Empathetic game programmer with over 10 years of experience working in small to mid-sized development teams. Contributed to multiple shipped titles, including ports, remasters and a DLC, reaching Metacritic scores of up to 77%. Notable titles include Darksiders Warmastered Edition, Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-tered and Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Core developer on an unreleased new game. Spearheaded code on many of the projects, becoming very proficient with custom C++ game engines along the way. Specialized in engine programming, with additional experience in areas such as build pipelines, tools, UI and gameplay. Team player with strong collaboration skills. Worked extensively in SCRUM/agile-based teams and environments.

Work Experience

KAIKO GmbH

2014 – Present

Senior Programmer (2025 – Present)
Frankfurt, Germany
  • Promoted to Senior Programmer as a result of the contributions to Project 5                                                                                        
Programmer (2021 – 2025)
  • Promoted to Programmer as a result of the contributions to previous projects
  • Core developer on prototype and full production versions of Project 5 (unreleased action adventure of a renowned THQ Nordic IP)
    • Collaborated with over 25 developers in a SCRUM/agile-based development process and typical team sizes of 4 to 12
    • Implemented engine code, gameplay code (during prototype phase), some build pipeline code, some tool code, specialized in writing systems code
    • Designed and maintained ECS implementation and logic system
    • Wrote code for collision resolution, hit detection, network multiplayer, serialization, rollback, debug tools
    • Created a debug tool that allowed “time travel debugging”, utilizing the existing rollback code – beloved by the entire team, receiving the nickname “Markus feature” – also allowed replaying gameplay from recorded files, providing a great QA tool
    • Supported other coders on the project, supervised junior programmers
    • Aided project scope calculation and planning via effort estimations and team meetings
    • Milestone build of the game received praise from the publisher
Junior Programmer (2014 – 2021)
  • Contributed to 5 released ports and remasters: Legend of Kay Anniversary, Darksiders Warmastered Edition, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition, Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-tered and Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, reaching Metacritic scores of up to 77%
    • Teamed up with 2 to 10 other developers consisting of mostly programmers and artists
    • Specialized in engine programming tasks including: video player integration, physics library migration (updating Havok versions and switching from Havok to Bullet), platform API integration (save data, user handling, input), application flow, localization and more
    • Set up the code base and project structure for multiple remaster projects, ported the application flows to internal technology, allowing collaborators to join
  • Core developer on the Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning – Fatesworn DLC
    • Implemented the entire main quest and assisted with the implementation of side quests
    • Integrated dialogs, voice overs and cutscenes into the game and optimized the work flow via custom tools and scripts, reducing the impact of human error on the process
    • Lead communication with the project’s main writer, discussing and realizing solutions for the story and lore
    • Ported many asset types to internal technology, making them editable with existing tools
    • Made adjustments to game code to allow replacing old assets and enable the integration of new assets
    • Created and edited UI code for newly added features

Education

Games Academy

2012 – 2014

Game Programming
Frankfurt, Germany
  • Collaborated as a programmer on four different semester projects
    • As the sole coder on a sidescrolling shooter programmed in XNA (C#) – responsible for all code including engine, gameplay and collision detection
    • As one of two coders on a rogue-like programmed in XNA (C#) – wrote all the gameplay code, most of the engine code and created a tool for editing sprite-based animations
    • As one of two coders on a multiplayer arena racing game with network multiplayer developed in Unity – implemented all of the player behavior scripts and all the networking code
    • As one of three coders on a physics-based multiplayer fun racer developed in Unreal Engine 4 – implemented all the player behavior code and created an in-game editor for building custom vehicles, with a majority of the code written in C++
  • Graduated as a certified “Game Programmierer (GA)” with a rating of 86.32% or a grade of 1.6, based on a scale from 1.0 (best) to 5.0 (worst)

Thomas Morus Gymnasium

2008 – 2012

Abitur
Daun, Germany
  • Took first Computer Science class and learned the basics of programming in Pascal, including lessons on algorithms and data structures
  • Received 15 points (best possible grade) for a Tetris clone created as a group project with three classmates
  • Spent free time experimenting with many hobby projects (RPG Maker, ROM hacks), acquired basic knowledge on game development and programming in 65c816 assembler
  • Graduated with an Abitur grade of 2.5

Skills & Other

Programming languages:

C++, C#, Ruby, Lua, Python, Pascal

Engines and frameworks:

Unity, Unreal Engine 4, XNA, RPG Maker, Game Maker, Allegro

Platforms:

Windows, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, macOS, Wii U, Switch, PS3, Xbox 360, Windows Surface, iOS

Tools:

Visual Studio (+Visual Assist), Notepad++, Xcode, Shader Tool

Source control:

Plastic SCM, GitHub, Perforce (P4V)

Languages:

German (native), English (fluent)

IT skills:

10-finger-typing, Libre Office, Open Office, Microsoft Office

Interests and hobbies:

Games, Programming, ROM Hacking, Taiko, Anime, Manga, Swimming, Conventions, Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG