As a Game Designer, you will design and optimize the player experience. Your analytical skills, player insight, and creativity help craft in- and out-of-game experiences that engage and surprise players. You will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and work with every tool at hand to create innovative, player-focused designs that’ll delight millions around the world.  Working on an early stage product, you will help decipher one of Riot’s next big bets. 

As a Principal Game Designer specializing in core gameplay on the R&D team, you excel in designing Mechanics and Systems for first-person combat experiences. You partner with other designers, artists, and engineers to create and iterate on a variety of PvP features ranging from player movement, abilities, weapons, to hit reaction systems. All of these features contribute to a combat experience which is deep, compelling, and always feels great to play. You will report to the Design Manager on the team.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain a holistic vision for combat that is deep, engaging, and supportive of the game’s other systems.
• Oversee multiple cross disciplinary teams to ensure they build systems and mechanics that achieve product goals.
• Create and provide multiple potential designs and solutions. Articulate trade-offs and risks between different options.
• Playtest the game and help push for continued improvements for existing designs and fresh prototypes.
• Seek opportunities for new design spaces in collaboration with Product Managers and Design Leadership.

Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in professional Game Design
• 3+ years of experience in either Combat Mechanics or Combat Feel - FPS Specialization
• You have demonstrated proficiency in scripting in at least one engine in a shipped title
• Shipped or worked on at least one AAA+ online game
• Can create complex mechanics and systems with attention to the player impacts and downstream effects

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working on a live product

For this role, you’ll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players’ experiences, this is the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out ourbenefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by theSummoner’s Code andCommunity Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value ofthriving together and our ongoing work to build themost inclusive company in Gaming.

(Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $176,400 USD - $245,700 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant’s criminal history.