Hi, I’m Jason Kato
With over 10 years of professional development experience in gaming, simulation, and entertainment, I have worked in cross-functional Scrum teams at enterprise companies and independently as a one-man team.
Comfortable in both technical and creative roles, my interests span programming, game design, level design, UX design, art direction, production design and more.
Creative: Product design, Game design, Level design, UX design, Art direction.
Management: Product owner, Customer management.
Communication: English, Swedish, Japanese

Portfolio

Responsibilities included development on the client and host of the main product using Unity, designing and developing the scenario editor (including UX, prototype development, and product development), creating scenarios, and managing ad hoc customer needs.
Work was performed on-site in Sweden, in Czechia, and remotely with cross-functional teams.


The teams that were involved in my project changed a lot during the time but about 3 scrum teams, excluding managers and hardware.
Some of my contributions beyond daily development tasks that helped me exceed my employer's expectations was:
Presentation
Presentation of exercise results, to attract people during for industry events. There was no such requirement but I felt there was a need during some downtime.UX
Highly improved UX thanks to a Target Indicator system I designed and implemented in my free time.
Customer Management
I flew to meet a customer for a week and work on our scenario delivery together. It was highly appreciated and we could deliver to a happy customer.
Prototyping
After a study of different technologies by my team, I single-handedly designed and developed a working prototype for the Scenario Editor in Unity over a span of three months.Creative: Product design, Prototyping, UI/UX design.
Management: Component owner, Customer management.
Communication: Swedish, English.
Saab Training and Simulation | Sweden, Czech Republic, Remote | 2018-2021
All copyright belongs to Saab.

Access is available upon request.
Technical
Architecture: Architected client-server communication with Nano integration.Server Management: Deployed on VPS with Nginx.
Nano Integration: Built a Node.js web service for deposits, withdrawals, and faucet functionality.
Game Development: Developed gameplay mechanics and client with PixiJS.
Backend Development: Created APIs and backend with Node.js.
Web Development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for mobile and PC.
Creative
Product Design: Refined the user experience (UX) by ensuring smooth flow, seamless transitions, and precise timings for a polished, slick, engaging game across mobile and PC.Game Design: Designed gameplay mechanics and systems.
Art Direction: Developed the visual style and presentation.
Sound Design: Created and implemented immersive, dynamic sound effects with timed, attention-grabbing, and exciting feedback.
Creative: UX, Game design, Art direction, Sound design.
AI: Yes.
2024-2025


Can you tell I got inspiration for the art direction from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker?

First level gives away all the mirrors positions using hints, the player only need to figure out the rotations.
Web
2D
Flash AS 2.0
Mouse
PSP
2D
Lua script
Buttons
Android
3D
Unity C#
Touch
Android, iOS
3D
Unity C#
Touch
The spark for Laserix
The idea came from a concept shared by a friend, who I also coaxed into creating a handful of levels across the Laserix series. I took the initial idea and let it evolve freely in my mind. This wasn't just a game to me, but an adventurous foray into coding, design and yes, a bit of math...
Development of Puzzle Islands
Minor prototyping
Core mechanics already set from previous versions. Prototyping potential new gameplay mechanics.
Art direction
Mood board and references.
Inspiration from Zelda Windwaker (GC) and Lara croft Go (Mobile).
Exploring technical solutions for light, grass and water.
Technical art and asset development (Unity's built in render pipeline)
Exploring technical solutions
for light, grass and water.
Assets were created using Maya, Photoshop, and Unity.
Shaders with art direction and technical limitations like draw calls in mind.

Point light for diamonds and fireflies was made by creating a stencil shader.

Water shader created a la windwaker.
Placeable tiles shown by animating the material color.

Grass low poly modelled in Maya, sways in “the wind” by rotation. One draw call for all grass if I’m not mistaken. Stormy water with big waves.

Light rays made with a textured quad. Arrows animated by their UV.
I could change the ambience by my premade conditions like night, rain, wind, sound. Here clear calm water. Purple key light.
Developing the game
Developing assets and developing the game was In parallel with creative or technical tasks depending on feel of the day and need.
• Writing code.
• Design: Levels, UI/UX, Sound.
• Playtest.
• VFX: particle effects, light, shaders, models, post processing.
• Integrations: Social, ads, IAP.
• Localization.
Developing the game - Level design
Level design can make or break a game, especially puzzles where it's all too easy for players to get stuck.In Laserix puzzles are not just important, they are everything, and that's what makes it so enjoyable to work on the level design. Even a seemingly obvious solution for a player can transform into a mind-bending challenge with just a slight tweak.
Not being a fan of hand-holding tutorials in games, I designed a smooth learning curve that seamlessly introduced new mechanics once players became comfortable with the previous ones, but always ensuring that they still had to think for themselves.
Towards the end hardcore puzzle solvers will also face a flurry of relentless, crafted puzzles. There's no procedural generation - each puzzle was designed to challenge and entertain.
Polish and Optimization
Optimization also took place during the whole process, when developing assets and the game, with an eye on the FPS, draw calls and Unity's Profiler.•Draw calls optimization (UI),
•Timing, flow, animation, presentation.
Last call for
• Bug fixes
• Nice to have
• Level design issues
• PR material.
• Release!
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Product, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product, PR.
Communication: Japanese, English.
Made in my one man team @ A nice company | Japan | 2017

