Matt Danuser-Grant
Principal Game Designer
Summary
I design the systems that bring players back. Over a decade in mobile F2P, across Marvel Strike Force, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Disney Sorcerer's Arena, owning character and combat design on titles with hundreds of millions of installs.
What I'm solving for is feel: the kit that finally clicks, the event that pulls someone back after weeks away, the character who becomes a player's favorite. I reach for systems because that's how you build feel at scale.
Experience
- Led game design at an early-stage studio, setting design vision and direction.
Marvel Strike Force · $300M+ lifetime revenue · 200+ character roster
- Owned character and combat design for one of mobile's top-grossing live games, shipping new playable characters on a monthly cadence.
- Designed kits, abilities, and combat systems balanced for both PvE and competitive PvP play.
- Mentored and gave design direction to other designers, raising the bar on kit quality and design consistency across the team.
- Partnered across production, engineering, and live ops to land content that drove player engagement and retention.
Disney Sorcerer's Arena · $22M+ in launch-quarter bookings
- Designed characters and combat systems for a Disney/Pixar collectible RPG.
- Translated beloved Disney and Pixar characters into distinct, satisfying kits across an expanding PvE and PvP roster.
- Tuned combat balance for both newcomer accessibility and competitive depth.
Crystalborne: Heroes of Fate
- Designed combat systems and hero kits for a story-driven mobile RPG.
- Balanced character abilities and progression to keep encounters challenging and rewarding across the player journey.
Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall
- Led system design across the game, owning the world map, crafting system, castle upgrades, and core progression loops.
- Designed and balanced the connected systems that structured the player journey, from exploration to base-building to long-term progression.
- Translated the Game of Thrones universe into tactical mobile RPG systems with both narrative weight and competitive depth.
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes · $2B+ lifetime player spending
- Designed character kits, abilities, and combat systems for the most successful Star Wars mobile title ever made.
- Built faction-based team synergies and encounters spanning PvE campaigns, raids, and competitive PvP modes.
- Contributed to a deep, expanding roster of iconic Star Wars characters, balanced across daily, weekly, and event-driven live ops cadence.
Super Hero Squad Online
- Owned character design for a free-to-play MMO, shipping 2–3 new characters every month to drive constant revenue.
- Continuously rebalanced a 180+ character roster based on player feedback.
- Recruited onto a small, multi-disciplinary team, one of each role, to keep the game live and growing.
- Partnered with the team to overhaul the entire game economy for a major release.
Champions Online
- Owned ongoing PvE and PvP balance across 26 power frameworks, creating hundreds of powers in the in-house scripting engine.
- Designed, implemented, and balanced 2 new player classes from scratch.
- Helped transition the game from a subscription model to free-to-play.
- Wrote unique AI scripting for each power framework in the Nemesis system.
Earlier Roles: Quality Assurance
Soul Calibur Legends · Namco Museum Remix · Digimon World Dusk / Dawn
Super Contra · TMNT Arcade · DDR Universe · Karaoke Revolution / American Idol · Xiaolin Showdown · Death Jr. 2 · Winx Club
The Godfather · Mass Effect