 – Nov 2017
Unaligned is a cartoon 3D platformer game developed for the Videogame Creation Master of Barcelona School of Management, at Pompeu Fabra University. Follow your faithful guide to escape the temple. Use your power to jump between worlds in order to overcome obstacles in your way to freedom.
3D Platformer
C++ / Lua
Custom Engine
PC
Unaligned
The Karcel

The Karcel

Sep 2012 – Nov 2012
The Karcel is a horror puzzle game to be played on Facebook. Challenge your friends! Who among you will be the one to escape in less time?. It won't be easy because the place is full of horrors and paranormal activity. Could you escape?
Puzzle
Horror
Javascript
Unity3D
Facebook
Mortal Balance Space

Mortal Balance Space

Jun 2012 – Aug 2012
Mortal Balance Space is a survival game that keeps the essence of the first game, but this time on an infinite level. Reach the best score and earn your place in the top 10 leader board. Will you be able to reach the top?
Arcade
Survival
C# / Javascript
Unity3D
Mobile
Mortal Balance Space
Mortal Balance

Mortal Balance

Mar 2012 – Jul 2012
An arcade game that tests your ability using the accelerometer and touch screen. 40 levels plenty of challenges. Jump, dodge, keep your balance to succeed in this crazy world.
Mortal Balance!
Arcade
C# / Javascript
Unity3D
Mobile

Resume

Professional Experience

IO Interactive

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – Hybrid
Full-time – 1yr 8mos
Lead Gameplay Systems Programmer
Dec 2024 – Present
  • Technical Vision & Architecture: Established the vision and requirements for gameplay systems developed by the team, while driving a more data-driven and modular development philosophy. Identified systems requiring engine support and guided developers throughout implementation with technical feedback and direction.
  • System Development: Led development of critical systems including readiness flow, automated data pipeline exports, telemetry, navigation mesh improvements, automated nav-link generation, and progression systems.
  • Mentorship & Leadership: Managed ten team members, including the AI team in the absence of an area lead, and mentored developers including new team leads.
  • Cross-Team Collaboration: Strengthened collaboration with the Engine team by leading shared initiatives, supported the creation of a UI team, and worked closely with Design to break down documentation into actionable items for milestone planning and additive development.
  • Technical Planning: Created the gameplay systems technical roadmap through to release and supported the Technical Director by identifying risks and offering solutions before they became issues.
  • Technologies Used: C++ / Visual Scripting – Glacier.

CCP Games

London, England, United Kingdom – Hybrid
Full-time – 4yrs 3mos
Principal Gameplay Engineer
Feb 2024 – Nov 2024
Senior Gameplay Engineer
Feb 2022 – Feb 2024
Gameplay Engineer
Aug 2020 – Feb 2022
  • Baseline Establishment: Successfully set up naming conventions, initiated key pipelines, and provided architectural advice for new systems.
  • System Development: Personally developed critical systems such as our readiness flow, analytics, inventory and weapon customization systems, and updated existing systems to be data-driven and follow modular programming principles.
  • Leadership Experience: Managed two team members, mentored several more, and actively helped with roadmaps and milestone planning.
  • Unreal Engine 5 Migration: Contributed to the project's migration from UE4 to UE5.
  • Technologies Used: C++ / Blueprint – UE4 / UE5.

Novarama

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – On-site
Full-time – 2yrs 8mos
Game Programmer
Dec 2017 – Jul 2020
  • Unreal Engine 4 Transition: Helped with the transition from custom engine to Unreal Engine, gaining a holistic view of all the systems the engine provides.
  • Killsquad Contributions: Worked on AI, UI and Gameplay where I contributed with abilities, missions, and systems like accolades, events, and weapon customization.
  • United 1944 Contributions: Initial set up of the project and developed our readiness flow, and systems such as inventory, crafting, events, and screen management.
  • Leadership Experience: Mentored all of our new team members and became line manager of two of them during the second half of Killsquad's development.
  • Technologies Used: C++ / Blueprints – UE4.

GAPS Política i Societat

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – On-site
Full-time – 4yrs
Full-stack Developer
Apr 2013 – Apr 2017
  • Platform Development: Lead the development of IMPROVE, a service to provide surveys, gather data efficiently, and automatically generate filterable online reports.
  • Client Communication: Enhanced my soft skills, particularly in communicating with clients when critical data corrections were needed to their data base.
  • Team Management: Managed the call center, overseeing teams of up to 10 surveyors.
  • Technologies Used: PHP7 / HTML5 / Javascript / CSS3 / C# – Unity3D

Pizza&Play Videogames

Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain – On-site
Self-employed – 8mos
Co-founder & Game Programmer
Mar 2012 – Nov 2012

I partnered with a Concept Artist, a 3D Artist, and an Animator to establish an indie studio. My experience as the sole programmer includes:

  • Project Development: Gained extensive knowledge on bringing projects from concept to release, learning valuable lessons on best practices and pitfalls.
  • Communication Skills: Improved communication with other disciplines.
  • Technologies Used: C# / Javascript – Unity3D.

Education

Master's Degree – Video Games & Programming

2016 – 2017
UPF Barcelona School of Management
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – On-site

The final goal of the master's degree was the development of a game from scratch using a custom engine created by the students, with guidance from professors. The team I was part of developed Unaligned, a cartoon 3D platform game. My contributions included:

  • Engine Development: Collaborated in the creation of our own custom engine, including multithreading, performance optimizations, and our pipeline to import assets.
  • Game Development: The main areas I took ownership for were Gameplay, Camera, AI, and Physics programming.
  • Technologies Learnt: C++ / Lua / HLSL / MaxScript – Custom Engine
  • Libraries Learnt: NVIDIA PhysX / Microsoft DirectX 11 / Cal3D / FMOD / Simple Lua Binder

Video Game Development Course

2011 – 2012
Evolis Centro de Formación S.L.
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – On-site
Graduated with honours
  • Technologies Learnt: C++ / C# / Javascript – Unity3D
  • Libraries Learnt: OpenGL / OpenAL / Ogre3D / Nvidia PhysX

Associate's Degree in Computer Application Development

2009 – 2011
I.E.S Castelar
Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain – On-site
Graduated with honours
  • Technologies Learnt: C / HTML / PHP / CSS / Javascript / Visual Basic / Java / MySql

Certifications & Trainings

Mentorship and Allyship CPD

May 2024
Limit Break Mentorship
London, England, United Kingdom – Online

Managerial Courage

Oct 2023
CCP Games
London, England, United Kingdom – Online

Managing Conflict in the Workplace

Jun 2023
CCP Games
London, England, United Kingdom – Online

Scrum Master Certified

Oct 2021
The Knowledge Academy
London, England, United Kingdom – Online

Contact

Location

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

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