About Derrick…

Derrick Pemberton Jr is a game designer, producer, and engineer born and raised in Centerville, Ohio. Now residing in Los Angeles, CA, Derrick is currently a Game Designer at Naughty Dog. Prior to this, he worked for Epic Games’ UX Research team on Fortnite. He also holds a Masters of Entertainment Technology from the renowned Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Derrick’s skills lay in the areas of game design (systems, narrative, UX, level), game production, and playtesting.

Derrick is passionate about exploring the transformative power of interactive experiences through a synergy of narrative, mechanics, and aesthetics. It is his belief that games hold tremendous power in their ability to allow players to experience and empathize with diverse perspectives.

In fact, several of his projects are transformational games. AI or Nay-I? is a small simulation game designed to demystify AI and help the public foster a more informed view towards artificial intelligence's potential impact on human life. AI or Nay-I was awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2019 CHI Play Conference. Derrick also co-authored an extended abstract published in the conference’s proceedings. DTOX was a live multiplayer experience presented at the 2020 Games For Change Festival. In DTOX players explore online gaming toxicity and experiment with solutions to foster more positive online spaces.

Prior to joining the video game industry, Derrick was a technical designer at Daedalus Design and Production in Brooklyn, NY. Here he has designed scenery for numerous Tony Award-winning productions such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, and An American In Paris.

In his free time, Derrick enjoys cooking, film, photography, and digging through the dusty bins at local record stores. If you have any recommendations, he is all ears.