Design Engineer Narrative

Michael
Wahba

I write worlds, direct teams, and build the tools that bring them to life. Across indie releases, triple-A studios, and the USC MFA program, I work at the intersection of craft and technology, where the story and the system are the same problem.

Michael Wahba

About Me

I'm a writer, designer, and software engineer who builds across the full stack of game development, from the first sentence of a design document to the last merge before ship.

My work spans indie and triple-A: I was Lead Writer on Atrio: The Dark Wild, a commercially-released survival game on Steam, and Creative Director on Egregore, a USC MFA thesis game selected for the Advanced Games Program and exhibited at the Game Devs of Color Expo. As XR Technical Lead on The Immersive Archive, the project won Best in Show at AWE 2024 and was exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2023. At Maxis (Electronic Arts), I build the developer toolchain that powers The Sims.

My background runs from creative writing to synthetic biology to computer science. That range isn't incidental, it's the practice. Whether I'm crafting dialogue, leading a production, or designing an internal tool, the question is always the same: what does this feel like to the person on the other end?

Press & Media

Circuit Stream interview feature

Circuit Stream

August 2025

From Biology to Game Design Excellence — an interview about my journey into game development and what it takes to build across disciplines.

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iGEM blog feature

iGEM Blog

November 2023

From SynBio to Game Design — how competing in the iGEM synthetic biology competition shaped my path to an MFA in game design.

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The Logic Magazine feature

The Logic Magazine

July 2021

Top Prospects: Leading Innovators from the Class of 2021 — recognized among Canada's most promising emerging tech and creative talent.

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CBC News interview

CBC News

November 2020

Creative Writing Student Tapped to Moonlight as Video Game Writer — on being recruited by a professional studio while still in school.

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Open to Collaboration

Looking for mentorship, consulting, or teaching?

I'm available to support others on their professional journeys — whether you're seeking feedback on a project, guidance on breaking into the industry, or help navigating the path from creative work to engineering. Let's connect.

Get in Touch