Senior Gameplay Designer (Combat Specialist)

LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS•Los Angeles, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This role involves designing and tuning core combat systems, including gunplay, melee, Player 3C's (Character, Controls, Camera), traversal, and enemy AI behaviors, with a strong emphasis on player feel, responsiveness, and quality. The position requires hands-on implementation in Unreal Engine using Blueprint and the Unreal Editor. Collaboration across disciplines is key to bringing features to life. The role also involves driving animation-forward combat, designing around motion capture performances, and working with animators to achieve a balance of fidelity, fluidity, and responsiveness. The Senior Gameplay Designer will represent the combat team, serve as a point of contact for their features, pitch and present designs to leadership, and manage stakeholder expectations.

Requirements

7+ years of combat design experience on shipped titles.
Proven track record tuning and balancing gunplay and/or deep experience crafting melee combat mechanics.
Hands-on experience designing, implementing, and tuning Player 3C's and traversal mechanics.
Experience designing, implementing, and tuning enemy combatants and AI behaviors.
Fluency with Unreal Editor and Blueprint scripting.
Experience collaborating with animators and designing combat around mo-cap performances.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Text-based scripting experience.
Experience directing motion capture.
Extensive knowledge of competing products and a deep understanding of the complex overlap between combat and open world gameplay systems.
Shipped at least one AAA title from inception to finish.
Experience working effectively with globally distributed team members/partners across cultures, borders, languages and time zones.

Responsibilities

Design and tune core combat systems, gunplay, melee, Player 3C's, traversal, and enemy AI behaviors.
Implement and tune features using Unreal Engine Blueprint and Unreal Editor.
Drive animation-forward combat and design around motion capture performances.
Collaborate with animators to balance fidelity, fluidity, and responsiveness.
Represent the combat team and manage features.
Pitch and present designs to leadership.
Manage expectations across stakeholders.