Principal Encounter Designer

About the role

Scopely is seeking a Principal Encounter Designer to join their team for an exciting new free-to-play multiplayer adventure game centered around a renowned intellectual property. In this role, you will be instrumental in crafting engaging player experiences by designing how player interactions, adversaries, and environmental factors converge to create unforgettable encounters. Your work will encompass both meticulously designed and procedurally generated environments, fostering player creativity and choice throughout their journey.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Take ownership of the encounter design vision, ensuring the development of diverse multiplayer gameplay that accommodates various player-driven strategies within a sandbox setting.
• Define the foundational principles that govern the interactions between player actions, enemy behaviors, and environmental elements across both authored and procedural content.
• Collaborate closely with engineers, level designers, and technical artists to create procedural systems and workflows that enable the delivery of high-quality gameplay experiences at scale.
• Work alongside artists and level designers to establish a cohesive visual language that effectively communicates gameplay possibilities across different game worlds.
• Partner with systems designers and product management to define encounter difficulty, diversity, and progression, motivating players to enhance their skills and abilities.
• Lead the design and implementation of unique enemy encounters that challenge players while providing opportunities for creative solutions.
• Conduct extensive playtesting sessions to gather feedback and iterate on designs, ensuring a polished and engaging player experience.
• Mentor junior designers and provide guidance on best practices in encounter design, fostering a culture of learning and innovation within the team.
• Stay updated on industry trends and player preferences to inform design decisions and keep the gameplay fresh and engaging.
• Contribute to the overall game design process by collaborating with various teams to ensure alignment on vision and quality standards.
• Analyze player data and feedback to make informed adjustments to encounters, enhancing player satisfaction and engagement.
• Advocate for player-centric design principles, ensuring that player agency and enjoyment remain at the forefront of the encounter design process.

Requirements

• Extensive experience in designing encounters and gameplay for third-person action, action-adventure, or multiplayer games, with a proven track record of success.
• Deep understanding of player agency, encounter clarity, and the ability to design for multiple strategies within a sandbox environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in creating procedurally generated gameplay experiences that engage players and encourage exploration.
• Strong intuition for systemic gameplay and emergent play, with a keen understanding of how game mechanics interact to create surprising player experiences.
• Proficiency in presenting gameplay concepts with thematic depth and resonance, ensuring that encounters are not only fun but also meaningful.
• Hands-on implementation skills, with a passion for directly contributing to the development process.
• A design approach that emphasizes playtesting and iterative refinement, ensuring that designs evolve based on player feedback.
• Excellent communication abilities, with a talent for aligning cross-disciplinary teams around shared quality standards and goals.

Nice to have

• Experience in mobile game design, particularly with real-time action titles that require quick reflexes and strategic thinking.
• Familiarity with designing for cross-platform games, ensuring a seamless experience across various devices.
• A history of creating gameplay experiences that resonate with a wide audience, appealing to diverse player demographics.
• Experience in delivering emergent gameplay through physics systems, adding depth and unpredictability to encounters.
• Knowledge of the Unity game engine, enabling effective collaboration with technical teams and enhancing the development process.

Skills & tools

• Expertise in encounter and combat design, focusing on creating engaging and challenging player experiences.
• Proficiency in procedural content generation, allowing for dynamic and varied gameplay environments.
• Strong background in third-person action and multiplayer game design, with a focus on player engagement and enjoyment.
• Ability to collaborate across disciplines, fostering teamwork and innovation in the design process.
• Familiarity with playtesting and iterative design methodologies, ensuring that player feedback informs development.

Practical notes

• The annual salary range for positions in CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA is between $144,200 and $215,000 USD.
• Additional compensation may include equity options and performance-based bonuses.
• Benefits offered include comprehensive healthcare, retirement plans, pet insurance, paid holidays, Scopely free days, and unlimited paid time off.
• Base salary may vary based on relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.
• Candidates are encouraged to apply through official channels and verify that recruiter emails end with @scopely.com.