Hi, I'm Joe!
I have a BA in English Literature, an English teaching qualification from Cambridge and am about to complete a diploma in narrative design.
I have been working as a writer and narrative designer for video games, animation and graphic novels for the past five years using a combination of Unity, Twine and Arc Studio Pro.
I am currently looking for full-time work in the video game industry, familiarising myself with Unreal Engine 5 and working on my next story.
If you’d like to know more…
My first video game project was for a Metal Gear Solid-inspired spy thriller, ‘Double Crossed’ for Trucktopus Studios where I cut my teeth and learned about the different parts of game development.
After that, my experiences with The Last of Us and the Mass Effect franchise inspired me to write my own script and at the start of 2024, I saved and submitted the final draft of my 240-page animated science fiction series, ‘Requiem’. This one was a true labour of love and something I’m very proud of, but my main takeaway from writing it was to plan out character arcs, internal conflicts and certain story beats ahead of time, I think that would have saved me a lot of work!
From there I wrote a short story, ‘Respire’, about a scuba diver suffering severe asthma attacks, who must venture deep into unknown waters with the help of his AI companion, in order to find a cure. It was inspired by my own struggles with asthma so was very cathartic to write, and trying my hand at a new literary medium taught me how to format dialogue properly.
This came in handy during my next project… A science fiction text adventure game that I made as part of my diploma. It’s set in the same world as my animated series, but this time with much more choice in the narrative. This was the first time I felt like I cracked writing multiple choice dialogue (after quite a few failed attempts) and once I did I really enjoyed writing it and exploring different branches. I felt like I was writing three stories instead of one and it became very important to me that each choice felt interesting for the player. The same way the choices felt for me in the Mass Effect games or Baldur’s Gate 3.
I have had the good fortune to work with a diverse range of artists, game developers and other writers during my young career so far and it has made me fall in love with the creative and collaborative process. There is nothing I enjoy more than working in service of a team, or a story, and pursuing a higher creative goal.
In my free time, when I'm not playing every video game I can get my hands on, I like to clear my head by walking through the beautiful nature where I live in coastal Ireland or failing that, by throwing myself into the sea.
If you have a story you would like me to create for you, or collaborate on, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can find both my contact information and my CV below.
- Joe