Diogo Gonçalves Silva

About Me

My name is Diogo Silva and I am a Gameplay and AI Engineer with years of AAA experience developing in C++ and Unreal Engine 5. I also hold a Master's degree in Computer Science and Engineering (Engenharia Informática e de Computadores) by Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon) specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Game Development.

In the past few years I have been working with different studios to deliver high quality AAA Console and PC games of varying genres. I have primarily contributed to Gameplay and AI Systems, taking full ownership of shipped features and aiding in other areas of development such as Animation Engineering and Tools. I have also worked on a plethora of personal projects, from games to ray tracers. For some of these, I was given the opportunity to manage teams, developing leadership and communication skills that I keep honing and perfecting.

I thoroughly enjoy working with people from different disciplines in order to create impactful and memorable moments for our players to enjoy. I think games are a wholly unique medium of entertainment, and one of the few that manages to seeminglessly combine art, storytelling and technology. As such, what I look forward in games, and what I enjoy working on the most, are interesting gameplay features and mechanics that create experiences that no medium other than games is capable of accomplishing.

Contact Details

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogosilvads/
Business Email:
diogo0408@gmail.com

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Project Highlights

Click on each project to find out more about it

Check out the entire portfolio

Skills

Work

Gameplay Software Engineer

June 2025 - Present

2K Games Dublin

Worked with Hangar13 on the development of AAA Cinematic Action Adventure Games for PC and Consoles.
• Shipped Mafia: The Old Country, identifying and solving critical bugs on different platforms and across multiple systems ahead of release.
• Supported Mafia: The Old Country post-launch with targeted fixes, improvements and new features such as new races and combat encounters for a free, open-world content update.
• Spearheaded Photo Mode end-to-end development - scoped constraints, iterated rapidly, and delivered a polished feature in a short timespan. The feature was very well received by the community, being a main post-release player engagement generator, earning accolades and being featured in thephotomode.com.
• Implemented Recoil and Weapon Systems framework with deep designer tunability via Data Assets, reducing iteration time for the weapons team.
• Developed a flexible, data-driven Inventory System designed for reuse across different titles.

Graduate Software Engineer

July 2023 - June 2025

2K Games Dublin

Contributed to the development of several AAA projects across different 2K Games studios.
• Owned Core Gameplay Features for Mafia: The Old Country's melee combat and boss fights — including combos, ability transitions, motion warps, and conversation subsystems — from vertical slice to ship.
• Developed Utility-Based AI Systems and Collision Avoidance Algorithms for an unannounced online sports simulation title.
• Leveraged Unreal Engine’s Gameplay Ability System (GAS) daily on different game systems.
• Collaborated with designers to implement Data Asset-Driven Gameplay Systems and delivered custom Debugging and Asset Management Tools to facilitate rapid gameplay prototyping.
• Collaborated with two 2K studios (Hangar13 and 2K SportsLab), gaining experience working on various AAA game genres under different teams and production cycles. Flown by the company to the US, Canada, and UK on multiple occasions for studio visits and cross-team collaboration. Recognized as one of the highest contributors in the 2K Graduate Program cohort.
• Completed official Unreal Engine 5 training provided by Epic Games.
• Presented feature work to Studio Directors and pitched new game ideas directly to 2K's Executive Team.

Undergraduate Researcher

April 2021 - September 2021

IN+ IST - Plataforma Ensino Ativo

Worked with Instituto Superior Técnico's Pedagogical Council to create a web page promoting the usage of Active Learning methodologies in education.
A letter of recommendation written by this work's coordinators can be found here.

Undergraduate Researcher

April 2020 - September 2020

IEETA - BICenter

Received an Undergraduate Student Researcher position at IEETA - Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro. Tasked with working on a web-based data management and analysis tool.
A letter of recommendation written by this work's coordinators can be found here.

Education

Master's Degree

September 2020 - November 2022

Master's in Computer Science and Engineering - Instituto Superior Técnico
GPA: 19.0 / 20.0

Highest grade average in the cohort. Academic Excellence Award recipient. Specialized in Intelligent Systems and Game Development; electives in Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality. Published accompanying thesis research at IEEE ISM 2022 (Naples, Italy). Worked as a paid Undergraduate Researcher solo developing a web platform for the University’s Pedagogical Council. Actively participated in multiple student associations, including GameDev Tecnico — a game development association involved in internal projects, external game jams, and international competitions.

