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End Game Design Lead

END GAME DESIGN LEAD

Who We Are:

Hello! We’re starting up a new team here at 2K to – surprise! – make a video game. We are a small, scrappy group with a ton of ambition AND the resources to see it realized. That’s pretty rare these days. Think of us like a well-funded startup but without all the gross tech culture trappings. This is an opportunity to join an incredible project on the ground floor.

We’re hard at work creating a supportive and inclusive culture. Here’s what’s important to us:

Honesty. We do our best to tell it like it is. No information hoarding. No passive-aggressive manipulation. We care about keeping the lines of communication open and uncluttered.

Diversity. Games are better when they are created by people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Accessibility matters to us – and this isn’t just about mechanics. All players should be able to relate to the experience we’re creating. And we can’t be more accessible if we’re not actively trying to increase representation on the team and in our game.

Collaboration. So this is on every job posting ever and then the experience is totally the opposite. We’re going to do our best to mean what we say. We’re not sticking people into discipline silos. You’ll probably be working in a pod – collaborating (see!) with people from diverse disciplines and backgrounds.

Opportunity. We believe that people good at what they do shouldn’t be promoted out of their discipline. They should be recognized and rewarded for their talents, not prevented from doing what they excel at. As a result, we’ve instituted a Principal track. You can continue being amazing at what you do without feeling like you’ve hit a dead end or missed out.

Your Well-Being. Work-life balance is important to us and assume it’s important to you. We’re going to do our best to avoid a lot of the traditional pitfalls that lead to crunch. We’re not into negative reinforcement or creating a culture of fear.

What We Need:

Our formula for success is Fantastic World + Incredible Story = Fanatical Fans.

In the game we’re making, the story itself will come to a conclusion. The world, by contrast, is something we are designing to be alive and engaging past the main narrative arc. To leverage this, we want to build a post-narrative set of systems, quests and player progression that gives our fanatic fangirls and fanboys more content to experience on an ongoing, live-services basis. We need a senior game designer with strong ideas and communication skills who can own the endgame design for this title. What cool tasks are our players digging into as they keep playing?What short, medium and long-term goals are they focused on? What kind of player skill progression and loot are keeping people attached to gameplay? We need someone to start answering these questions.

What You Will Do:

You care about being a member of a harmonious, yet critically minded and quality-driven team of game design experts. You’re excited by new ideas, experimentation and in unlocking the creativity of the team. You will work with the Design Director and Lead Designer to define the parameters of the endgame scenario and communicate/direct members of our hands-on design team as they build endgame systems and content.

Who We Think Will Be a Great Fit:

You have a passion for player-driven systems and simulation but also love a killer narrative and action spectacle. You love noodling on gameplay loops, from combat to player progression systems to AI behavior. You’re inspired by games that value emergent experiences and that empower the player to experiment and innovate in a sandbox world.

You have shipped at least one triple-A title with end-game style content as a senior or principal designer. You have a sophisticated understanding of current trends in first-person action game design, the ability to articulate a vision for the evolution of same, and, know what it takes to execute an idea from concept to ship. Experience in live services content is a huge plus, here.

Also, we’re looking for someone who knows, loves, and plays games and cares deeply about pushing the medium forward

If you see yourself in the description above, are inspired by the culture we are creating, and meet the criteria below, then we want to meet you!

• 5+ years experience in multiplayer design for PC or console games at a Senior level
• Extensive experience hands-on developing progression and engagement systems
• Strong understanding of technical design and game mechanics
• Excellent communication, organizational and mentoring skills

#LI-2K