Senior Game Designer (Combat)

Ability to work hybrid from our Santa Monica, CA studio is required.

What you will do: 

• Pitch, design, implement, and own enemy NPC archetypes 
• Work with AI programmers to develop foundational NPC technology and implementing and tuning enemy AI behaviors 
• Work with animators to develop enemy locomotion and traversal, melee moves, ambient behaviors, and other custom abilities. Make every enemy archetype feel unique and memorable 
• Collaborate with the Design team to conceptualize, prototype, implement, tune, and balance gameplay mechanics and systems  
• Communicate with animation, programming, and art departments to effectively produce the assets and code support required for the enemies you’re owning 
• Write and maintain documentation that establishes the core vision of the enemy archetypes  
• Drive communication and collaboration for enemies you design and the levels they are in, ensuring communication across disciplines and meeting deadlines  
• Effective and respectful communicator and collaborator, both with other designers and members of other departments  
• Facilitate playtesting and feedback sessions to iterate on combat systems and fine-tune them based on player experiences 
• Mentor junior designers and contribute to the overall growth of the design team 

What skills you will use:  

• 5+ years of industry experience in combat design and/or technical design for games, specifically focused on developing action-adventure or shooter games 
• At least one shipped title as a combat designer or similar role. Experience with behavior trees or similar NPC AI concepts preferred 
• Strong coding ability: Computer Science degree preferred though not required  
• Proficient in using game engines and tools (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity) for combat implementation and design scripting (C#, Lua, Visual Scripting)  
• Welcomes feedback on their work and embraces the “let’s try it” mentality 
• Proficient and effective communication skills, including diagramming and sketching 
• Fluent in modern character action-adventure and shooter combat games. Maintains knowledge of the broader gaming landscape trends  
• Knowledge of narrative structure and how it intersects with gameplay and combat 
• A keen eye for detail in character action games, able to tune gameplay systems to make them feel smooth and impactful  
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills