Senior Narrative Designer with 7+ years of experience specializing in casual and mid-core mobile titles. Full-cycle narrative development (from early concepts to published games) plus regular Live-Ops updates. Track record building and mentoring narrative teams, improving pipelines, and delivering engaging storylines at scale. Published comic author (writer/storyboarder) since 2014. Experienced across major studios (e.g., Belka Games, Playrix) and on high-scale projects with 10M+ and 100M+ players, with strong skills in branching dialogue, scripting, level/narrative tooling, and collaborative production.

Dmitry Stepin

PRO

Senior Narrative Designer with 7+ years of experience specializing in casual and mid-core mobile titles. Full-cycle narrative development (from early concepts to published games) plus regular Live-Ops updates. Track record building and mentoring narrative teams, improving pipelines, and delivering engaging storylines at scale. Published comic author (writer/storyboarder) since 2014. Experienced across major studios (e.g., Belka Games, Playrix) and on high-scale projects with 10M+ and 100M+ players, with strong skills in branching dialogue, scripting, level/narrative tooling, and collaborative production.

Available to hire

Senior Narrative Designer with 7+ years of experience specializing in casual and mid-core mobile titles. Full-cycle narrative development (from early concepts to published games) plus regular Live-Ops updates. Track record building and mentoring narrative teams, improving pipelines, and delivering engaging storylines at scale.

Published comic author (writer/storyboarder) since 2014. Experienced across major studios (e.g., Belka Games, Playrix) and on high-scale projects with 10M+ and 100M+ players, with strong skills in branching dialogue, scripting, level/narrative tooling, and collaborative production.

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Experience Level

Expert
Expert
Intermediate
Intermediate

Language

English
Fluent
Russian
Fluent

Work Experience

Narrative Game Designer at Plumby Games
May 1, 2024 - Present
Created narrative content for weekly Expedition events and the main game. Produced narrative for Live-Ops events including season pass and offers. Wrote documentation for new game features (Confluence/Atlassian). Built maps and level design for new game levels (Tiled). Played and tested new content using FireBase.
Senior Narrative Designer at Belka Games
January 1, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Acted as second-in-command to the Lead Narrative Designer. Created and proofread narrative for Expeditions. Assembled moodboards for level designers in Expeditions. Worked closely with game and level designers. Directed in-game cutscenes and dialogue sequences (Unity). Maintained documentation and work pipeline (Asana/Confluence). Tested new game content (TestFlight).
Script Supervisor at Royal Ark
September 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022
Proposed an overhaul of one of the game’s storylines. Wrote narrative for multiple in-game events. Introduced two new characters. Scripted dialogues and cutscenes. Added new content to builds (Unity). Reviewed community posts.
Narrative Designer at Playrix
November 1, 2021 - July 31, 2022
Wrote stories for Live-Ops events from idea to finalized script (Articy). Participated in brainstorming to generate new ideas (Miro/Google Suite). Proofread and edited texts written by other narrative designers. Collaborated closely with other departments including game designers and artists.
Lead Narrative Designer at G5 Games
November 1, 2020 - November 30, 2021
Coordinated a narrative team of four writers. Helped hire the fourth writer and mentored them during onboarding. Conducted an experiment involving radical tonal shift of the game narrative. Helped launch a new project, "Mystery Estate", and mentored its narrative team.
Narrative Designer / Writer at G5 Games
October 1, 2018 - November 30, 2020
- Wrote the main plot and tutorial texts for the game. - Improved the overall story by reworking the main recurring storyline. - Created new in-game characters and scripted dialogues. - Proofread and helped edit English translations of all in-game texts.

Education

M.S. in Business Administration and Management at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
September 1, 2014 - June 30, 2016
B.S. in Economics at Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
September 1, 2010 - June 30, 2014

Qualifications

Soft Skills for Engineers
September 1, 2024 - July 25, 2026
Soft Skills for Engineers (course completion)
September 1, 2024 - July 25, 2026

Industry Experience

Gaming, Media & Entertainment
    Star Merge

    Star Merge is a cozy merge-3 game blending puzzles, farming, and creature collecting with a sprinkle of magic! Its rich story, charming characters, captivating gameplay and frequent events are a perfect recipe for laid-back fun.

