I ship, optimize, and maintain live mobile games.
I build the retention and live-ops systems that keep live-service titles earning, and I make them run on low-end Android. All of it without putting another full-time engineer on your payroll. I’ve worked on titles published by VOODOO and Hungama Game Studio.
Most of what I do sits after launch, where the game is already earning and a bad change costs real money. For studios with a live Unity title and no spare engineer to put on it.
Hexa Coin
Hexa Coin is a puzzle game built by BeachBum Games and published by VOODOO. I worked on it at Cympl Studios, cross-team with both. I built the systems that bring a player back after they lose instead of letting them churn: Revive, Hint, Target, Quick Revive and Juicy Number/Text. I also built content delivery so the team could push new content without shipping a whole new app version, and hooked up tracking so they could watch the in-game economy live and test changes to it rather than guess. Eight-plus updates went out against a player base that passed 100,000 downloads.
Song Beat
Song Beat is a rhythm game by Hungama Game Studio, which I worked on at Gameshastra. I handled performance across a wide spread of Android devices, plus animations, sound effects and UI. Object pooling and the optimization work around it produced a 30% performance gain in testing.
Desibeats
Hungama’s second rhythm title, also worked on at Gameshastra. I carried the optimization approach over from Song Beat onto a heavier asset load and a wider device range, and worked on the animation and audio integration. Covered in more detail in the Song Beat case study.
“Hrishik communicated clearly and delivered ahead of schedule. He also didn’t stick to his own scope. If something needed doing to get the product right, he picked it up. Easy to work with, and I’d work with him again.”
Systems work
Built on my own time, to go deeper on the engineering than client work usually allows.
Delirium Odyssey
A 3D multiplayer obstacle race with active ragdoll physics, built on Unity Netcode for GameObjects, Relay and Lobby.
Netcode · Relay · LobbyTPP combat system
Third-person melee combat with enemy AI, animation events, dodging, counters and finishers.
Unity · C#A* pathfinding
I wrote A* pathfinding from scratch in C#. Building it myself meant understanding exactly what it costs, not just importing a package and hoping.
Unity · C#Car Arcade
A toon-styled car park game with stunt jumps, bowling challenges, amusement rides and a destruction zone. Still in progress, built around physics-driven vehicle handling.
Unity · C#
About me
I’m a Unity developer with two-plus years on live mobile titles, across three studios, freelancing since the start of 2026. I kept Hexa Coin running under VOODOO, did the performance work on Hungama Game Studio’s rhythm games, and built real-time multiplayer and secure transaction systems for a card game under NDA.
Outside client work, I build systems on my own time: multiplayer netcode, combat, pathfinding. It’s how I actually learn a new corner of the engine, not just read about it.
I’m based in India (IST) and work with studios wherever they are. I shift my hours to hold a real overlap with your working day, and for urgent production problems I will make myself available outside those hours where I reasonably can. The rest of the time I work async, with written updates so nobody has to chase me for status.
Studio experience
Live-ops, retention systems and mobile performance work for studios running shipped titles. Available for new engagements now.
Live-ops on Hexa Coin, working cross-team with BeachBum and VOODOO. Shipped the retention systems, Unity Addressables for dynamic asset loading, and VOODOO event tracking for A/B testing of economy features.
Full-stack work on a multiplayer card game under NDA: gameplay mechanics, real-time player interaction, and RESTful APIs for live data sync and secure transactions, built to regulated-market standards.
Core gameplay, systems and optimization on Song Beat and Desibeats. Cut server-related bugs by 20% through better data synchronization, and mentored four interns.
How it works
Tell me what is wrong
The game, the devices it has to hold up on, and the problem. A build I can run helps but is not required.
I scope it
You get a fixed scope and a fixed price in writing, usually within two days. Nothing starts until you approve it.
I do the work
In your repo, on your branching and review process, alongside whoever is already on the team. Written updates as I go.
You get the result
A report you own, a feature merged and shipped, or booked capacity each month, depending on what we agreed.
