Michael
Wahba

I build games across disciplines engineering, design, narrative and see them across the finish line.

By day I'm a software engineer at EA Maxis, working on the toolchain behind The Sims creating tools for developers and Simmers alike.

Before EA, I was Creative Director on Egregore, my MFA thesis at USC's Advanced Games Program, one of 10 projects selected from 50+ pitches by a panel of industry veterans where I led 20+ students to develop a paranoia-fueled adventure in modern-day Cairo, now on Steam. I was the Technical Lead on The Immersive Archive, an XR preservation project that won Best in Show at AWE (Augmented World Expo) 2024 and Lead Writer on Atrio: The Dark Wild, a survival-meets-automation sim praised for its funny yet sincere story.

Background: BSc in Computer Science with a concentration in Game Development and an Embedded Certificate in Creative Writing (Calgary), MFA in Interactive Media (USC), and a stint in synthetic biology that left me biased toward systems thinking. I also teach Unreal Engine and game design at Circuit Stream.