About Me

Hello there! I’m Jimmy Kelly, a video game level designer specializing in missions and narrative. From a young age I became immersed in 3D games, and grew curious what was behind the curtain that, together, made such compelling experiences. Studying English and History as an undergraduate introduced me to storytelling techniques and the editing process. I later enrolled in the University of Utah EAE Masters program to focus on level and game design by collaborating on projects. With each of these experiences, and reflecting on the games I loved most, I recognized what set most games apart for me was narrative and environmental storytelling.

Working on quests (or missions) has allowed me to collaborate with writers to build compelling stories that exhibit thoughtful pacing, matching mechanics and features to narrative action, and imagine the holistic experience from a user perspective in order to polish each detail with informed intention. It also has given me the opportunity to learn more about tools and techniques across the game while collaborating with peers specializing in systems and features. Being a missions designer fulfills those curiosities I’ve had about games for most of my life, and allows me to share that passion through collaboration and mentoring new team members.

My Inspiration

Although much of my career has been working at Avalanche on the third-person open-world hit, Hogwarts Legacy, the most influential games I played as an adolescent and young adult were first-person shooters and adventures. Maybe because I grew up with a PC and no game consoles. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Star Wars Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Counter-Strike: Source, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, the Battlefield franchise and Halo: Combat Evolved are some of my most formative experiences. Game development also started with first-person editors with the Construction Kit from Morrowind and the Creation Kit from Skyrim.

Of course, there were plenty of third-person games I played as well, especially once I got an XBOX 360 late in high school. I love Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, Grand Theft Auto games, Red Dead Redemption, and Halo 3, as well as a whole lot more in the past decade especially (Alan Wake II, Control, Uncharted 4, Hellblade to name a few). I love games, and the games I love usually have a compelling narrative that supports immersion.

I also love stories - science fiction, fantasy and the supernatural were areas I studied in my undergraduate. Lucasfilm’s biggest franchises in Indiana Jones and Star Wars were an obsession of mine in childhood and helped me branch out to both fiction and nonfiction; I always used my imagination while also looking for the practical lesson amidst a story. Books such as Frankenstein, Dracula, Neuromancer, I, Robot, and 1984 sparked interest in human and existential commentary.

Interests and hobbies that also fill my time include board games, playing and watching hockey, guitar, and (still) playing first-person shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone.