Joel Beardshaw

(He/They)

Joel’s breakthrough credit is the game Desta: The Memories Between.

For game designer Joel Beardshaw it was no surprise that a career in the games industry was an achievable possibility. It was thanks to encouraging parents, both of whom were teachers, that Joel was educated early on about how all media is created by people. But knowing something and then acting on it in a practical way are two different things, with Joel initially set on exploring a more academic degree in physics and maths before deciding to explore game design degrees as a more vocational option. Early on, Joel expressed an interest in level design, spurred on by a fascination with the maps that accompanied many books and games they enjoyed as a youth.

After graduating from Lincoln University, Joel landed a junior design position at Swordfish Studios, supporting the release of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (2009). Swordfish was then acquired by Codemasters, which would publish Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (2009) featuring Joel’s first ever full level in a game. In 2016, they joined indie developer ustwo Games as a Senior Designer and Joel has been working on the developer’s games ever since, now promoted to lead designer including on the studio’s recent inventive dodgeball-esque puzzler Desta: The Memories Between (2022), published by Netflix Games.

In their own words…

“I’m really excited to continue working at ustwo Games. I really like the people there and the games we make. For me, it’s about honing my craft, talking to people who work in games and games adjacent stuff that blur the lines between different types of media. I’d like to be a better storyteller, because my career path was from level design.”

“I knew that Michael [Anderson, also at ustwo] had also applied [for BAFTA Breakthrough]. It was a lovely shared secret between the two of us. I’m so pleased for our work to be recognised and celebrated together, because game development is the sum of its people.”

ustwo has started development on its second sequel to the multi award-winning Monument Valley.

Back to Breakthrough