Josh Sutphin
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Destiny 2

Bungie | Design Lead | January 2020 - June 2024

Destiny 2 is Bungie's definitive action MMO. Join millions of other players in a single evolving action MMO filled with villains vying for power at any cost and heroes of the Light who stand in their way. As a Guardian, you will conquer foes with incredible abilities and build an arsenal of powerful weapons as you battle for the future of humanity.

Development overview
Releases

Development overview

I led a team that drove design and tech standardization efforts within the studio, with a particular focus on power and difficulty systems. We produced frameworks and best practices for both creative design and concrete implementation, and supported designers with tools, workflows, and technical guidance for executing on those conventions. Our focus areas for impact were on design consistency for our players and long-term sustainability for our developers.

As team lead, I built production roadmaps for our features, wrote and maintained frameworks and technical documentation, gave training presentations, ran content audits and code reviews, and forged cross-discipline and cross-team alignment.

Toward the end of my tenure with Bungie, I also led a cross-functional strike team that designed and built the Banes system that launched with the Destiny 2: Revenant expansion. This team also piloted a new production structure and methodology within the studio.

In a prior role (Staff Technical Designer) I was a core contributor to the rebuilds of Gambit and the Crucible in Beyond Light, which required extensive script and activity content work. I also built a squad generator feature which allows activity designers to drive pseudo-randomized combatant waves with significantly less content setup and map memory consumption, and I supported investment designers with custom tools, workflows, and technical guidance to revamp player subclasses, introduce weapon shaping, create the Journey system, and streamline various other aspects of the game.

Releases

Destiny 2 is a live service game with seasonal and annual releases. I contributed to:

Created 11/12/2022 • Updated 12/1/2024