Rafael Vazquez Portfolio

Led all initiatives in Archiact for Meta’s Horizon platform. Notable amongst these was the development of ‘Asgard’s Wrath 2: Oasis’, a metaverse sandbox environment for Meta’s Horizon platform. Additionally, I spearheaded Archiact’s Mixed and Spatial Reality initiatives, leading teams in creating multiple prototypes for future projects and interfacing with company leadership and strategic partners to evaluate their viability and prospects.

Founded the company and developed the PC strategy game ‘The Shadow Government Simulator’. Handled all aspects of design, coding and production; including marketing, playtesting and negotiating with contractors for art and music. The game has been picked up by the publisher Playway and was released on Steam in 2022 to ‘Very Positive’ reviews. It featured as part of the  GDOC 2022 & Latin American Games Showcase 2023 official selection and was a finalist in the Innovation category in 2022’s BIG festival.

Headed a team of five designers in creating multiple VR experiences for the sandbox Metaverse “Horizon” by Meta. I provided extensive mentorship, assisting the team with design techniques and methodologies. I also interfaced with leads from other disciplines to develop efficient project pipelines. Regular meetings with clients and stakeholders allowed me to understand their needs, set expectations and discuss timelines, ensuring alignment and successful project outcomes.

Led the team in the development of ‘Bob Marley: World Tour’. I was in charge of prototyping the core mechanics of the game, iterating on them based on player feedback and of developing the game’s economy and narrative. 

Lead the design of VR experiences for the gamification branch of the company. Worked extensively with clients such as BCLC, Translink, WorkSafe BC & Health Canada in defining the requirements of the project and translating these into actionable items for the team to work on. 

Oversaw the design process and methodologies of several free-to-play mobile projects spanning teams across 3 continents. Coordinated with the different production and publishing departments to develop the overall prototyping, development, testing and post-launch processes. Consulted on multiple design teams on current game design trends and best practices. 

Contributed during the initial development of this startup, working closely with human resources to our team formation. Managed all aspects of production of our first unannounced VR title including managing team dynamics, developing schedules, crafting workflow pipelines and documenting our processes.  

Improved the ideation workflow and product evaluation capabilities of Mexican digital media firms by coaching them in video game development processes, launching Sesame Street titles and assisting them in securing funding.

Led all aspects of programming for the iPad game ‘Depth Charge’ and the PC game ‘Road to Beta’. Used C# in Unity for both projects, working closely with art and audio departments to build the games. 

Led the development team in the area of game design, setting up game systems, levels and story, and communicating these effectively to the rest of the team.

            A joint UBC, SFU, BCIT and Emily Carr degree

            Major in Artificial Intelligence and Visual Computing