Available — senior / lead roles & selective contract work

Abhilash
Badgujar

Senior Gameplay Engineer & Technical Lead

Start a conversation See the work Résumé (PDF)
The work

I build the systems players never see — squad AI, netcode, procedural worlds and the tools that ship them.

Seven years in Unreal Engine 4/5 and Unity, across PC, PlayStation 5, VR and mobile.

Receipts
15,000playable golf courses generated from real geospatial data
60 fpswith 5–10M vegetation instances per level
16players, server-authoritative, with client prediction
60→5 minper-course setup after the tooling landed
The short version
Experience
7+ years shipping games & tools · led a 5-engineer team across 4 concurrent projects
Engines
Unreal Engine 4/5 (primary, C++) · Unity (C#)
Depth in
Gameplay AI · multiplayer netcode · procedural generation · editor tooling
Shipped on
PC · PlayStation 5 (commercially released title) · VR · Mobile
Based in
New Delhi, India (UTC+5:30) — remote worldwide, open to relocation
Education
MSc Game Development (Programming), Kingston University UK — PlayStation First Partner Programme
Languages
English (fluent) · Hindi (fluent)
Built for & with TruGolfUnakin.aiGold Creek VRU24 Solutions EWAR GamesHereafter StudiosUnity Technologies
Selected work

Five builds, with the receipts.

Each one: what was broken, what I built, and what changed. Press play if you want to see it move — the words carry the argument either way.

E6 APEX procedurally generated golf course in Unreal Engine 5 In-engine · UE5

Live commercial product — TruGolf E6 APEX.

01Procedural · Unreal Engine 5

E6 APEX

Team of Keys for TruGolf · 2022 – present · Senior Game Programmer & Team Lead

A pipeline that turns real-world geospatial data into roughly 15,000 playable golf courses.

The problem

Hand-authoring golf courses doesn't scale. TruGolf needed thousands of accurate, playable courses built from real terrain data — and every one of them had to load fast and hold 60 fps on consumer simulator hardware.

What I built

An automated UE5 course-creation pipeline: a Cesium + Unreal path that crops, stitches and streams large geospatial datasets onto custom landscapes (working around dataset-size and landscape-import limits), procedural spawning of pathways, water bodies and boundaries, and a custom foliage system. Then a C++ Course Setup Tool automating directory creation, Runtime Virtual Textures, material instance cloning and grass-type templates, plus top-down batch snapshot rendering using GetViewFrustumBounds() and spline intersections to produce high-precision alpha masks and course maps.

What changed

  • ~15,000 unique courses generated from heightmap and geospatial data
  • 60 fps held with 5–10M vegetation instances per course via instancing, culling and LOD work
  • Course generation cut from 60 minutes to 5–10 minutes
  • Load times reduced ~40% through asset, scene and runtime optimisation
15,000Procedural courses
60 fps@ 5–10M instances
−40%Load time
Unreal Engine 5C++Cesium Procedural genRVTEditor tools
See the live product
Cradle of Sins networked PvP combat In-engine · UE

Public playtest build on Steam.

02Multiplayer · Unreal Engine

Cradle of Sins

U24 Solutions · PC / Steam · Multiplayer & gameplay engineer

Server-authoritative combat that still feels instant in the player's hands.

The problem

Networked melee has to resolve on the server to stay cheat-proof, but any round-trip the player can feel makes the combat read as broken. On top of that, the build was quietly losing framerate and nobody knew why.

What I built

Server-authoritative combat and networked character systems — ability synchronisation, server-side hit validation, an RPC layer and client-side prediction so input registers locally while the server stays the source of truth. Then I profiled the framerate loss in Unreal Insights and traced it to a multiplayer tick-rate regression.

What changed

  • 20–30% of the framerate recovered once the tick-rate regression was diagnosed and fixed
  • Cheat-resistant authoritative combat with prediction, shipped to public playtest
  • Reusable replication layer — abilities, hit validation and RPCs — for the rest of the team
+20–30%FPS recovered
ServerAuthoritative combat
SteamPublic playtest
Unreal EngineC++Replication RPCsClient predictionUnreal Insights
Steam page
Sawyer 2.0 AI assistant inside the Unity Editor Editor capture · Unity

Commercial AI tooling product — Unakin.ai.

03AI tooling · Unity Editor

Sawyer 2.0

Unakin.ai · Senior engineer — editor tooling & AI

An AI development assistant that lives inside the Unity Editor and can actually touch the project.

Read the full breakdownCollapse

The problem

Developers lose hours context-switching out of the engine — for docs, for boilerplate, for turning a Figma frame into working UI. A chat window in a browser doesn't know anything about your project.

What I built

An AI coding and development assistant embedded in the Unity Editor in C#, Python and FastAPI: a UI Toolkit frontend with dockable editor windows, custom diff views and RAG indexing services for project-aware LLM interactions. Underneath, a Python MCP server and a C# command registry giving the model real tool calls — semantic search, script management, Figma-to-Unity UI generation, and live scene, GameObject, asset and UI modification.

