Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy Games

Four years at InnoGames in Hamburg, Germany, progressing from Software Developer to Team Lead Developer on massively multiplayer online strategy games serving a dedicated global player base.

Team Leadership

As Team Lead, I was responsible for setting the technical direction of the project and maintaining the technical aspects of the backlog. Being the key technical contact both internally and externally required extensive knowledge of the entire project ecosystem, from database to UI, from test environment to operations support.

I kept a strong focus on organisational and process improvements to remove impediments to the team. Along with encouraging collaborative work and supporting individual self-improvement, we built a strong cross-functional development team capable of tackling any challenge.

Modernisation & Best Practices

To support the continued development of an extensive and long-running project, I encouraged the team to focus on software and development best practices. We worked to raise the project to modern standards:

• Implemented continuous integration systems
• Established automated testing practices
• Created a daily deployment process
• Improved Docker-based development environments

All while continuing to deliver content and features to our dedicated player base.

Full-Stack Development

The role required true full-stack capabilities across multiple platforms:

• Backend: PHP with PostgreSQL database, handling game logic and player data for a persistent multiplayer world
• Web Frontend: JavaScript client for browser-based gameplay
• Mobile: Adobe AIR applications using Starling and Feathers frameworks for iOS and Android

Legacy Modernisation

One of my key accomplishments was creating a system allowing legacy UI and new UI styles to work interchangeably. This enabled gradual migration to a modernised interface while continually delivering new features and improvements to satisfy business needs.

Agile Practices

I got deeply involved in agile processes within the team, undertaking moderation training and taking the moderation role in process meetings. The transition to cross-functional agile feature teams was a significant change that improved our ability to deliver value to players.