Lead Multiplayer Designer

Welcome to Striking Distance Studios!

Driven by people. Inspired by challenges. Relentless to deliver creative excellence.

At the intersection of art, design and technology lies Striking Distance Studios. We are a AAA development studio within the San Ramon Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. With the release of our first title, The Callisto Protocol, we are excited to continue to grow our team.

Here at Striking Distance Studios it is amazing people, an immersive experience and a passion for excellence that drives us each day. We are looking for people who push themselves creatively and learn with every new challenge. We give you the setting and the opportunity to do work you are proud of. We’re looking for the best to come join us and become part of a world-class team.

To us excellence is not a skill, but an attitude!

What we are looking for:

We are seeking a talented and experienced Multiplayer Designer to lead the online mode of one of our exciting new games in development. As a Lead MP Designer, you will be charged with shepherding the multiplayer aspects of the title from prototype through release and beyond. There is a strong preference for this role to be onsite in our San Ramon studio.

Responsibilities:

• Own the design of the entire game mode and continually refine it to deliver top quality gameplay
• Develop goals, standards, and procedures for the multiplayer team
• Collaborate with the Creative Director to develop and refine the creative direction and turn ideas into functional designs
• Instrumental in building a multiplayer design team and defining goals
• Conceptualize, pitch and iterate on design concepts and mechanics with the multiplayer team
• Execute designs and concepts using in-house tools
• Utilize user feedback and other data to iterate the game mechanics/systems to continually improve the experience for our players
• Lead and manage a design team as well as collaborate with other artists and engineers
• Create Gameplay: Generate, prioritize, and decompose gameplay ideas; Define and validate prototypes against the vision of the game; Design, document, test, and balance features and systems in cooperation with inter-disciplinary specialists
• Maintain Documentation: Decompose complex ideas into succinct, communicable design; Assess risks as they relate to design requirements / constraints in cooperation with inter-disciplinary specialists; Cooperate with QA to produce robust test cases
• Enable Progress: Contribute to the estimation, planning, and prioritization of tasks; Identify and communicate risks and issues
• Inspire and energize the team, utilizing pillars, research, and references to lead them towards creative success
• Guide and support the multiplayer team, defining the methods and strategies appropriate to the project and championing them

Qualifications:

• A minimum of 7 years of experience designing multiplayer games
• A minimum of 2 years of experience at the Lead Designer level or above
• Experience shipping multiple AAA titles
• Ability to decompose design goals into succinct implementation requirements
• Experience developing multi-player / live-service games
• Experience developing with Unreal Engine
• Practical experience using a variety of modern game engines and tools
• Maintains an exceptionally deep knowledge of competitive products and trends
• A demonstrable love / passion for playing and making video games
• A highly communicative and collaborative disposition

Bonus Points:

• Over 4 years of Lead experience
• 10 years of overall game design experience
• Experience with UE5 online development
• Experience in related fields / disciplines (eg world design, UI, UX, QA)

In California, the expected salary range for this position is $150,000-$185,000. The listed expected salary range represents a good faith estimate and the actual pay may depend on a variety of job-related factors that can include experience, education, skills, and location.

Striking Distance Studios provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Due to recent scams, our recruiters will only reach out to you via @sds.com, @krafton.com or @pubg.com. If you received an email and are unsure you can always email recruiting@sds.com .