Ohad Barzilay · civax

About

Ohad Barzilay

Making games, Managing product and operations teams. Building the future of Games and AI.

Contact

Twitter / X
@civaxo
LinkedIn
civax
GitHub
@leanentropy
buymeacoffee
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Portrait of Ohad Barzilay

Overview

Hi, My name is Ohad and I'm an experienced founder/game designer/vp product in the games industry. I designed, developed and lead teams that ran games both on mobile and web. This is my personal website.

I'm currently focused on exploring the intersection between AI and games, both from design/development perspective and from a game content and balancing perspective.

I've been working for the past 5 years (until 2025) on games that clinically treat symptoms of depression and anxiety as the Chief Product of Hedonia. Our games were clinically tested and approved at Mass General Hospital and I've gained considerable experience in the field, as well as working side by side with neuroscience teams.

I alternate between doing hands-on game design and economy, and building/managing large teams developing and operating games. Some of my past positions include heading Mytopia before and after the acquisition by 888 (transitioned to COO/Chief Creative shortly after the M&A), Lead designer & producer on Rovio title Pet Monsters, VP Product & Data at Ilyon Dynamics (acquired by Miniclip) and later was a very active advisory board member of JustPlay.LOL (acquired by Playtika). In 2021 I took the role of Chief Product of Hedonia.

I was on the founding team of GameIS, the Israeli game development association, and served as a board member and on several committees over the years. I also continue to advise new gaming startups.

Lastly, I'm also involved in teaching game design and production. I currently teach at Reichman University in Herzliya, and was academic staff at Beit Berl College for 8 years prior.

You can find some of the games I was involved with on the Games page. You can find other projects I did or took part in on the Projects page.

Games and AI

It’s clear AI is a disruptive force in a lot of industries and Game Development is no different.

I’ve started diving into AI during 2024 to examine using LLMs to generate better content and improve optimization of Mood Bloom for each player, and have gone way deeper since 2025, when I left Hedonia and focused most of my efforts to the field.

I’m focusing on 2 aspects mainly:

Creating games using AI - code, art, music, content, analytics, game economy. This means I’m using AI both to create the games and to optimize the balancing, trying to reach a game balance that best fit to each player (basically a segment per player).

Games that use AI as an engine - This is less explored at the moment. I’m looking into how AI can be used to create new game genres and mechanics, that are different that what we currently have.

From my perspective I feel like in the perfect spot to explore this angle, as a strong product manager/game designer with solid development background.

Demoscene

I’m a veteran of the demoscene. I used to run a BBS called Coders F/X BBS in the pre-internet days which was focused on computer graphics, I was the main organizer of Movement Demo Parties and was part of the organizing crew of Assembly ‘98 in Helsinki, Finland.

During university I ran a website called CFXnews which was focused on computer graphics - demoscene, game development and academic CG research.

My interest in computer graphics is what took me from the demoscene to the game industry and pretty much defined the path I walk in life.

Talks & Events

Teaching

Organizations

Experience

  1. 2021 — 2025
    Chief Product Officer · Hedonia

    Hedonia was a digital health company developing game-based mental health interventions. Its main product, Mood Bloom, was a therapeutic mobile game for symptoms of depression and anxiety, combining a farm-management game with short cognitive mini-games based on Facilitating Thought Progression (FTP). Mood Bloom was studied in a randomized controlled trial at Massachusetts General Hospital, with results published in JMIR.

  2. 2015 — Present
    Adjunct Instructor / Mentor · Reichman University (IDC Herzliya)

    Teaching in the IDC InGame program (Adjunct Instructor, Jul 2017 — present). Previously a mentor at the IDC's Game Design / Development workshop (Jan 2015 — Jun 2017).

  3. 2017 — Present
    Board Member / Audit Committee · GameIS

    Founding team member; involved in different operations in the organization since its inception, including being a board member, organizing events, and serving on different committees.

  4. 2020 — 2024
    Advisory, Product & Monetization · JustPlay.LOL (acq. by Playtika)

    JustPlay.LOL operates the massively popular and organically growing 1v1.LOL shooter game. Advised on product, monetization, production, and company strategy, was hands-on when required. Helped recruiting team members. JustPlay.LOL was acquired by Playtika in March 2022; I was part of the M&A team doing the deal, and continued as advisor under Playtika.

