HELLO!
My name is Michael Ryan and I am a game designer with nearly 25 years of professional development experience. For much of that time, I have focused on level / mission / quest design, but have also done some systems, combatant, narrative, and generalist game design along the way. I’ve worked as a lead in one form or another many times, but I am generally happiest when I’m able to take an active, hands-on role in content creation for a project.
Until the project was cancelled in July 2025, I was working as the Lead Mission Designer at ZeniMax Online Studios on an unannounced AAA massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on a brand new IP.
Previously, I was a Staff Designer with Bungie, specializing in activity, mission, and encounter design on the Destiny 2 annual release team. I got my first professional game dev position in 2002 as a level designer with Human Head Studios. Since then, I've worked for Bethesda Game Studios, Day 1 Studios, Wideload Studios/Disney Interactive, Sleepy Giant Entertainment, my own independent studio Three Whiskey Trigger, Bungie, and ZOS.
Before getting into development, I spent a decade working as a journalist covering the games industry for a variety of outlets, including Newsweek, Gamespot, MaximumPC, Games Magazine, Amazon, PC Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Mobile Computing, and a bunch more.