Austin Ivansmith Email & Phone Number

I'm back, baby!

Los Angeles, California, United States

I spent 12 years at WayForward in a leadership role overseeing the creative quality and experience of each project I was tasked with. In my time there I led multiple teams of varying sizes on projects ranging from multi-year multimillion dollar games to strike-teams tasked with creating a core experience quickly. With each project I was involved in the ideation process with key stakeholders, was leading the experience vision from the very beginning of pre-production all the way through production, and remained a key leader to the team during successful on-time and on-budget submissions.There are a number of demos and cancelled projects that can not be listed here, some of which were of such high quality they led to better opportunities with the same partners. I was also relied upon for guidance on other projects I was not directly assigned to, providing feedback and leadership to ensure successful and engaging products throughout the studio.Projects with direct responsibility:Director - Marble Knights (Apple Arcade, 2020)Director - The Mummy Demastered (Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, 2017)Director - World War Toons: Tank Up (Gear VR, 2016)Associate Director - Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (2016)Director/Programmer - Mighty Switch Force! Academy (PC, 2015)Director - Scooby Doo! & Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe: Adventure (PC, 3DS, 2014)Director - DuckTales Remastered (WiiU, PS3, 360, iOS, tvOS, 2013)Director - Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition (WiiU, 2012)Associate Director - Mighty Switch Force! (3DS, 2011)Director - Happy Feet Two (3DS, DS, 2011)Director/Writer - Thor: God of Thunder (DS, 2011)Lead Level Designer - Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (DS, 2010)Director - Galactic Taz-Ball (DS, 2009)

I joined Left Field as a character artist on the WSOP series of games focusing on recreating versions of real life poker stars, as well as assets for player avatars in-game. I transitioned over to Game Design and Level Design at the conclusion of that project, becoming lead designer on an internal project that later became the games Spongebob's Boating Bash and Mayhem 3D.

UltraCade was acquired by GlobalVR at the start of 2006, and I continued my work on UltraPin until I left to pursue independent contract work.

I started at UltraCade as an intern while still attending college. Within a few months I was hired on full time as an artist and brought my skills to Breeders Cup, UltraPin, and a few other small titles. On UltraPin I was key in recreating classic Williams pinball tables by building collision files, replicating layout and flow of the original tables, creating scripts for controlling ball speed and menu elements, and creating art for the tables from scratch.