Layton HawkesCreative Leader, Games & Interactive

Creative Leader, Games & Interactive

Leader.
Designer.
Builder.

I lead teams that make games people love. I was a founding designer on Snapchat’s games platform and have shipped 16 titles played by millions, from Bitmoji Party to Fruit Ninja.

Selected work Connect on LinkedIn
16
titles shipped, from solo indie to platform launches
1B+
players reached through titles like Fruit Ninja
100M+
players on Snap’s games platform, where I was a founding designer
3
games shipped solo: design, code, art and launch

Work

Selected leadership

Platforms, flagship launches and turnarounds: what we set out to do, how I led, and what happened.

Snap Games · Founding designer

Founding designer on Snapchat’s games platform

Challenge
Bring real-time multiplayer games to hundreds of millions of Snapchatters, right inside the chat drawer, with no platform to build on.
How I led
One of the founding designers on the team: co-designed Bitmoji Party’s core gameplay with the Creative Director, owned multiplayer systems (matchmaking, privacy, friends) and led strike teams to ship whole minigames.
Outcome
Snapchat’s first ever game, and one of the platform’s most popular titles years after launch. The platform grew to 100M+ players.
View the project

Snap Games · Lead Game Designer

A Snap first: where AR meets games

Challenge
Blend Lens Studio AR with the games platform: an experimental design space with technical unknowns and a tight timeline.
How I led
Led a team of 10 multidisciplinary developers from pitch to ship as creative lead and visionholder, with concise specs keeping every discipline aligned.
Outcome
The first Snap title to switch seamlessly between Lens and Game, pairing AR ghost-hunting with an interactive narrative.
View the project

Snap Games · Lead Game Designer

Putting players in the designer’s chair

Challenge
Build a community-driven fashion sandbox where every player is a designer, and keep competition fair, fresh and endlessly replayable.
How I led
Creative lead and visionholder for a team of 5–10 for over a year, running inclusive brainstorming and playtest-led iteration alongside the Bitmoji team.
Outcome
Launched with 2 major updates, and an ELO-based runway voting system kept the shows fair. A Snap fan favorite.
View the project

Halfbrick Studios · Temporary design lead, soft launch

Doubling day-7 retention by taking creative risks

Challenge
A free-to-play puzzle game in soft launch, with a cautious start and retention that small tweaks weren’t moving.
How I led
One of two designers on the game; I stepped in as temporary design lead for the first 6 months of soft launch, managing a team of 5 and running A/B tests that challenged the team’s assumptions.
Outcome
A casual-friendly RPG system doubled day-7 retention. I shared the lessons at Casual Connect Asia.
View the project

Leadership

How I lead

Layton Hawkes

From solo developer to leading teams, the constant hasn’t changed: protect the vision, stay close to the build, and let players tell us the truth.

  1. 01

    A vision everyone can hold

    Clear pillars, honest milestones and concise specs, so every discipline knows what we’re making and why.

  2. 02

    Inclusive by design

    Goal-focused, collaborative brainstorming where everyone at the table shapes the idea, and decisions are made holistically.

  3. 03

    Evidence over opinion

    Playtests and A/B tests settle debates. That’s how a cautious soft launch turned into doubled retention.

  4. 04

    Lead from the craft

    I’ve shipped 3 games solo and built levels, UI and prototypes by hand, and I still stay hands-on in the build. I know what I’m asking of a team.

Career

From levels to leadership

  1. 2009Gemma and the Living WorldSolo student game, two ATOM awards.
  2. 2011Mods & researchLevels for Skyrim, UT3 and Crysis; visual-cue research in Denmark.
  3. 2013Halfbrick StudiosGame designer on Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja and Bears vs. Art.
  4. 2015IndependentShipped Puzzlepops! and Campfire Cooking solo; Apple Game of the Day.
  5. 2018Snap GamesFounding designer; Senior, then Lead Game Designer.
  6. 2023ConsultingGame design consultant.
  7. 2026Fanatics CollectSenior Director, Games & Interactive, across Topps and Fanatics Collect.

Kind words

What collaborators say

  • I got to see him grow significantly into one of the most talented designers I have ever known.

    Adam WoodCTO, Halfbrick Studios · managed Layton directly

  • Layton consistently demonstrated an exceptionally high level of skill and knowledge as a game designer.

    James Quick3D Manager · worked with Layton at Halfbrick

Ludography

Shipped titles

Every one of these taught me something about players, teams and craft. Full credits are on the about page.

Talks & research

Speaking

I’ve spoken internationally on topics from level design to improving live-service games.

✦ Roots

Where it started

Long before leading teams, I was building levels for the games I loved. These mods and my award-winning student game are where the craft began, and they still shape how I lead.