Raza Ahmad

Narrative Creation & Game Design

Niantic

Equal parts perseverance, hard work, and luck. You need all three working in your favor in order to put the wind in your sails.

About Raza

Born and raised in Pakistan—his mother was a social activist and got him involved in the street theater that evolved out of those activist movements.
He continued to study theater formally for most of his life and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in theater from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.
He then went on to earn his master’s degree in film from the University of California, Los Angeles—says he viewed this transition from theater to film as a natural evolution.
After taking a few game design courses in graduate school, he began freelancing in that field, as well as in motion graphics and web design.
In 2012, he was recruited to work for Niantic Labs, which was a startup within Google, working on Ingress, a location-based, augmented reality mobile mystery game.
In 2015, when Niantic became an independent company, he joined the group of creative directors responsible for developing one of the biggest gaming sensations in decades, Pokémon GO.
His work has mainly become focused on developing the intellectual property that Niantic owns and helping to manage the live-action games that they have become known for.
He is passionate about utilizing augmented and virtual reality technologies to further the storytelling narratives within his designs and explore new ways to elevate them.