    Play Star Merge: [iOs](https://www.twine.net/signin | [Google Play](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input

    As a Narrative Game Designer, I’m responsible for:

    • Creating regular sitcom-like Expedition events;
    • Developing characters, their speech patterns and storylines;
    • Expanding the game into new directions (late-game storylines and alternative progression);
    • Maintaining the overall vibe and atmosphere of the game.
    Bermuda Adventures

    Bermuda Adventures is a farming game with survival and exploration mechanics. A big city family meets an ancient techno-magical civilazation. New friendships are built as the mysterious Bermuda Triangle keeps evolving and transforming every week.

    Play Bermuda Adventures: [PC](https://www.twine.net/signin | [iOs](https://www.twine.net/signin | [Google Play](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input

    As a Senior Narrative Designer, I’m responsible for:

    • Deep involvement in the creative and editorial process;
    • Weekly new story updates: over 80 new episodes produced over the course of my work;
    • Coordinating with Level Designers and Artists to combine the storylines with game mechanics and provide an immersive gameplay;
    • Acting as a director for in-game cutscenes;
    • Acting as a second-in-command to the Lead Narrative Designer.
    Dawn of Zombies: Survival RPG

    D.O.Z. Survival is a free-to-play survival game with RPG elements. You are tasked with surviving in harsh conditions and defending your Shelter as you work with your allies against bandits, mutants, and zombies in the Last Territories, the only place remaining in this post-nuclear-war world.

    Play D.O.Z. Survival: [iOs](https://www.twine.net/signin | [Google Play](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input:

    As a Script Supervisor, I’m responsible for:

    • Proposing an overhaul for one of the game’s storylines;
    • Writing the narrative for multiple in-game events;
    • Introducing new characters;
    • Overviewing community posts.
    Fishdom

    A timeless hit match-3 puzzle game, Fishdom is a dream project for anyone in casual game development. Over the years, it’s evolved to include modern storytelling, pioneering the Expeditions format along with titles like Homescapes and Gardenscapes.

    Play Fishdom: [PC](https://www.twine.net/signin | [iOs](https://www.twine.net/signin | [Google Play](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input:

    As a Senior Narrative Designer, I’m responsible for:

    • Overseeing the narrative for the breakout Expedition event;
    • Brainstorming ideas for new events in every format;
    • Writing stories for events from idea to finished script;
    • Proofreading and editing texts of other Narrative Designers;
    • Working in collaboration with game designers, artists, etc.
    Mystery Estate

    Mystery Estate was a spin-off project of Hawaii Match-3 Mania. It has pivoted towards the hidden object genre while featuring a revised version of Katie Lockwood’s story.

    Play Mystery Estate: [Android (APK)](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input:

    As Lead Narrative Designer, my responsibilities included:

    • Coordinating the initial stages of the project and setting the goals for the Narrative team;
    • Forming the Narrative team;
    • Training the next Lead Narrative Designer to take over this project and run it independently.
    Hawaii Match-3 Mania

    Hawaii: Match-3 Mania is a mansion decoration game with a deep overarching story setting it apart from most projects in this genre. The centuries-old conflict within the Lockwood family must be resolved in order to save the modern-day generation of characters.

    Play Hawaii: Match-3 Mania: [PC](https://www.twine.net/signin | [iOs](https://www.twine.net/signin | [Google Play](https://www.twine.net/signin

    My input:

    As the Lead Narrative Designer, my responsibilities included:

    • Coordinating a team of four Writers and Narrative Designers;
    • Mentorship for new recruits in the Narrative department;
    • Overseeing the narrative of the game on every level: from the overall plot to the specific dialogues, and from concepts to implementation and iteration of regular events.