I am a Senior Lecturer and Course Lead for BSc (Hons) Computer Games Programming.
I have a professional background in games programming and game AI. Having worked in a variety of Principal/Lead AI Programmer roles for a range of studios across the UK including Activision, Team17, Sumo Digital, and Traveller’s Tales, I am credited on games such as Call of Duty, Worms Revolution, and The Lego Movie: The Video Game, amongst others. Prior to teaching at the University of Staffordshire I setup and ran my own independent games studio where I was the Technical Director.
I have a Master’s by Research in Computer Science (with Artificial Intelligence), which focused on pathfinding, the development of the DRS algorithm and ways to test the believability of generated paths.
I set up the GameAI Discord channel that brings together hundreds of game AI professionals, where approaches are shared and ideas discussed, and have started the GameAIUncovered YouTube channel, which explains how different game AI concepts work.
I have written several books, some fiction, others academic, and am contributing editor for the Game AI Uncovered book series.
Professional memberships and activities
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Academic qualifications
- Masters by Research (MRes) in Computer Science (with Artificial Intelligence), University of Staffordshire.
- Postgraduate Certificate in Higher and Professional Education, University of Staffordshire.
- Batchelor of Science with Honours (BSc) Computer Games Programming, University of Staffordshire.
- Microsoft Certified Professional (MSP), Microsoft.
Expertise
- Game AI
- Pathfinding
- Computer games programming
Research interests
- Game AI
- Pathfinding
- Agent Decision-Making
- Believability in Video Games
- Game AI Architecture
Enterprise and commercial interests
I setup and ran my own game studio where I was the Technical Director for the studio. This involved the planning and development of a game, but also managing finances, recruiting staff, and preparing and pitching to investors.
I am the editor and contributing author for the Game AI Uncovered series of books which detail how the AI has been developed in professional games as well as up to date research in the area. I also host the Game AI Uncovered YouTube channel which gives short explanations for complex game AI topics in an accessible manner.
Teaching
Teaching areas:
- Game AI
- C++ Programming
- Game Engine Development
- Games Industry Business
Publications
- Roberts, P. (2026) Pathfinding in Video Games, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2026) Game AI Uncovered: Volume Five, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2026) RMA*: Restricted Memory A*, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Five, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press.
- Roberts, P., and Vickers, J. (2026) Intelligent Cover, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Five, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2026) Game AI Uncovered: Volume Four, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2026) Go with the Flow: Flow Fields – Beyond a Single Target, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Four, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2025) Game AI Uncovered: Volume Three, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2024) JP-DRS: Jump-Point Directed Recursion Search, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Three, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 127-136.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Quarterback AI, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Three, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 181-188.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Game AI Uncovered: Volume Two, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Touchdown! AI Scenarios within American Football, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Three, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 189-199.
- Roberts, P. (2024) AI Awareness in Sports Games, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Two, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 72-79.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Crafting the Illusion: Difficulty Scenarios, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume Two, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 80-84.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Game AI Uncovered: Volume One, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2024) Believable Routes: A Pathfinding Acceptability Metric, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume One, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 73-82.
- Rallabandi, S., and Roberts, P. (2024) Reactive Behaviour Trees, in Game AI Uncovered: Volume One, edited by Paul Roberts. CRC Press, pp. 54-63.
- Roberts, P. (2022) Artificial Intelligence in Games, CRC Press.
- Roberts, P. (2020) An introduction to pathfinding in games, in Wireframe Magazine, #48, pp. 50-55.
- Roberts, P. (2020) AI-Man: a handy guide to video game AI, in Wireframe Magazine, #43, pp. 60-63.
- Roberts, P. M. (2018) Directed Recursion Search: A Directed DFS for Online Pathfingin in Random Grid-Base Environments, 38th SGAI International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, pp. 165-170.
- Roberts, P. (2017) Gamification in Games Education, GameDeveloper.com.
- Roberts, P. (2016) Bringing Industry into Education, GameDeveloper.com.