Hello, my name is Kyle Umbenhower. Thank you for stopping by to check out my portfolio. Here is some boring backstory about me if you're interested in that sort of thing.

 

Growing up in the mountains of Oakridge, I was inspired by games as art and wanted to create digital environments like my native Oregon surroundings. During the summer of 1998, I read an article in Electronic Gaming Monthly about one of my childhood heroes, Shigeru Miyamoto. This moment was when I knew I wanted to make video games. I attended Southern Oregon University, where I studied programming, 3D modeling, animation, game design, and computer science. I also had dreams of being an Olympic athlete, and although I did experience some success, I never quite reached my goals. Determined to be great at something I loved, I shifted that passion and dedication to developing video games. 

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Oregon didn't have many options for game industry jobs, though I dreamed of working for Sony in Bend, which remains the only AAA studio in Oregon. I also desired to join Valve on the Half-Life series, to work at Bungie when they owned Halo, or to work at Insomniac Games. My first experience in the industry was with a tiny indie studio that had only shipped an educational PC game called Josh's World. We ended up working on a game about escaping a psych ward that never received funding, but it was a great experience in a leadership role. I was the "Team Lead" on the project and designed all the levels using Maya and Torque Constructor. I was also halfway through a graduate degree in computer science when I realized I didn't want to be a programmer (except for hobby) and instead decided to focus on a career in level design. So I moved to Texas and enrolled at the Guildhall at SMU, receiving a Certificate of Digital Games Development, with a level design specialization. During my time at the Guildhall, I worked as a design intern at Barking Lizards Studios, where I shipped my first game Osiris Legends.

 

I've contributed to level design, mission design, level art, and cinematic scripting at Gearbox Software since 2012. In June of 2020, I was promoted to lead level designer on the most significant project Gearbox Software has ever created. I've excelled on multiple challenging projects throughout my career, giving me the confidence to get through the most challenging development situations. I've been successful in this industry, but I've also failed. I love going big and taking risks, but I always make sure to have multiple back-up plans. I'm always striving to improve as a developer, and I always look forward to new challenges.