George Schober

Call of Duty

Expert Technical Designer at High Moon Studios, working across multiple Call of Duty titles. Responsible for the design and ownership of enemy AI archetypes and combat encounters, and for partnering closely with Engineering, Animation, and Art to make every fight feel distinct and memorable.

NDA

Unreleased

Details under NDA. Much of the work below is from an in-development Call of Duty mode, alongside ongoing combat and AI work on upcoming titles.

AI Design & Combat Systems

• Designed a new Grenade Launcher AI archetype that allows players to actively dodge incoming fire — a first for Call of Duty
• Conceived and implemented a drone enemy archetype featuring destructible parts and multiple unique combat behaviors
• Created new Juggernaut-type AI with area-denial attacks, area-of-effect abilities, and new coordinated group behaviors with other AI types
• Scripted an elemental damage system that interacts with enemy AI in distinct ways, introducing new player strategies for taking down combatants
• Improvements to AI archetypes from my work have already been adopted into core systems and standard soldier types shipping in future Call of Duty projects

Foundational Systems & Scripting

• Built a shared-markup spawn system that lets a small design team mark up geometry at scale — replacing per-activity markup with area-level rules and automatic AI goal tasking, enabling less linear map structures
• Extended the Zombies ammo-mod system with support for custom attachments, and authored new reusable status effects for use across future modes
• Established the mode's file structure and organization for systems, scripts, and assets

Cross-discipline Leadership

• Served as primary design liaison to a partner studio in Shanghai
• Led twice-weekly planning sessions with the partner team, guiding objective ideation and long-term direction
• Took on a design-leadership role as the team scaled: cross-discipline check-ins, production planning, mentorship of junior designers, and delegating systems ownership

Generative AI — Workflow & Team Enablement

• Integrated Generative AI into daily scripting work: drafting implementations I then review and refine, as well as rapidly prototyping new AI behaviors
• Authored custom prompts and instructions that automate documentation updates for behavior changes and tuning values, and that enforce our internal tooling APIs when AI assistants edit engine data files
• Drafted learning materials and gave multiple presentations with the goal of helping other designers understand how they might better incorporate these tools in their daily work
• Built custom AI skills tailored to other departments' workflows, starting with Narrative Design

2025

Black Ops 7

• Designed and implemented ambush behavior for melee soldier AI types that utilize cover and concealment to surprise the player
• Designed and prototyped a destructible riot shield feature for AI, introducing a new approach to player strategy
• Established new methods and standards for how designers populate big maps with AI, drastically increasing the amount of work a single designer could output
• Mentored junior designers on the team and contributed to the design team's pipelines

2024

Black Ops 6

• Designed and balanced elements of soldier AI stealth system in various Campaign missions
• Collaborated with Engineering to enhance ambient AI systems, making them more dynamic and easier for designers to use
• Started working in the C++ codebase to swiftly diagnose and fix issues in enemy AI systems

2023

Modern Warfare III

• Conceived and developed a new fast travel system for MWZ game mode
  • Promoted community engagement upon release; added complexity and longevity to the overall mode
  • Started as a brainstorm; leadership requested a prototype, then iterated through multiple rounds of feedback
• Redesigned and created attack helicopter enemy, along with new pathing logic continually used for helicopter movement

GTA VI

Game Designer at Rockstar Games San Diego. Designed and implemented systems and content in an open-world setting using proprietary tooling and C# for the new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Contributions

• Designed and produced open world encounters for organic player discovery and replayability
• Collaborated across disciplines to ensure content is developed efficiently
  • Worked with Code team to develop NPC behavior toward the player
  • Worked with writing team to develop dialogue for events and ambient NPCs
• Created project templates standardizing event creation — from hours to minutes
• Designed NPC behavioral responses based on the context of each interaction
• Designed and implemented new components to manage shared behavior between events
• Refactored existing components into a new script framework
• Assisted onboarding of new team members

Plunder Panic

A pirate-themed up-to-12-player action-arcade game where two teams race to one of four win conditions. IndieCade Audience Choice Award 2017, released on Steam September 2021.

Contributions

• Designed and created a dual-utility AI for decision making among bots
• Created a node-based movement system and used a modified A* algorithm for pathing
• Designed and created an interchangeable action system for bot behavior
• Implemented a universal data tracking system for balance
• Utilized a virtual controller for bot behavior and easier networking implementation
• Designed new character select scene for Arcade and Nintendo Switch versions
• Implemented new menu system and game startup loop
• Reworked heavy gold chest item to prevent imbalanced gameplay

Whipslash

Armed with two electric axes, fight your way out of a complex full of hostile robots. Accepted into the 2020 Independent Games Festival — one of 550 competing titles.

Contributions

• Implemented a Kung-fu circle attack system to manage enemy positioning without overwhelming the player
• Designed and developed a grapple movement system for traversal
• Added aim-assisted targeting for axe throwing mechanic
• Created ragdoll system using character joints to allow player to tear apart grunt enemies
• Managed a team of 10 students throughout a semester, keeping the game within scope
• Created a character-driven responsive audio system for dynamic music transitions