Greg Snook

Game Engineering Leadership

Hands-on engineering leadership for games and real-time systems.

Experience spans engine architecture, animation systems, performance, and cross-platform delivery. Shipped work includes Halo, Minecraft, Age of Empires, Gears of War, and Kinect, with responsibilities ranging from core implementation to technical team leadership.

Selected work View full resume

Exploring Technical Director and senior game engineering leadership roles.

Collage combining imagery from several games across Greg Snook's career.
30+ years in games
2–40 Managed team sizes
PC · Console
Mobile · VR cross-platform delivery

Franchise experience

Halo Minecraft Age of Empires Gears of War Kinect

Animation systems and engine architecture

Halo

Teams
Bungie, 343 Industries, Halo Studios
Roles
Programmer; Principal Software Development Engineer
Titles
Halo 2–5; unannounced title

Built character-animation technology and engine infrastructure for Halo 2 and Halo 3, then led animation engineering on Halo 4 and Halo 5. More recently, refactored the animation system for an unannounced Halo Studios title.

Selected contributions

  • Built runtime animation systems and artist content pipelines, including inverse kinematics and bipedal and quadruped locomotion.
  • Led multithreading of the Halo engine for Xbox 360 and developed CPU performance instrumentation.
  • Created automated, audio-driven lip sync for localized dialogue without requiring additional animation content.
  • Led development of facial animation, lossless compression, full-body inverse kinematics, and character-motion systems for Halo 4 and Halo 5.
  • Reviewed technical features across the Halo engine as part of the engineering architecture group.
  • Refactored the animation system for an unannounced title at Halo Studios.

Cross-platform engine and platform leadership

Minecraft Bedrock

Team
Mojang Studios
Role
Principal Software Engineering Lead
Period
2017–2022

Platform leadership for Minecraft Bedrock combined direct engine work with performance, stability, and delivery across mobile, VR, PC, and console.

Selected contributions

  • Led graphics, core engine platform, and performance and stability work across Bedrock platforms.
  • Served as lead engineer for the Nintendo Switch port.
  • Led development of user-generated content capabilities supporting Minecraft’s creator ecosystem and content marketplace.
  • Championed improvements in visual fidelity and mod support across Minecraft Bedrock.
  • Helped establish a developer culture built around CI/CD, telemetry, and test-driven development.

Central technology and Unreal Engine foundations

Age of Empires

Team
World’s Edge
Role
Lead Principal Software Engineer
Period
2022–2026

Led technical development within the studio’s central technology team while staying hands-on across simulation, presentation, and networking.

Selected contributions

  • Led internal and external developers working across core game-technology disciplines.
  • Developed an Unreal Engine framework with custom simulation, animation, and rendering, balancing modern visuals with lower-end hardware constraints.
  • Built architecture and content pipelines that helped an unreleased Age of Empires project progress from concept to a playable demo in under eight months.
  • Created a placeholder-asset pipeline for rapid prototyping from legacy content.
  • Delivered late-stage performance optimizations for Age of Mythology: Retold.

Animation compression and Xbox optimization

Gears of War 2

Team
Microsoft Game Studios publishing engineering
Role
Lead Software Development Engineer
Period
2007–2009

Supported the project through Microsoft’s publishing engineering group, combining hands-on engine optimization with technical guidance for the external development team.

Selected contributions

  • Improved animation compression and playback systems for Gears of War 2.
  • Tuned runtime animation performance for Xbox 360.
  • Delivered changes later incorporated into the licensed Unreal Engine 3.

Motion-driven interaction and prototyping

Kinect Adventures

Team
Good Science
Role
Principal Software Development Engineer
Period
2009–2010

Joined the Kinect Adventures engineering leadership team during the early development of motion-driven, full-body interaction.

Selected contributions

  • Led early Kinect prototyping and software design for motion-driven play.
  • Focused on live skeletal retargeting and gesture recognition so player movement could control on-screen characters.
  • Led engineering for the Ricochet Kinect demonstration presented at E3 2009.
  • Named inventor on several patents covering skeletal retargeting and player gesture controls.

