Senior Game Designer

You are a Senior Game or Systems Designer who has owned gameplay and gameplay systems such as combat, meta, progression, economy, difficulty, skills, abilities or NPC & enemy behaviour.

You will work closely with our level and quest designers, engineering and the Game Director to design, build and tune the systems and features that sit underneath the moment-to-moment gameplay, and make sure they form the foundation of the game’s pillars.

In this role your focus will be on day-to-day systems and game design work, working in-engine with autonomy as part of the team.

You’ll also help make game design decisions beyond your own systems, tying player progression and rewards into the overarching game design.

Responsibilities

We are a relatively small team, and so the role has variety. You can expect to do the following:

• Design and own gameplay systems end to end.
• Design key progression systems and player attributes, economy sinks and taps, difficulty scaling and reward pacing - and balance them from data.
• Prototype in-engine in Unreal Engine 5 using Blueprints and data tables, and in spreadsheets.
• Write clear, implementable design documentation and feature specs.
• Work closely with the Game Director across the whole game to create the vision of the game through its gameplay systems and features.
• Work closely with writers, quest and level designers to ensure features, systems and content are seamlessly integrated
• Work with engineering on implementation, trade-offs and technical risk.
• Diagnose balance problems from telemetry and playtest data.
• Champion best practice across systems design, balance and prototyping, and build tools and processes the rest of the team can use.
• Provide constructive feedback and creative input to improve the overall player experience, and mentor less experienced designers.
• Update, iterate and extend existing systems as the game’s pillars and vision evolve.

• Experience as a Senior Game Designer or Systems Designer in videogame development, with at least one shipped PC or console game (or substantial experience on an in-development title that did not ship).
• Strong analytical and mathematical ability.
• Hands-on experience and fluency with the Unreal Engine 5 editor and Blueprints plus comfort with the surrounding ecosystem.
• Comfort with data tables and config-driven design.
• An excellent understanding of how systems, content and narrative intersect and complement each other in video games, and of why players behave the way they do.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to receive and give constructive feedback.
• Passion for gaming and a deep understanding of what makes games fun and engaging.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English, with the ability to present complex ideas clearly and concisely..
• Technical proficiency with the usual processes of remote working and videogame development.

Nice to Have

• A deep understanding of first-person shooter and role-playing games.
• FPS balancing, RPG progression, RPG loot or economy design experience.
• Post-launch balance and live tuning experience, and familiarity with analytics/telemetry tooling (SQL, Python, Looker or similar).
• Scripting beyond visual scripting (C++, Python, Lua) or a technical design background.
• Familiarity with source control such as SVN or Perforce.
• Previous mentoring or leading of other designers.
• Some experience with remote work or working with remote teams.

What We Can Offer

• An opportunity to work in a fully-independent team on a unique title set in an extremely narratively interesting world.
• A workplace where you will have a distinct voice and be trusted to work autonomously and to enjoy ownership of a substantial piece of the game.
• A long-term role with real impact on the game’s development and quality.
• Flexible working hours, and strong support for other forms of flexible working.
• Excellent provisions for parental leave.
• Employer pension contributions.

Our entire team is remote but this role requires availability and concurrent co-working with the rest of the team between 10:00 and 16:00 UTC/BST.

Salary is dependent on experience.

Awe Interactive is a fully independent and innovative game development studio focused on creating a unique, immersive, and engaging narrative-driven FPS RPG in UE5.

Our mid-size, tight-knit and experienced team has a passion for storytelling, game mechanics, and creating unforgettable gaming experiences. Our mission is to create feelings of Awe for our players.

We are currently seeking a talented and experienced Senior Game or Systems Designer to join our collaborative team and work on our upcoming title, which combines the worlds of humans, robots, and human-machine hybrids.