MJ Johns

MJ is a designer and project director with 10 years of experience in video game development and 5 years of experience teaching game design, virtual and augmented reality, and user experience design. MJ holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Ohio State University and a master’s degree in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. After college, MJ went to work for a small VR startup making early VR demos using the Oculus DK1 and DK2. MJ is also credited as a designer on two AAA titles - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered and Mafia III. In 2016, MJ left AAA development to start their own studio, Astire Games. Outside of work, MJ volunteers with game dev organizations including VR Austin and the Global Game Jam, and presents at conferences including PAX Dev, SXSW, PAX West, Austin Games Conf, Texas Women in Games, Montreal International Games Summit, Unite Austin, Unite LA, and Unity Women in Games. MJ is passionate about designing engaging experiences and educating the next generation of game developers.Austin, Unite LA, Unity Women in Games). MJ is passionate about designing engaging experiences and educating the next generation.