This was my first real venture into VR and it taught me a lot about developing a game for the platform.
Most 3D assets were premade but had to be processed for my game.
Modeling
Adapting models in Maya for VR.
Modelling drawers, doors, handles, inside of objects and simple objects.
Windows panes was pre shattered in Blender.
Textures
UV mapping, texture if needed, creating colliders.
Unity
Add and configure joints and scripts to make it interactive with the engine.
as well as custom game logic code like sound and particle material, inspired by CRYENGINE 🙂
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Product, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product.
Made in my one man team, from idea to finished product @ Anicecompany | Japan | 2017-2018

The ship selection screen features two different themes - a light one and a dark one, centered around the controller, acting as natural pit stops in the user's journey.
In addition an in-game UI was created aiming to balance information and minimalism. Wipeout has gone offroad!


Technical: 3D asset adjustments.
Creative: Original Idea, UI/UX. Conceptual design, Art direction, Motion graphics.
Ship models and original texture by Swiss_Fox. | 2023.

Paint the terrain to raise/lower or use a tile selection tool and adjust the height.
Try it in your desktop browser.
Technical: Programming (C#), Unity URP/WebGL, Shadergraph.
Creative: UX design, UI design, Art direction.
AI: ChatGPT, Midjourney, Skybox Labs.
2023


Maya, apartment was modelled and UV mapped.

Twinmotion, material adjustment, furnishing, lighting and presentation.
Creative: Presentation.
2023





Technical: Programming (C#, PHP), iOS, Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product.
Communication: Japanese, English.
Made in my one man team @ A nice company | Japan | 2017
Music by Hayato. Character art by https://jewel-s.jp/

Onigiri is a 2D platformer controlled by swiping. With inspiration from games like from Super Mario Bros, Kirby and Metroid it was developed for Mobile (Android/iOS) but unfortunately not released. One day I would like to have the opportunity to complete it and release for mobile and handhelds such as Steam deck.
Technical: Programming (C#), iOS, Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product, Testing.
Communication: Japanese, English.
Made in my one man team @ A nice company | Japan | 2016.
Concept art by Ryo. Music by Hayato.



Shaders and environment provided by Unreal Engine.
2006, 2022

Technical: Programming (C#), iOS, Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product, Testing, PR.
Made in my one man team @ A nice company | Japan | 2016
Technical: 3D Modelling, Animation, Material Creation.
2023


Work also consisted of maintenance of many other slots.

Evolution, another video slot I was part of from start.
Communication: Swedish, English.
NetEnt | Stockholm, Sweden | 2013

My role involved concept and animation in After Effects with the end product displayed on digital signage at Aeon Mall.
Afterwards I contextualized the ad in Twinmotion.
Creative: Concept, Motion graphics, Digital twin mock up.
Communication: Japanese.
2023


Absolut Vodka, featured in many issues, here as a contest.

Reflections, very trendy at the time.





Creative: Motion design.
Communication: Swedish.
Ottoboni Group | Stockholm, Sweden | 2007-2009



Creative: Motion design.
Communication: Swedish.
Ottoboni Group | Stockholm, Sweden | 2007-2009

Technical: Programming (C#), iOS, Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
Management: Project, Product, Testing, PR.
Communication: Japanese, English.
Made in my one man rice-ball-making factory team @ A nice company | Japan | 2016

Creative: Original Idea. UI/UX. Art direction.
2023.
Technical: 3D Modelling, Material Creation.
Creative: Art direction.
2023



Creative: Art direction.
2022







Communication: Swedish.
Ottoboni Group | Stockholm, Sweden | 2007-2011

Technical: Programming (C#), Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
2019

Technical: Programming (C#), Android.
Creative: Original Idea, Prototyping, Design (Game, Level, Graphic, Sound, Motion, UI/UX), Art direction, VFX.
2021
Awesome brands I worked on






&
Awesome companies I worked at

Saab Dynamics - Training & Simulation
Saab is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937 with 19,000+ employees all over the world.


Net Entertainment
A supplier of digitally distributed gaming systems used by some of the world’s most successful online gaming operators.

Ottoboni Group
A bigger web agency in Stockholm, Sweden, that was later acquired.