Independent development

Skyling: Garden Defense

Context
Mighty Studios
Project type
Independent title
Program
ID@Xbox
Focus
Game art and engineering

An independent game project bringing together a game-art background with hands-on engineering and product delivery.

Selected contributions

  • Developed and released through Mighty Studios alongside ongoing games and tools work.
  • Combined programming and game-art experience in a complete, player-facing project.
  • Carried the work beyond a technology prototype into a released independent title.
  • Helped foster Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program for indie games.

Working approach

A practical approach to technical leadership.

Stay close to the engineering work, make tradeoffs explicit, and give teams enough context to make sound decisions.

01

Frame and research the problem

Define goals, non-goals, stakeholders, constraints, and measures of success. Research the space before setting direction.

02

Innovate through collaboration

Experiment and prototype to uncover roadblocks, then work alongside the team on solutions. Document what matters and set clear direction.

03

Mentor and grow engineers

Empower engineers with ownership and mentoring, using each opportunity to build skills, confidence, and broader influence.

04

Instrument, measure, iterate

Establish healthy engineering practices and data-driven processes that improve quality through evidence and steady iteration.

Range of context

Experience includes focused strike teams, franchise engine groups, and central technology organizations. The approach changes with the team; the need for clear decisions and useful technical context does not.

Experience

Career history.

Roles across game art, engine and runtime programming, architecture groups, platform teams, and central technology.

Open the full resume
  1. 2022–2026

    World’s Edge

    Lead Principal Software Engineer

    Principal engineering lead for central technology, managing internal and external developers while remaining a primary contributor.

  2. 2017–2022

    Mojang Studios

    Principal Software Engineering Lead

    Led engine and platform teams responsible for Minecraft Bedrock performance, integration, graphics, and cross-platform delivery.

  3. 2010–2017

    343 Industries

    Principal Software Development Engineer

    Led animation engineering for Halo 4 and Halo 5 and served on the studio’s engineering architecture group.

  4. 2009–2010

    Good Science · Microsoft

    Principal Software Development Engineer

    Led motion-driven interaction prototypes and software design for Kinect Adventures.

  5. 2007–2009

    Microsoft Game Studios

    Lead Software Development Engineer

    Provided optimization and technical guidance to internal and external Xbox 360 teams.

  6. 2001–2007

    Bungie

    Programmer

    Built animation systems, tools, and multithreaded engine infrastructure for Halo 2 and Halo 3.

  7. 1994–2001

    Early career

    Director of Technology · Lead Programmer · Programmer · Artist

    Built proprietary 3D technology, networking and porting systems, real-time video software, and 2D game art.

Technical scope

Systems, platforms, and engineering practice.

Experience ranges from animation and multithreading to content pipelines, telemetry, cross-platform performance, and team leadership.

Languages & engines

  • C++
  • C#
  • Unreal Engine
  • Godot
  • Custom engines

Runtime systems

  • Animation
  • Inverse kinematics
  • ECS simulation
  • Rendering
  • Multithreading
  • Performance profiling

Delivery systems

  • Content pipelines
  • CI/CD
  • Test-driven development
  • Telemetry
  • Cross-platform optimization

Leadership systems

  • Technical direction
  • Architecture review
  • Team building
  • Mentoring
  • Co-development

Book

Real-Time 3D Terrain Engines Using C++ and DirectX 9

Author · 2003

Book series

Game Programming Gems

Contributing author · Volumes 1, 2, and 3

Patents

Real-time human motion & gesture recognition

Credited on patents related to Kinect technology

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts · Electronic Media

Northern Illinois University

Independent work

Independent work and ongoing experiments.

Mighty Studios is where game engineering, art, developer tools, electronics, 3D printing, robots, and playful experiments meet. Independent work keeps the feedback loop short and the craft personal.

Games & projects Mighty Studios Independent games and maker projects Independent game Skyling: Garden Defense A colorful original game for PC and console Developer tool TurboPilot A retro client for modern AI coding sessions Hobbies & process Mighty Workshop Games, tools, AI, and experiments Videos Video Archive Early demos and experiments

Contact

Interested in discussing a technical leadership role?

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