A good fit if
- Your game is already live, or close to it
- It is built in Unity, shipping on Android
- Performance on low-end devices actually costs you players
- You need updates shipped and are short on engineering capacity
- You would rather not carry another full-time salary to get it done
Probably not a fit if
- You want a game built from nothing, start to finish
- You are looking for art, design or audio rather than engineering
- You need someone on site, or in your timezone full time
- The main thing you are comparing is hourly rate
Ways to work with me
Most studios start with the audit or a single sprint, then move onto a retainer once the update cycle becomes continuous. Every engagement is fixed price and scoped before it starts.
I’m opening this to my first three independent studio clients at a reduced rate, in exchange for permission to write the work up as a case study, anonymised if your publisher needs it. The engineering and the deliverables are the same either way.
The founding rate covers the first engagement and any follow-on work agreed within sixty days of it finishing.
Everything is fixed price, agreed in writing before any work starts, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Tell me the game and what is going wrong and I will send a quote. If the project cannot be written about at all, say so and I will quote it normally.
Mobile performance audit
I profile your live Unity build on real low-end devices and hand back a ranked list of what is costing you frames, memory and battery, plus the fix for each one.
Live-ops feature sprint
One agreed feature, built into your live game and shipped to store. The same kind of cycle I ran on Hexa Coin, just scoped before day one.
Live-ops retainer
A block of my week reserved for you each month, for studios running a continuous update cycle. Events, retention systems, remote config and the performance work that keeps a live title stable. We agree what the month covers before it starts, and you get priority on anything urgent.
Know which one you need?
Send me the game and the problem and I will come back with a fixed scope and price.
Before you hire me
What do you need from me to quote?
The game, the devices it has to hold up on, and what is going wrong. If there is a build I can run, that helps. I will come back with a fixed price and a scope in writing, usually within two days.
What exactly do I get from the audit?
A written report: the main things costing you frames, memory and battery, what is causing each one, and a prioritized list of fixes with effort estimates. Where it helps I include profiler captures and point at the specific systems worth opening. The report is yours whether I do the fixes or your team does.
Can you work inside our existing codebase and team?
That is most of what I have done. Hexa Coin was a live codebase I joined after launch, working cross-team with the developer and the publisher. I work in Git, follow whatever branching and review process you already have, and I would rather match your conventions than impose mine.
How quickly can you start?
I am freelancing full time and taking new work now, so usually within a week of the scope being agreed. Audits can often start sooner, since they need less setup on your side.
What happens after the audit?
You get the report and you own it. Nothing obliges you to hire me for the fixes. Some teams take the findings and do the work in-house, which is a perfectly good outcome. If you do want me to implement them, we scope that separately.
What if the work takes longer than scoped?
Fixed price means the number you approve is the number you pay. If I underestimate the work, I absorb the difference. The only thing that changes the price is you changing the scope, and we would agree that in writing first.
How does payment work?
Half up front, half on delivery for one-off work. Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance. I can invoice in INR or USD, whichever suits your finance team.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes, and I have worked under one before. Send yours over and I will sign it before we get into specifics. If the work cannot be written up publicly at all, say so early and I will price it accordingly.
How do we end an engagement?
Retainers are month to month with no lock-in, so you give notice and we wind down cleanly. Fixed-scope work is agreed before day one specifically so this rarely comes up mid-build, but if priorities change we find a stopping point and I hand over everything in a state your team can pick up.
Will the timezone be a problem?
I am on IST, but I do not expect you to work around that. I shift my hours to hold a few hours of genuine overlap with your day, wherever you are. For urgent production problems I will make myself available outside those hours where I reasonably can, though it is not a 24/7 on-call arrangement, and I would say so plainly if you needed one. Outside that I work async and send written updates.
Do you take work on games that have not launched yet?
Sometimes. My strongest work is on titles that are already live, where there is real player data to work against. If you are pre-launch and want the performance and live-ops groundwork done properly before you ship, that is worth a conversation.
Running a live title that needs work?
Tell me the game, the devices it has to hold up on, and what is going wrong. I will tell you straight whether I am the right person for it.