amarcu.dev
Alexandru Marcu
Software developer based in Bucharest. 19 years building software across games, Web3, and AI.
About
Where I've worked and what I've built.
I got my first programming job at 19 — networking protocols at ITC Networks. Then I got into games at Ubisoft Bucharest, where I worked on Silent Hunter 5 and two Assassin's Creed titles.
After that I moved to City Interactive and shipped three more games (Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, Alien Rage, Enemy Front), mostly doing UI and multiplayer. I co-founded two indie studios along the way — Pixeldome for mobile and Secret Level, where we built Ironbound.
I also went back to Ubisoft for a bit as a Senior Unity Developer, worked on Eternium at Making Fun, and did consulting work on multiplayer systems.
Around 2021 I got into Web3. I was a core contributor at FIAT DAO and Loop Finance — oracle systems, CDP vaults, DeFi protocols deployed across multiple chains. Now I'm at Novel Labs, leading engineering on NFT ecosystems, cross-chain Bitcoin integration, and governance tools.
On the AI side, I'm building Agent Sensei — a programming competition platform where players build bots side-by-side with AI agents — and a model that rates West Coast Swing dancing from video.
Outside of work, my wife and I run Bucharest Westies — a West Coast Swing dance community we started about 15 years ago. Around 150 people now.
2023–Present
Lead Software Engineer @ Novel Labs
Multi-collection NFT ecosystem, cross-chain Bitcoin integration, Web3 social and governance platform, partnership development.
2018–Present
Co-Owner / Programmer @ Secret Level
Co-founded studio. Built and launched Ironbound — a turn-based strategy game on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Steam.
2021–2025
Smart Contract Developer @ FIAT DAO / Loop Finance
Core contributor. Oracle systems, CDP vaults, liquidation mechanics, flashlender, staking. Deployed across Ethereum, Bitlayer, and Scroll.
2019–2022
Game Developer @ Making Fun, Inc.
Worked on Eternium, a popular mobile action RPG.
2017–2018
Senior Unity Developer @ Ubisoft Bucharest
Returned to Ubisoft. Client architecture and online features for an unannounced mobile strategy game.
2014–2017
Programmer @ IntenseLife AG
Built a fitness and brain-training game in Unity. Multiplayer via HTTP and XMPP. Defined the mini-game framework and scene architecture.
2013–2014
Co-Founder / Programmer @ Pixeldome
Co-founded a mobile studio. Two unreleased games reaching closed beta. Collaborated with Mind Treat Studios on an app for Orange Romania.
2011–2014
Gameplay Programmer @ City Interactive
Shipped three titles: Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, Alien Rage, and Enemy Front. UI and multiplayer across Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
2008–2011
Game Programmer @ Ubisoft Bucharest
Silent Hunter 5, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (PC & multiplayer), Assassin's Creed Revelations (Xbox 360, PS3, and PC).
2007–2008
Programmer @ ITC Networks
First job at 19. Worked on the PIM multicast protocol for an unreleased router.
Web3 & Crypto
Smart contracts, NFT systems, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain tooling.
Multi-Collection NFT Ecosystem
Built interconnected NFT collections on Ethereum — burnable mechanics, a materials/crafting system, cross-collection fusing, and a dual ETH/Ordinals launch bridging Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Web3 Social & Governance Platform
Social platform for a metaverse project — tokenized reputation, social presence mechanics, and governance with proposal submission and voting.
DeFi Protocol — FIAT DAO & Loop Finance
Core contributor across two protocol versions. Oracle solutions with multi-source price feeds and TWAP, CDP vaults with liquidation mechanics, flashlender, and staking contracts. Deployed on Ethereum, Bitlayer, and Scroll.
NFT Metadata & Minting Infrastructure
Metadata services for multiple NFT collections — dynamic trait generation, reveal mechanics, pre-render pipelines, and mint verification. Runs on PM2-managed Node services.
