As a Game Designer, you will design, tweak, and optimize the player experience. Your analytical skills, player insight, and creativity aid in crafting 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 innovate and iterate player-focused designs that’ll delight millions around the world.

VALORANT is Riot’s take on a character-based tactical shooter (for more info on VALORANT click here!). As a Game Designer III working on the Competitive Systems team, you will design and deliver world class competitive and ranked systems. You will apply your deep understanding of what motivates competitive players as well as your understanding of how to craft systems with competitive integrity that are satisfying to compete in. You will be responsible for designing features for competitive players across different platforms, and keeping them balanced for their unique audiences once they’re live. You will report to the Lead Metasystems Designer.

Responsibilities:

• Design Competitive and Ranked Systems that value players’ continued investment in VALORANT.
• Design and support matchmaking services to ensure players compete in fair matches.
• Work with other disciplines to take content and features from conception to our players’ hands.
• Seek opportunities for new design spaces in collaboration with Product Managers and Design Leadership. 
• Create and provide potential designs and solutions with clearly articulated trade-offs and risks between different options with a clear understanding of content and product level goals.
• Playtest VALORANT and help push for continued improvements for existing designs and fresh prototypes.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in professional Game Design
• Shipped or worked on at least one AAA+ online competitive game
• Can create and improve complex systems with attention to the player impacts and downstream effects
• Proven ability to articulate decision-making frameworks with other designers and team members
• Proven ability to think about and deliver solutions for abstract, big-picture problems and strategy.
• Basic familiarity with the psychology and sociology of online behavior and communities.
• Able to effectively influence positive player outcomes by leveraging insights, strategy, and storytelling to get complex work accomplished across a diverse set of partners.

Desired Qualifications:

• Deep level of understanding, passion, and engagement with online competitive games.
• Experience developing online matchmaking or ranked systems.
• Familiarity with online shooters, especially VALORANT and/or tactical shooters
• Views potential ’charged’ player feedback as an opportunity to better understand and improve the product. 
• Experience balancing competitive integrity with satisfying game feel.
• Experience developing on multiple platforms, such as PC, Mobile, and Console.
• Passion for and engagement with online competitive games and game communities, especially Riot games.

For this role, you’ll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be 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 our benefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner’s Code and Community 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 of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

(Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $140,100 USD - $195,700 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

(Bellevue Only) Base salary range between $140,100 USD - $195,700 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.