Bachelor Degree

September 2017 - June 2020

Bachelor's in Computer Science and Engineering - Universidade de Aveiro
GPA: 18.0 / 20.0

Highest grade average in the cohort and among the highest across the university. Worked as a paid Undergraduate Researcher developing a web-based data management BI platform. Served as a board member of AETTUA, an engineering student association focused on organizing university events and job fairs in close collaboration with external company partners.

Highschool

Semptember 2014 - June 2017

Ciências e Tecnologías - Secundária Dr.Manuel Laranjeira

Completed High School with a specialization in Sciences and Technology.

Awards & Achievements

Published Article

December 2022

Thesis Article published at IEEE ISM 2022

Thesis Article published at the IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia 2022 conference.

Academic Excellence

May 2022

IST Academic Excellence Diploma

Distinguished with Instituto Superior Técnico's Academic Excellence Diploma for the academic year of 2020/2021 due to the excellent performance showcased in the Master's in Computer Science and Engineering.

Nordic Jam Representative

May 2022

GDT representative at Nordic Game Jam 2022

Chosen to represent GameDev Técnico at the international game jam "Nordic Game Jam" in Coppenhagen, Denmark.

Best Art Direction

April 2022

GJL GameParade's 2022 Award for Best Art Direction

Felicitá received GJL GameParade's 2022 GameJam Award for Best Art Direction. The game was also nominated for a slew of other categories and was nomiated as one of the best games in the jam by the public.

1st Place

March 2020

Think Twice 2020

Achieved first place at IEEE Aveiro's Student Branch's yearly national hackathon - ThinkTwice

CAE

November 2016

Cambridge's Certificate in Advanced English

Scored a 205/210 equating to a C2-CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) level of English.

FCE

June 2015

Cambridge's First Certificate of English

Scored a 186/190 equating to a to a C1-CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) level of English.

Scholar Merit Recognition

May 2018

Rotary Club's Merit Recognition

Awarded by Espinho's Rotary Club as recognition for being one of the city's best students entering University.

15th Place

May 2016

V National Philosophy Olympics

Placed in 15th at the V Portuguese National Philosophy Olympics with an essay on free will. Chosen as a school representative at the nationals after getting first place in the school's elimination stage.

Honor Roll

2011-2017

Dr. Manuel Laranjeira School's Honor Roll

Enrolled in the National Honor Roll from 6th to 12th grade.

Organizations

Member

March 2021 - Present

Game Dev Técnico

GDT is an IST organization that is all about the promotion of game development. Its members participate in game jams, sponsored projects, full-blown releases and everything that involves developing games. It counts with the sponsor of several well known Video Game companies such as Miniclip and Funcom, alongside mentors belonging to indsutry powerhouses such as Guerrilla Games.

Member

December 2020 - December 2021

Laboratório de Jogos

Instituto Superior Técnico's in-house association focused on managing all of the university's Game-related courses, aiding both teachers and students and organizing several activities throughout the year, namely the Global Game Jam, Alumni Meetings, Talk N' Play (a monthly stream about a wide range of video game topics) and MOJO (a showcase of games made during the Game Development Methodologies course).

Collaborator

October 2019 - September 2020

Nucleo de Estudantes de Informática (UA)

Invited to join the ranks of the Computer Science and Engineering's student's council. Assisted in a variety of activities such as student gatherings and dinners and cooperated in the integration of my notes and study materials into their main web platform.

Member of the Board of Directors

December 2019 - September 2020

AETTUA

Offered a position at AETTUA's board of directors after spending a year as a general member. Managed and oversaw several teams and played a major part in the organization's biggest event to date - Deti4Devs 2019 - notably in the Image and Logistics departments.

Collaborator

December 2018 - December 2019

AETTUA

Joined AETTUA - a student association responsible for organizing a plethora of events at University of Aveiro's Faculty of Computer, Telecommunications and Software Engineering. Worked as an active member of the Image Department and integrated into several multi-department teams responsible for events such as DetiHub and Deti4Devs.

Volunteer Work

Directional Assistant+

November 2018

Web Summit

Volunteered at Web Summit 2018 - one of the largest tech conferences in Europe held in Lisbon, Portugal.

Referee

October 2016

National Boccia Tournament

Volunteered as a referee at the National Boccia Tournament 2016.

Portfolio