Wallet Connector SDK
Published cross-chain wallet connector supporting EVM, Bitcoin (Ordinals/Runes), and Solana. Used across multiple dApps for unified wallet management.
Ordinals & Runes Platform
Full-stack platform for Bitcoin Ordinals — inscription management, PSBT construction, UTXO handling, and multi-wallet support (UniSat, Xverse). React frontend with dedicated backend API.
Smart Contract Security Audits
Participated in Code4rena audit contests covering multi-VM protocols — EVM, Solana, Starknet, and Sui. Submitted findings across complex DeFi and AMM codebases.
AI & Agents
Machine learning pipelines, agent systems, and applied AI work.
Agent Sensei
Programming competition platform in progress — players build bots side-by-side with the AI agent of their choice and compete bot-vs-bot on a continuous ladder. Rust match engine with deterministic, verifiable replays, sandboxed bot execution, and an ELO leaderboard.
Dance Rater
In-progress model that rates West Coast Swing dancing from video. SAM 2 tracks both dancers, MediaPipe extracts their poses, and a confound-controlled benchmark is built to prove the classifier learns dance skill — not which event a clip came from.
Dota 2 Match Predictor
Predicts match outcomes using LSTM networks trained on OpenDota API data. More of a research project — documented experiments and results.
Compliance & Agent Research
Looking into AI agent architectures for EU regulatory compliance — DORA Article 28 automation, LLM security testing for the EU AI Act, and procurement data pipelines.
Games
Where I started — and what shipped.
2026–Present
Side project
Jurassic War — Open Reimplementation
Open-source rebuild of Jurassic War (TRIC, 1997), an MS-DOS RTS with no surviving source code. Reverse-engineered the sprite, terrain, and map formats from the retail binary — all rendering in a prototype engine, with a Rust port planned. Ships no original assets.
2018–Present
Secret Level (co-founded)
Ironbound
Turn-based strategy game I co-built and launched on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Steam. Took ownership of the full programming stack. Currently building a campaign mode.
View game2019–2022
Making Fun, Inc.
Eternium
Worked on a popular mobile action RPG with millions of downloads.
2013–2014
City Interactive
Enemy Front
UI programmer in charge of the multiplayer portion of this WWII FPS. Menus, HUDs, and multiplayer features across Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
2013
City Interactive
Alien Rage
Implemented the full multiplayer UI — menus, HUDs, and localization — across Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
2012–2013
City Interactive
Sniper Ghost Warrior 2
Worked on multiplayer systems for this tactical shooter across Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
2010–2011
Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood & Revelations
Worked on two entries in one of gaming's biggest franchises. Brotherhood: PC port and multiplayer menu/HUD with mouse & keyboard input. Revelations: menu and HUD features for the main Xbox 360/PS3 team, plus the PC port with the Kiev team.
2008–2010
Ubisoft
Silent Hunter 5
Gameplay programmer on a submarine simulation. Built the navigation map, Tactical Action Interface, and mission briefing system. Also worked on the campaign/mission system and general interface.
View gameCommunity
Not everything is code.
Bucharest Westies
West Coast Swing dance community — co-founded ~2011
My wife and I started learning West Coast Swing from DVDs because nobody was teaching it in Bucharest. So we started teaching it ourselves. That was about 15 years ago.
The community has grown to 80–150 active members. Level 1 is free for the first three months. Higher levels have an optional monthly fee — we don't enforce it. It's not really a business, more something we care about.
Running a community for this long has taught me a lot about consistency and showing up — probably more than most jobs have.
15+
Years running
~150
Active members
Free
First 3 months
WestieJoy
Summer West Coast Swing event — Bucharest, 2026
We're organizing a multi-day WCS event in Bucharest — international teachers, workshops, and social dancing. I built the full registration platform: React frontend with TypeScript, a backend API handling payment processing and ticket tiers, plus teacher and schedule management. Deployed on Vercel.
Get in Touch
If you want to talk about work, a project, or anything else.