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Narrative Director

Crystal Dynamics, a part of the Square-Enix family, is constantly on the hunt for top-tier gaming talent worldwide. We pride ourselves on attracting and developing the best talent available to concept, create, and contribute to the most exciting projects in gaming today. 20+ years of history creating fun and exciting titles for the world to enjoy as well as our studio’s 1000+ years of combined game industry experience provides a rich tapestry of tested and new ideas to draw from and has established us as one of the best studios in the world to work for.

Position Summary

The Narrative Director will be tasked with the direction of the game’s cinematic and gameplay experiences. They are expert in collaborating across design and narrative disciplines to make memorable, emotional, and cinematic experiences. The Narrative Director will work in partnership with the Game Director and Art Director, to create the narrative tone of the project. They will work cross-discipline with other writers, designers, and artists to develop a high-quality narrative AAA gameplay experience.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Take responsibility of the game narrative and shepherd its implementation across the entire development process;
• Ensure the consistency of the game’s narrative voice and execution on creative vision throughout production, from initial concept and foundational development, character development, important narrative milestones, through to final polish.
• Collaborate with the Game Director to understand the game direction and effectively convey it through the game narrative;
• Design and write the overall game narrative, in collaboration with a team of writers;
• Create an emotional gameplay experience that remains consistent to the game’s creative vision.
• Collaborate with and lead other game writers and narrative designers to design, develop, and implement narrative gameplay elements.
• Work with the game design team to develop gameplay features that will support and convey the story;
• Understand the flow of the narrative and adjust gameplay elements accordingly.
• Manage a team of internal and contract game writers;
• Write and edit across all levels of the project, including concept pitches, style guides, cinematic scripts, in-game dialogue, and public facing copy;
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

• 10+ years of experience on highly-rated, cinematic AAA games;
• Previous experience as a Narrative Director on an AAA game;
• Significant experience with fiction writing;
• Significant experience with game design;
• Perfect knowledge of spoken and written English;
• Strong technical skills and extensive film knowledge;
• Strong knowledge of competitor landscape;
• Understanding of best practices for creating high quality narrative gameplay experiences;
• Excellent organizational and project management skills;
• Maintains reliable data integrity;
• Maintains and displays a “can do” attitude;
• Strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills;
• Ability to multi-task and understand directions and priorities;
• Must be ethical and maintain confidentiality;
• Self-motivated and ambitious;
• Must be able to work under limited supervision ;
• Strong ability to collaborate and influence across multiple disciplines;
• Demonstrable leadership abilities;
• Excellent creative mind;
• Open-mindedness and ability to create consensus;
• Good communication skills;
• Passion for games and ambition to create a Game of the Year title.

Crystal Dynamics is an EOE and M/F/D/V employer.