What changed

  • The assistant is project-aware — RAG indexing means answers reference your actual code
  • Real tool calls, not suggestions: it edits scenes, assets and scripts through a typed command registry
  • Figma → Unity UI generation removes the most mechanical part of UI work
  • Custom diff views keep a human in the loop on every change
MCPTool-calling server
RAGProject-aware context
Figma→UIGeneration
UnityC#UI Toolkit PythonFastAPILLM / RAGMCP
unakin.ai
Bodycam tactical FPS squad AI encounter In-engine · UE5

Client confidential — footage cleared for portfolio use.

04AI & camera systems · Unreal Engine 5

Bodycam Tactical FPS

Confidential client · Gameplay & AI engineer

Squad AI that behaves like a squad, and a camera that behaves like a body.

Read the full breakdownCollapse

The problem

A tactical shooter fails the moment enemies read as scripted targets. It needs NPCs that investigate, coordinate and escalate — and a first-person camera with enough physicality that players believe they're carrying a weapon rather than floating behind one.

What I built

An NPC AI pipeline on Behavior Trees, EQS and AI Perception covering patrol, investigation, alert, flanking, reinforcement and combat behaviours. Alongside it, bodycam-style camera and character systems — procedural sway, lens distortion, light flares, ADS sway, procedural recoil curves and replicated chamber states — plus procedural mission generation from randomised environment layouts, enemy-placement graphs and dynamic objective seeding.

What changed

  • Six coordinated behaviours from one AI pipeline instead of per-encounter scripting
  • Missions generate procedurally — layouts, enemy placement and objectives are seeded, not authored
  • Weapon feel driven by procedural recoil and sway, with chamber state replicated for multiplayer
BT · EQSAI stack
6Squad behaviours
ProceduralMission generation
Unreal Engine 5C++Behavior Trees EQSAI PerceptionProcedural missions
Under NDA — happy to walk through the architecture on a call
Say A Prayer, a commercially released PlayStation title In-engine · PS5

Commercially released on the PlayStation Store.

05Shipped · PlayStation

Say A Prayer

Gold Creek VR · PlayStation · Gameplay engineer

A commercially released PlayStation title — console certification included.

Read the full breakdownCollapse

The problem

Shipping on PlayStation means clearing Sony's certification bar: trophies must fire correctly, progression must survive every save/quit path, and nothing can be "mostly working."

What I built

Progression systems, audiovisual reward triggers, Digital Scripture Card milestones and the trophy-related gameplay functionality — then the unglamorous certification work of making all of it deterministic.

What changed

  • Released commercially on PlayStation and through platform certification
  • Progression and reward systems that hold up under cert-level scrutiny
  • First-hand experience of console submission — not just PC-side development
ShippedPlayStation title
PassedPlatform certification
TrophiesFull gameplay loop
PlayStationVRProgression TrophiesCertification
PlayStation Store
0Years shipping games
0Procedural courses generated
0Player authoritative multiplayer
0At 5–10M instances
0Faster load times
0Engineers led, 4 projects
The archive

Range, across engines and platforms.

Shipped work and prototypes outside the five case studies — combat, VR, simulation, AI tools and mobile multiplayer. Tiles marked clip preview on hover.

Combat system prototype Clip

Combat System

UE5 · C++
VR golf simulator Clip

VR Golf — Apex Sim

UE5 · VR
Cricket VR

Cricket VR

Unity · VR
Flight simulator

Flight Sim

Unreal
Gym simulator

Gym Simulator

Unity · VR
AI chatbot tool

AI Chatbot

Python · LLM
AI decision lab

AI Decision Lab

AI · Tools
Pac-Man mobile build

Pac-Man

Unity · Mobile
Ludo multiplayer mobile game

Ludo — Multiplayer

Unity · Mobile
Track record

Where I've built.

Senior Game Programmer & Team Lead

Team of Keys — Noida, India

May 2022 — present
  • Directed a five-person engineering team across four concurrent Unreal Engine and Unity projects — architecture, task planning, code review, mentoring and delivery quality
  • Engineered a procedural biome system supporting 5–10M vegetation instances per course at 60 fps through instancing, culling and LOD optimisation
  • Built UE5 C++ editor tools for directory creation, map setup and Runtime Virtual Texture configuration
  • Cut automated golf-course generation from 60 minutes to 5–10 minutes per course
  • Built and optimised server-authoritative multiplayer for up to 16 players — RPCs, hit validation, ability sync, client-side prediction
  • Reduced loading time by ~40% through asset, scene and runtime optimisation

