Senior Combat Designer - VR

Project: Other
Department: GAMES - DESIGN
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA / REMOTE

People make games great. And at Survios, we know we can’t grow from an acclaimed VR studio to the world’s premier game developer and publisher without them. That’s why our most valuable investments aren’t in the next-generation technology we use to make our games or the new HQ we’re building in Marina Del Rey, but in creating a hybrid workplace that seeks out talent across the globe, nurtures its people, and encourages fun. A workplace where every team member knows they’re respected and cared for. If you want to join a passionate team of developers driving toward the future of immersive gaming, we’d love to hear from you! Survios currently has an opening for a talented Senior Combat Designer - VR

As a Senior Combat Designer, you will be responsible for leading complex first person combat interactions from initial concept, to prototype, asset integration, tuning and polish in VR. This position will be responsible for overseeing implementing a rapid iteration pipeline with prototyping player and enemy mechanics and systems for first-person games. The ideal candidate will have a thorough knowledge of game design theory and tools pipelines, possess strong leadership skills and production know-how, and have the talent to produce and implement the highest quality work. This is your chance to define a new generation of gaming and entertainment.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the vision and development of exciting and meaningful combat systems.
• Communicate the theory and lead the implementation of how players interact with their environment, weapons and enemies in 1st person games using both blueprints and behavior trees in Unreal Engine 5.
• Clearly communicate high level combat ideas and future plans with the entire team. 
• Mentor design reports to build leaders and subject matter experts.
• Work with the Design Director to build well thought out, flexible design systems.
• Collaborate closely with Art, Animation, Engineering, QA and Audio team leads to create functional, fun, and exciting combat systems that achieve unprecedented and immersive VR gaming experiences.
• Collaborate with designers and engineers on meta-game systems and AI.
• Create thorough, easy to understand combat documentation.
• Spearhead and deliver work on time and on schedule.
• Develop data-gathering methods for game balancing and tuning through focus testing, analytics, and community feedback.

Requirements: 

• At least 1 shipped title as a Senior Combat Designer or Senior Designer working directly on melee combat for VR titles.
• 5+ years of game industry experience designing and implementing players abilities and enemies.
• Must have proven ability to prototype new mechanics.
• Strong methodology and problem solving ability, with a focus on rapid iteration to achieve balance, accessibility, and fun.
• Deep understanding of combat design across multiple genres; how animation, art, gameplay engineering and player input affects feel and player experience.
• Very comfortable working in game editors and understanding engine/game constraints and opportunities.
• Strong understanding of scripting languages such as: Blueprints, Behavior Tree, C++, or Javascript.
• Strong communication skills, with a proven ability to document systems clearly and interface successfully with design and other departments.
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4/5.

Pluses:

• Knowledge of Agile Methodology, JIRA, Perforce, etc.
• Strong, portfolio with current samples of your work.

Base salary range between $110,000 USD - $125,000 USD (Base salary range for applicants located within the United States)

Please note that the compensation information provided is a good faith estimate for this position only and is provided pursuant to the California Salary Transparency in Job Advertisements Law.

Survios takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees. In compliance with the California Law, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.