  5. 2019 — 2020
    Operations, Product & Analytics · FGG - Feel Good Gaming

    FGG is an Entertainment Company and Games Studio, developing a Japanese game for the Japanese market. The game is a Rhythm-Game called Dance Sparkle・ダンスパ・ガールズトーナメント The operation included 45 freelance artists in Tokyo, 3 Japanese story-writers and a manager in Berlin, a game economist in London and the rest of the team in Israel. I was acting COO, heading Product, Liveops and Analytics day-to-day.

  6. 2017 — 2019
    VP Product & Data · Ilyon Dynamics (acq. by Miniclip)

    Managed the Product Teams, Game & Level Design Team, as well as the BI / Economy Team. Also managed other teams periodically. Responsible for the company products roadmap. Was also leading, with another senior executive, a company-wide (successful) restructuring.

  7. 2017 — 2018
    Head of Product · Tacticsoft Ltd

    Managing all product activities for SuperMechs, including game design, balancing and liveops on mobile and web.

  8. 2013 — 2017
    Advisory Board Member · Planet of the Apps, Ltd

    Advisory board member.

  9. 2012 — 2017
    Principal & Founder · Deepmist Studios

    Game development studio. Designed and developed original and contracted games for mobile, web, and IPTV.

  10. 2014 — 2016
    Producer / Designer · Side-kick Games

    Working on a Rovio title — Pet Monsters (Casual RPG). Oversaw production and operations and was the lead game designer, covering all game balancing, researching and adapting Asian RPG mechanics to the western audience.

  11. 2014 — 2015
    CEO, Co-Founder · New Legends Studios

    New Legends was a team of experienced game professionals focused on creating mobile multiplayer games and running engaged communities around them — what eSports is all about. Also published the seed round deck to help other entrepreneurs in the field.

  12. 2012 — 2014
    Game Design, Consultant · Win Interactive LLC (bwin.party subsidiary)

    bwin.party subsidiary developing and operating mobile/social games.

  13. 2009 — 2012
    COO & Chief Creative → General Manager · Mytopia (acq. 888 Holdings)

    After Mytopia was acquired by 888 Holdings, took the role of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Creative (Jul 2010 — Apr 2012): managed studio operations, oversaw product development, led the content team (game design and art dept). Mytopia is a cross-platform (mobile, web, social networks) multiplayer online gaming network with a focus on social networks. Previously General Manager (Apr 2009 — Jul 2010): oversaw the studio's business activities and all operations; also acted as lead game designer. Managed the company during the acquisition by 888 Holdings, overseeing both the M&A and the post-acquisition process. Earlier held positions at Mytopia (when it was called Real Dice) as Senior Programmer and Lead Game Designer.

  14. 2005 — 2011
    Instructor · Beit Berl College

    Academic Staff of the Gamology Program at Beit Berl College — The School for Multidisciplinary Studies. Helped construct the 2-year program and was a member instructor. Classes: Java programming (emphasis on graphics and games), 2nd-year Final Project workshop, miscellaneous lectures (mostly AI techniques), Advanced 3D Graphics Programming (OpenGL).

  15. 2008 — 2010
    Co-organizer · MobileMonday Tel Aviv

    Core organizing team of MobileMonday Tel-Aviv, Israel.

  16. 2004 — 2009
    Editor in Chief · Mobile Game Developer Magazine

    Editor in Chief of the online publication. Founded and edited it; later, due to other responsibilities, only oversaw operations and acted as director.

  17. 2003 — 2009
    CEO and Co-Founder · Deepmist Studios

    General management, game design and development. The studio worked as a game developer — developed and designed original as well as contracted games for Mobile, Web, and IPTV. Brands and companies worked with include DreamWorks SKG, MGA (Bratz), BitBand, Eurofun, Orange, Nostromo, etc. Today Deepmist Studios mainly operates MobileGD Magazine and provides Game Design services.

  18. 2005 — 2006
    Mobile Team Lead · GamearraY (JVP Studio startup)

    Team Leader of the Mobile Game Engine team. GamearraY was a JVP Studio startup that developed a rapid game maker for mobile phones. Users could create games for any phone via a website using a drag-and-drop interface and a rules system. The startup was eventually closed by JVP.

  19. 2002 — 2006
    Owner and Webmaster · CFXweb

    Covering the demo scene and game development, with a strong emphasis on computer graphics programming. The site ran from 2002 to 2006 and was very dominant in its field.

  20. 1995 — 1999
    Main Organizer · Movement Demo Parties

    Main organizer of the national Computer Art Festivals (Movement Demo Party) between 1995 and 1998. Got sponsorships, managed work teams, ran the event in cooperation with local municipalities. Also participated in ASSEMBLY '97 in Finland, managing the Info Desk.

Machine-readable identifiers: Wikidata Q139741916