Senior Game Developer

EWAR Games — Bangalore, India

Apr 2021 — Apr 2022
  • Developed and maintained five multiplayer mobile games in Unity — Knife Hit, Sheep Fight, Ludo, Snakes & Ladders, 2048
  • Integrated Kafka, GraphQL and WebSocket backend services into a Flutter app with embedded Unity gameplay
  • Optimised Unity ↔ Flutter communication across real-time multiplayer flows
  • Led development planning, technical workflows and reusable project architecture

Unreal Engine Game Developer

Hereafter Studios — Mumbai, India

Aug 2020 — Apr 2021
  • Built AWS Cognito authentication and Agora-based video calling for Unreal Engine applications
  • Built a runtime data-visualisation pipeline moving large datasets from Python into Unreal
  • Developed an Electron launcher for Windows and VR apps with version management via AWS S3
  • Created animated UI menus, settings systems and an Avatar Creation System

Unity Game Developer

Dots & Dashes Interactive — Bangalore, India

Nov 2018 — Jul 2020
  • Built 2D and 3D Unity applications across multiplayer, AR, VR, education and hardware-integrated experiences
  • Integrated real-time multiplayer with SmartFoxServer
  • Built a VR 360-video pipeline and AR product-demonstration apps
  • Integrated Unity with hardware prototypes including an Arduino-powered claw machine, plus an Android OCR card-scanning prototype

Unity Student Ambassador

Unity Technologies — Bangalore, India

Nov 2017 — Dec 2020
  • Ran workshops and game jams for 60+ students and faculty
  • Supported allocation of 10+ Unity EDU Grant licences to student groups

Education

MSc Game Development (Programming)

Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK — PlayStation First Partner Programme

2024

BCA — Games & Mobile Application Development

CMR University, Bangalore, India

2019

Recognition

Best Student Game of the Year — nominee

India Game Developer Conference (IGDC)

2018

Best Gameplay

CMR University Game Jam

2017

Unity Student Ambassador

Unity Technologies

2017–20

Engines & languages

Unreal Engine 4/5UnityC++ C#PythonBlueprints

AI & gameplay

Behavior TreesEQSAI Perception Crowd simulationCharacter systemsProgression

Networking

UE ReplicationServer-authoritative combat Client-side predictionRPCsCo-op sync

Procedural & performance

Procedural foliageCesium / geospatialRVT LOD & cullingUnreal Insights

Tooling

Unreal editor toolsC++ pluginsUI Toolkit FastAPILLM / RAGMCP

Platforms & ops

PCPlayStation 5VR Android / iOSAWSGit · PerforceJira
Before you email

The questions I actually get asked.

Where are you based, and how much do we overlap?
New Delhi, India — UTC+5:30. That's a full working-day overlap with Europe and the UK, and a solid morning-to-early-afternoon overlap with US East Coast. I keep evenings open for US calls. I've worked remotely with distributed teams for years; async written updates are the default, calls are for the things that need them.
Would you relocate?
Yes, for the right role. I did my MSc at Kingston University in the UK, so I've lived and studied abroad. Ask me about current visa and work-authorisation status for your country and I'll give you the specifics rather than a vague answer.
How quickly could you start?
I'm currently in a senior role, so a full-time move needs a short runway. Contract and fixed-scope work can usually start sooner. Tell me your target start date and I'll tell you honestly whether it works — I won't string out a timeline I can't hit.
Can I see code?
Public work is on GitHub. Client work — including the tactical FPS above — is under NDA, so I can't hand over repositories. What I can do is walk through the architecture on a call, whiteboard how the replication or AI layer was structured, and share sanitised samples where the client permits it.
Do you work under NDA, and can you sign our paperwork?
Yes. Several of the projects above are covered by NDAs I've kept. Send your agreement with the brief and I'll review it before the scope call.
What don't you do?
I'm an engineer, not an artist or a game designer — I work best sitting next to good ones. I don't take on art production, narrative design or full-game outsourcing. If your project needs a system architected, optimised or rescued, that's the work I'm good at.
How do you work with designers and artists?
By making things tunable. Most of my editor-tooling work exists so designers can iterate without a programmer in the loop — exposed parameters, in-editor previews, generation that takes minutes instead of an afternoon. Tell me who's going to use the system daily and I'll build it around them.
Get in touch

Building something worth playing?

I'm open to senior and lead gameplay engineering roles, and take on a small number of contract and fixed-scope projects alongside. If you need AI, netcode, procedural systems or tooling built by someone who has shipped them — start here.

The more you tell me up front — engine, platform, deadline, what's actually stuck — the more useful my first reply will be.

abhilashbadgujar9@gmail.com
Email
abhilashbadgujar9@gmail.com LinkedIn
Full history & recommendations GitHub
Public code & experiments Résumé
PDF · one page of hard facts Full footage archive
Long-form captures on Google Drive
© 2026 Abhilash Badgujar — Senior Gameplay Engineer New Delhi, India · UTC+5:30 · Remote worldwide
Résumé Get in touch