Bang, Zoom and Whoosh! Actions that come to life through the skills of those in the Visual Effects (VFX) team.

Meet Dee Kariyawasam. He’s a Senior Visual Effects Artist here at TT Games and has been with us since October 2019.

Dee’s journey into the industry isn’t a conventional path. Dee says “Before Games, I was a tattoo artist. We had an Xbox in the lobby, and I’d play with the clients while they waited. One day, a client pointed out that I had a knack for breaking down how games were made and, after seeing my tattoo designs, they suggested I should be in the industry. That stuck with me. I retrained, made the leap, and never looked back.”

Visual effects keeps Dee busy and he adds “My day to day is about making sure VFX serves the game; talking to the right people, figuring out what’s needed, and quickly putting effects together to test usability. I also get to work on concepting and previsualisations simply because it plays into my strengths despite not strictly being part of my role. Finally, I help assign bugs and keep the team happy and up to date with the latest tech which keeps things dynamic.”

What Dee loves the most about his job is how interconnected VFX is. He gets to collaborate with so many departments from animation and design to environment, character art and even UI. Everyday is different and that variety keeps things exciting! His favourite game to work on was LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. This was a true labour of love.

He also loved co-developing with our sister studios and outreach work, where we speak to local communities, schools, colleges and work with charities so more people can find out about the games industry and make a positive impact in people’s lives Dee is a great example that you don’t need to follow a traditional route to get into the games industry and has the following advice for people:.

“Stay curious, keep creating, and put your work out there. Personal projects and connections open more doors than you’d think!”