Game Design Data Scientist
David Ryan
I build out game designs with data, and bring rigorous machine learning tools, experimentation and data storytelling/analysis. I also love making silly little games, immersive art projects, generative art, and other fun things.
Work
A selection of projects in games, data science, and whatever I find interesting.
Apex Legends
Started as an intern, ended as a Senior Data Analyst.
The best Battle Royale game (my unbiased opinion). I worked with the design team on matchmaking, ranked play, map design, legend balance, new player experience, and more.
NHL 2026
Senior Data Scientist
The best way to play Hockey in your living room, without destroying anything. I worked with the design team on the core matchmaking system.
Madden 2026
Senior Data Scientist
It's football! I collaborated with the analytics team on matchmaking.
RL Bike Racing
Programmed in Python
I'm a big fan of bike racing, and wanted to see if RL agents could learn the very specific team tactics riders use. It turns out they mostly can, with some interesting twists
The Masonverse
Performed, programmed in Python and R, drew background
Part theater, part interactive arts and crafts. Participants drew sketches, and we used computer vision to put them into a projected world.
Murder in the Metaverse
Written in Twine
Interactive fiction, exploring what happens when things go wrong in our brave new worlds.
Spoon Theory
Art, programming and design.
A matchX puzzle game that (lightly) explores disability.
Zoo Frenzy
Art and design.
Play as teams of zoo keepers, organizing your animals via a mix of Charades and Memory.
Open World Vampire Survivors
Personal project
Mount and Blade meets a bullet heaven. Trade, quest and upgrade in the overworld, introduce monsters to bullet hell in combat.
Low Budget Hades
Personal project
A roguelike action RPG, inspired by Hades.
Abstract Summarization of D&D with Pointer-Generator Networks
CS 224N: Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning final project
In a pre-LLM world, used pointer-generator networks to summarize Dungeons and Dragons games based on Critical Role transcripts.
Analyzing Gender on /r/AmITheAsshole
CS 224U: Natural Language Understanding final project
Explored the effect of gender on judgments in the popular Reddit forum /r/AmITheAsshole, and more broadly whether or not gender should be a default variable in NLP research.
Emotion and Misinformation
Data Science Intern at the Center for the Advanced Study of Language
Led technical work building a novel framework for evaluating emotion in online media, now published in XXX
Dodgeball 2020
With friends - I did design and programming
An action-platformer where you fight against a megacorp. Won awards from Niantic and Improbable.io at the Stanford Video Game Showcase.
Game of Life on an LED Matrix
Built by hand and soldering iron, coded in C
A simulation of Conway's Game of Life, on a handmade LED matrix, implemented in C.
About
Hi! I'm David, and I love solving game design problems with data. I have a BS in Computer Science from Stanford, with a dual focus on machine learning and game design.
At work, I'm a Senior Data Scientist at Electronic Arts, currently focused on matchmaking: deciding how to group players together, building the systems and algorithms to do so, and rigorously testing them to make sure that our design translates to a great player experience. Most recently I've worked on Apex Legends, NHL 2026 and Madden 2026.
Previously, I've balanced characters, maps and weapons, studied how misinformation spreads online, worked on HPC systems to model wildfires, explored how vital statistics (mis)represent racial identities, and created generative models that simulate a Dungeon's and Dragon's game. From a past life, I also have a degree in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies and a background in researching social movements.
I've also made a whole mess of games, large and small, created immersive theater experiences, made little electronic art projects, and generally had fun building.
Resume
Work history and background
Experience
Senior Data Scientist
2024 - PresentElectronic Arts
- Build algorithms for core matchmaking systems, work with the design team to implement and validate them.
- Worked primarily with the sports teams, especially NHL and Madden.
Senior Data Analyst
2023 - 2024Respawn - Electronic Arts
- Led the analytics side of matchmaking at Apex, as well as two other design pods and online tech.
Data Analyst
2022 — 2023Respawn - Electronic Arts
- Worked widely with the design team!
- Set up the A/B testing pipeline.
Data Analyst Intern
2021Respawn - Electronic Arts
- Created a match replay dashboard for Apex Legends.
- Worked on legend balance.
Technical Team Intern
2018Centers for Disease Control
- Optimized the CDC internal search engine.
- Reduced the number of user clicks to get to their desired content by 50%.
Intern
2018Center for the Advanced Study of Language
- Worked with the Office of Naval Research on social network analysis to detect fake news.
- Co-created new annotation scheme for emotions online, published in Behavior Research Methods.
Research Assistant
2018Prof. Saperstein, Stanford University
- Researched changes in vital statistics reporting in the US over time.
- Combined qualitative methods and web scraping with Python to collect previously scattered data.
Education
BS, Computer Science
Stanford University
2022
BA, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Stanford University
2022