Game Developer

Creative Leadership, Narrative Design

Beth LaPensée, Ph.D. is an award-winning game developer and the first Guggenheim Foundation Fellow recognized for a game. She is the Narrative Director at Twin Suns Corp, which is focused on co-development contracts while continuing to develop original Intellectual Property. 

Given the continuously collapsing state of the game industry, she is open to new opportunities and collaborations. Her AAA game development work spans creative direction, narrative design, and writing, with experience in Unreal and proprietary tools. She has worked for companies including Wizards of the Coast, WolfEye Studios, Activision, Crytek, Behaviour Interactive, and others. Her AA and indie work expands beyond narrative and into production, design, and art. She has experience in Unity and is currently learning Godot. 

Her creative practice emphasizes cultural expression in games with a focus on design and mechanics. Being Irish, French Canadian, Anishinaabe, and Métis, she collaborates with Indigenous partners by invitation. She lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, where her breaks from working from home are influenced by the changing seasons, like tending a Native plant garden and snowshoeing. 

Alongside her work in games, she is also a graphic designer and artist whose work is hand-drawn with ink on paper and then digitized and textured after. Portfolios are available by request.