Principal Encounter Designer, STARCRAFT | Irvine, CA

Blizzard Entertainment • Irvine, CA

53d • $119,280 - $220,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of STARCRAFT, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games. We are looking for a Principal Encounter Designer to help craft this new game for Blizzard. As a key member of the development team, you will be responsible for defining and championing the player combat experience and encounter philosophy that bring gameplay to life. You will help define not only how players fight, but why every combat situation is compelling, readable, challenging, and rewarding. This role offers a hybrid work week, with a mix of work-from-home and on-site days, based out of our Irvine studio.

Requirements

• 13+ years of applicable experience demonstrating recognized expertise within combat or gameplay design disciplines.
• Significant professional experience in game design with a strong focus on combat design, gameplay systems design, or related disciplines.
• Experience owning and shipping complex combat features or gameplay systems on large-scale game development teams.
• Demonstrated success leading major gameplay initiatives that required cross-functional collaboration across multiple disciplines.
• Experience developing games for PC, Xbox, and/or PlayStation platforms.
• Proven ability to influence gameplay direction and design decision-making through expertise, communication, and execution.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively within teams and foster productive partnerships across all departments.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire colleagues through an enthusiastic approach to game development and a commitment to continuous improvement of core skills.
• Ability to take initiative and manage responsibilities independently, demonstrating strong ownership and accountability.
• Experienced and knowledgeable player of a wide range of games and able to use that expertise to enhance creative decisions in game development.
• Comprehensive understanding of combat design principles including pacing, responsiveness, game feel, encounter design, progression, and player mastery.
• Extensive experience creating and balancing combat systems for action-oriented gameplay experiences.
• Expertise with gameplay prototyping, iteration methodologies, tuning workflows, and playtest-driven development.
• Strong understanding of player motivation, engagement, progression systems, and long-term retention through gameplay excellence.
• Experience collaborating with technical teams to translate design goals into robust gameplay implementations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly articulate design intent and provide actionable feedback.
• Experience using modern game development tools and game engines, including Unreal.
• Deep understanding of game development pipelines and cross-disciplinary production practices.
• A player-first design mindset grounded in quality and craftsmanship.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and comfort addressing complex design challenges.
• A collaborative and team-oriented approach to development.
• A passion for mentorship, knowledge sharing, and elevating the craft of game design.
• Strong ownership and accountability for outcomes.
• Adaptability and resilience within a dynamic environment while navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose.
• A commitment to fostering an inclusive and respectful development environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience designing combat systems for shooter, action, RPG, or other combat-focused game genres.
• Experience designing boss battles, creature combat, progression systems, or large-scale gameplay experiences.
• Experience building and evaluating combat prototypes early in development.
• Prior experience mentoring senior and principal-level designers.
• Experience contributing to the establishment of gameplay direction on new game development efforts.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the connective tissue between player combat, enemy combat, and level design disciplines.
• Build and champion the end-to-end combat experience, ensuring player abilities, enemy behaviors, and encounter design come together to create compelling gameplay.
• Design, prototype, and iterate on player combat systems, enemy combat mechanics, encounter experiences, and moment-to-moment gameplay.
• Establish combat and encounter design frameworks, guidelines, and best practices that enable scalable development across multiple feature teams.
• Implement combat encounters that challenge players, encourage mastery, support multiple playstyles, and reinforce progression goals.
• Evaluate gameplay feedback, telemetry, and playtest findings to identify opportunities for improvement in combat feel, pacing, challenge, and engagement.
• Provide expert guidance and mentorship to designers across multiple disciplines through constructive feedback, design reviews, and knowledge sharing.
• Partner with leadership to identify risks, align priorities, and ensure combat initiatives support broader game goals.
• Champion high standards of quality, accessibility, usability, and player experience throughout development.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others
• Relocation assistance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed