# Abhishek Ambre > Design and Product Leader Location: Palo Alto, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/abhishekambre - An experienced industry leader with 10+ years in Product Management and Game Design for F2P and GaaS - Managed large cross-functional teams and products with a cumulative revenue of $3+ Billion (USD, Gross) - Experience leading teams through all stages of development with an emphasis on live game operations - Passionate about solving difficult challenges through innovation and creative solutions centered around data-driven validation ## Work Experience ### Director of Game Design @ Scopely Jan 2024 – Present I lead the Game Design team behind Star Trek Fleet Command (STFC) - Scopely’s most successful mid-core title. ### Principal Game Designer @ Scopely Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Palo Alto, California, United States ### Principal Game Designer @ AppLovin Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Palo Alto, California, United States Operated as the Head of Game Design managing designers across 3 live games and new games in development. Ensure live games hit revenue targets, supporting new product development, nurturing and growing the Game Design Org. - Planned year-long roadmaps for Design, LiveOps leveraging legacy data to ensure games hit target KPIs - Democratized live game data within the Design Org, empowering data-driven decision-making - Partnered with Sr. Leadership in steering the studio to compete with market leaders in the mid-core space - Led cross-studio initiatives within Applovin to drive knowledge sharing across various disciplines - Managed the Game Design org of 27+ Game Designers at varying levels including Leads and Managers - Established a recruiting pipeline with 3rd party studios hiring and training design talent improving P&L - Advised and supported Product Owners, as they take over reins for products previously managed by me - Mentored teams to help them think through future game needs and implement best practices ### Product Owner | Lead Game Designer @ MZ Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Palo Alto, California, United States Product Owner: Game of War, Mobile Strike, World War Rising - Directed the creation of dashboards tracking KPIs around the game economy, in-game activity - Identified inconsistencies within the economy and directed updates to improve feature adoption - Reworked strategies for content, events, and sales to create compelling UX for all spend buckets - Introduced regular game health checks repeated across live games as a standard practice - Collaborated with department heads to navigate evolving needs of the products - Improved returning player experience by redoing store pages for older/depreciated content - Reduced barrier to entry for combat and re-vamped depreciated verticals - Continue managing design reports and develop leads and managers within the design org ### Product Owner | Sr. Game Designer @ MZ Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Palo Alto, California, United States Product Owner: World War Rising - Led a cross-functional team of 60 - Game Design, LiveOps, Production, Engineering, Art, QA, and Analysts - Deep-dive into combat, economy, and UX to identify issues, validate with data, and propose solutions - Identify dropoff points in FTUE and validate with data, propose solutions for A/B Testing - Negotiated with C-staff to set up realistic goals for the product that would facilitate growth over time - Reduced short-term revenue spiking tactics in favor of longer-term sustainability of the product - Hyperfocus on player sentiment and prioritized addressing issues, bugs, complaints, and any escalations - Prioritized engineering time focusing on key features, QoL improvement, end game experience - Exceeded MoM revenue and engagement targets from month #2 and set a record 14-month streak - Final signoff for all Events, Sales, and Design content going live into the game across all cohorts - Improved team morale, address work/life balance issues, and reduced feature cadence - Stabilized economy and combat across multiple cohorts. directing initiatives on Design and LiveOps ### Game Designer @ MZ Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Palo Alto, California, United States Primary designer for 2nd City which was a game-wide reset housed in separate cohorts. - Singlehandedly maintained an aggressive feature cadence of 5-7 content releases per week per game - Created and added verticals leveraging legacy data from the core game and improving it for 2nd city - Improved feature performance by leveraging tableau dashboards to see adoption and spend behaviors - Collaborated with Liveops to propose and test strategies. successfully creating revenue spikes as needed - Improved engagement by designing new event types layered on top of existing events and rewards ### Associate Systems Designer @ MZ Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Palo Alto, California, United States As a systems designer, I was responsible for the creation of content for Sales and Events. I was also responsible for market research within the 4x space and spec-writing new and compelling ideas to support our flagship Final Fantasy product. - Planned, created, and playtested content for games, including existing verticals and new game systems - Collaborated with LiveOps leads to design compelling events and sales to hit daily revenue targets ### Game Designer, Producer @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area PROJECT URL: http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/sweet-talk/ DESCRIPTION: We are exploring the use of voice interaction in virtual reality. Given the platform’s currently limited interaction options, this Silicon Valley-based team will explore how we can craft novel experiences in VR that afford deeper immersion and character relationships as a result of this unconventional interface. By using devices such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, we will test the limits of character-driven, smart AI to discover how to foster believable, effective, and natural interactions. RESULT: Explored voice interaction in VR as the primary form of input, crafting novel experiences in VR that afford deeper immersion and character relationships as a result of this unconventional interface. Created and polished an AI learning experience where the user attempts to teach the AI how to speak using objects in a VR environment ### Game Designer, Producer @ Anki Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | Greater Pittsburgh Area PROJECT URL: http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/cozplay/ DESCRIPTION: ETC student team ‘Cozplay’ – in collaboration with Anki – was designing and developing games for a consumer robot Cozmo scheduled for sales in mid-October. Cozmo is a real-world incarnation of a movie-style robot. By leveraging his technological capabilities as well as his animated personality, the team aimed to create memorable interactions between Cozmo and guests of all ages. In order to hone in on those experiences most suited to Cozmo, the team engaged in a process of experimentation, playtesting, and iteration. By the end of the semester, the team created and delivered 18 prototypes based on different prompts focused on exploring Cozmo’s capabilities and working around his limitations. The team also focused heavily on contributing to Anki’s forums that helped shape the future SDK versions. RESULT: - Designed and developed 16 unique prototypes using Anki’s Cozmo robot using their SDK ### Game Designer @ PlayStation Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | Greater Pittsburgh Area PROJECT WEBSITE: http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/ikelos/index.php/game-prototypes/ DESCRIPTION: ETC student project team Ikelos was experimenting with Virtual Reality and Game Design for Sony PlayStation. The team aimed to create moments that can only be experienced in Virtual Reality through the rapid prototyping of games. Ikelos focused on creating VR-driven mechanics while providing feedback that is juicy and meaningful, keeping the interactions simple, fun, and novel. Through constant experimentation and play-testing, the team pushed the boundaries of what can be enjoyed in VR. Working with mobile VR and controllers, the team created delightful gameplay moments. RESULT: - Experimented, prototyped, and playtested numerous game concepts that were unique VR - Designed and developed 8 unique prototypes and one fleshed-out experience for VR ### Sr. Software Engineer, Product Manager @ Eximia Management Services Pvt. Ltd. Jan 2011 – Jan 2015 | Pune Area, India DESCRIPTION: - Worked on numerous projects (B2B, B2C) in the software development, and technology solution teams - Contributed to CRM project dev team under the Tech-Marketing venture for various MNC clients - Led a team of Analysts and Engineers to provide technology solutions for their business needs - Contributed to high-level strategic decisions with the rest of the product and executive teams ## Education ### Master’s Degree in Game Design, UX Design, Interaction Design, Entertainment Technology, Product Management Carnegie Mellon University Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 ### Master’s Degree in Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management Savitribai Phule Pune University Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 ### Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems Madurai Kamaraj University Jan 2008 – Jan 2011 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-ambre-53b897108 - Website: http://www.abhishekambre.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/abhishekambre JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/abhishekambre/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-07