Principal Game Designer, Combat & Controls - Unpublished R&D Project

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

1d•$185,200 - $258,000

About The Position

As a Principal Game Designer on an unpublished R&D product, you will help shape and evolve the future of gameplay through hands-on design leadership in early-stage development. You are a gameplay generalist with deep expertise in combat and controls, and you know how to translate strong player empathy into responsive, satisfying, and strategically rich gameplay experiences. You will personally drive some of the team's hardest design problems across combat, controls, targeting, camera, and gameplay feel. You will work closely with product managers, engineers, UX, artists, and design leaders to prototype, validate, and refine new gameplay directions, while helping establish the quality bar for how we build, evaluate, and iterate on player-facing systems. You will work as part of a small cross-disciplinary prototype team. In this role, your work will help inform the long-term gameplay direction through experimentation, rapid iteration, and applied learning. If you thrive in ambiguous spaces, love solving difficult gameplay problems, and care deeply about creating intuitive, resonant experiences for players, this role is for you.

Requirements

8+ years of professional experience in game design
Deep experience designing, prototyping, and iterating on core gameplay systems
Strong expertise in combat design, controls, targeting, camera, and gameplay feel
Experience owning large, complex design spaces and delivering high-impact player-facing outcomes
Experience working in ambiguous or exploratory development environments where fast learning and iteration matter
Experience partnering closely with engineers to develop and refine gameplay systems from concept through implementation
Ability to break down complex design problems, generate strong solutions, and clearly communicate design rationale across disciplines

Nice To Haves

Expertise with designing for twin-stick controls
Experience mentoring designers and giving clear cross-disciplinary feedback that raises the craft bar for a team
Experience leading strategically important gameplay features and establishing frameworks or principles that improve team-wide quality and consistency
Experience helping teams evolve established gameplay systems and development practices through thoughtful adoption of AI-native tools and workflows
Experience using scripting or engine-level tools to prototype gameplay ideas directly

Responsibilities

Maintain a holistic vision for combat and controls while driving design vision and execution for core gameplay systems
Personally prototype, design, and iterate on difficult gameplay problems in ambiguous, early-stage development spaces, creating multiple design approaches and articulating the tradeoffs, risks, and player implications of each
Partner closely with product managers, engineers, UX designers, artists, and producers to turn design goals into playable, testable experiences
Define and evolve design frameworks, principles, and quality bars that improve team decision-making and raise the standard of gameplay craft
Lead cross-disciplinary conversations around tradeoffs, risks, and opportunities, aligning teams around strong design rationale
Mentor other designers through feedback, craft guidance, and principled problem solving
Contribute to broader gameplay direction by identifying learnings and opportunities that can inform future initiatives