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I’m Lex Chesler, a Gameplay Engineer with 20+ years of experience shipping 3C (camera, character, and control) systems in Unreal Engine and C++ across AAA, critically acclaimed and independent titles. I have deep expertise in gameplay mechanics, animation integration, control systems, rapid prototyping, and tooling, and I iterate until it’s cool, polished, and sustainable. Former improviser who knows how to build teams, I thrive in cross-discipline collaboration and mentoring others to ship features end-to-end. I value sustainable pipelines, clear communication, and a culture of ownership that makes complex systems feel easy to iterate on.…I’m Lex Chesler, a Gameplay Engineer with 20+ years of experience shipping 3C (camera, character, and control) systems in Unreal Engine and C++ across AAA, critically acclaimed and independent titles. I have deep expertise in gameplay mechanics, animation integration, control systems, rapid prototyping, and tooling, and I iterate until it’s cool, polished, and sustainable. Former improviser who knows how to build teams, I thrive in cross-discipline collaboration and mentoring others to ship features end-to-end. I value sustainable pipelines, clear communication, and a culture of ownership that makes complex systems feel easy to iterate on.

Lex Chesler

Game Developer, Game Designer, Developer, +4

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I’m Lex Chesler, a Gameplay Engineer with 20+ years of experience shipping 3C (camera, character, and control) systems in Unreal Engine and C++ across AAA, critically acclaimed and independent titles. I have deep expertise in gameplay mechanics, animation integration, control systems, rapid prototyping, and tooling, and I iterate until it’s cool, polished, and sustainable. Former improviser who knows how to build teams, I thrive in cross-discipline collaboration and mentoring others to ship features end-to-end. I value sustainable pipelines, clear communication, and a culture of ownership that makes complex systems feel easy to iterate on.…I’m Lex Chesler, a Gameplay Engineer with 20+ years of experience shipping 3C (camera, character, and control) systems in Unreal Engine and C++ across AAA, critically acclaimed and independent titles. I have deep expertise in gameplay mechanics, animation integration, control systems, rapid prototyping, and tooling, and I iterate until it’s cool, polished, and sustainable. Former improviser who knows how to build teams, I thrive in cross-discipline collaboration and mentoring others to ship features end-to-end. I value sustainable pipelines, clear communication, and a culture of ownership that makes complex systems feel easy to iterate on.

Available to hire

I’m Lex Chesler, a Gameplay Engineer with 20+ years of experience shipping 3C (camera, character, and control) systems in Unreal Engine and C++ across AAA, critically acclaimed and independent titles. I have deep expertise in gameplay mechanics, animation integration, control systems, rapid prototyping, and tooling, and I iterate until it’s cool, polished, and sustainable.

Former improviser who knows how to build teams, I thrive in cross-discipline collaboration and mentoring others to ship features end-to-end. I value sustainable pipelines, clear communication, and a culture of ownership that makes complex systems feel easy to iterate on.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Work Experience

Engineering Consultant at Self Employed

July 1, 2025 - Present

Consulted with game studios on Unreal Engine architecture, gameplay systems, animation system design, locomotion, pathfinding and intuitive targeting systems. Recommended code architecture and process improvements to reduce technical debt and accelerate team velocity. Created 2D strategic map, UI and gameplay systems for 4X strategy game. Applied Gen AI tools to accelerate prototyping, code review, and system design iteration.

Software Engineer — Game Systems at Bossfight / Netflix

August 1, 2023 - July 1, 2025

Engineered the Event Manager scheduling system for live operations — a modular, configurable runtime system enabling content teams to ship time-sensitive experiences without engineering dependencies. Evaluated and onboarded third-party plugins for Unity and VS Code, balancing technical tradeoffs against delivery velocity. Refactored storefront in Unity. Mentored new engineers in Unity game software development methodology and best practices.

Engineering Manager & Software Architect at Together Labs

February 1, 2020 - July 1, 2023

Architected a modular Smart Object framework — self-contained game objects encapsulating all data and behavior for their interactions, including player character control handoff — enabling content creators to build rich, reusable interactions by focusing on content rather than plumbing. Collaborated on 7 game object implementations in Unreal Engine Blueprints, working across engineering, design, and content disciplines. Directed scoping, scheduling, and tracking across a 3-year live product, driving features end to end from ticket to ship. Managed and mentored 5 direct reports, fostering a proactive, ownership-driven engineering culture. Co-implemented hackathon and advanced tech group.

Senior Software Engineer at Endless Entertainment

January 1, 2018 - January 1, 2019

Rebuilt a data pipeline from third-party scripting tools into a custom Unity engine integration, improving animation fidelity and reducing content errors. Developed a tagging system enabling direct selection of camera, animation, and positioning values from script markup, bridging designer and engineering workflows. Collaborated with content producers to identify repetitive tasks and built automation tooling to eliminate manual steps.

Senior Software Engineer at Telltale Games

January 1, 2015 - January 1, 2018

Implemented new locomotion and combat systems across 40 episodic releases, working in close collaboration with design, animation, and audio teams to make character movement feel natural and intentional. Jet boots traversal system for Guardians of the Galaxy. Improved auto-acting animation systems for more naturalistic character performances, including multilingual localization with a 95% success rate. Expanded content creator tooling to streamline production workflow by 15%, reducing iteration time between design and engineering. Mentored new hires in software design, OO architecture, and game development methodology.

Software Engineer II / III at Electronic Arts

January 1, 2003 - January 1, 2014

Led and managed teams implementing responsive player control and simulation systems across multiple AAA console and PC titles. Implemented the first direct control system in a Sims game. Improved gameplay systems across 5 shipped titles, focusing on player feel and interaction responsiveness. Extended Python gameplay systems with native C++ for The Sims 4. Contributed to animation library improvements, applying 3D math to produce smoother, more accurate character motion. Mentored new engineers in OO design, engine architecture, and professional development practices.

Software Engineer / Senior Software Engineer at The 3DO Company

January 1, 1999 - January 1, 2003

Contributed to game engine architecture and feature development on early real-time console platforms, including core animation library work.