Principal Combat Designer

Scopely is looking for a top-performing Principal Combat Designer to join us in a remote or hybrid basis (Culver City) for an exciting unannounced project in development.

Join a team that is early in its journey to build a new F2P Open World Adventure title with World Class IP. You'll shape the vision for our combat, leveraging your expertise in the 3Cs (camera, character, controls) and enemy AI to deliver gameplay that is approachable, creative, and endlessly replayable.

At Scopely, we care deeply about what we do and want to inspire play, every day - whether in our work environments alongside our talented colleagues or through our deep connections with our communities of players. We are a global team of game lovers who are developing, publishing, and innovating the mobile games industry, connecting millions of people around the world daily.

What You Will Do 

• Own both our player and enemy combat systems, including weapons and abilities.
• Define our core AI systems to support a wide variety of dynamic and challenging encounters.
• Champion combat's role in the broader sandbox, partnering with other gameplay, content, and level designers to foster player creativity and emergent play.
• Ensure combat appeals to a broad audience while still delivering deep engagement and replayability.
• Collaborate across disciplines (animation, art, audio, VFX, engineering, UI/UX) to deliver responsive, readable, and impactful gameplay.
• Shape combat's progression and personalization systems so they enhance gameplay and support our live-service.

What We're Looking For

• Extensive combat design experience, with multiple shipped titles showcasing your craft.
• Proven success balancing and evolving combat systems in live-service.
• Passion for developing action sandboxes that prioritize player expression and creativity.
• Experience defining core AI systems to support a wide variety of engaging enemies.
• Deep understanding of camera and control paradigms for third-person action.
• Fluency in how animation, audio, and effects shape the feel of combat.
• Strong thematic sense, able to wrap mechanics in evocative, resonant presentation.
• Hands-on implementation ability with enthusiasm for building gameplay directly.
• Systemic and goal-driven design process, with a focus on developing and validating gameplay through playtesting and iteration.
• Clear communicator and culture leader.

Bonus Points

• Mobile design background, especially on mobile games with real-time action.
• Familiarity with designing for cross-platform games.
• History of building gameplay to appeal to a broad audience.
• Unity game engine knowledge, especially its AI, animation, and gameplay systems.
• Expertise in leading inter-disciplinary pods and mentoring or directing other designers. 

For candidates in CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA, the annual salary range is provided below. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for equity, bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare benefits, retirement benefits, pet insurance, paid holidays, paid Scopely free days, and unlimited paid time off. Base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA Annual Salary Range

$169,600 - $253,000 USD

About Us

Scopely is a global interactive entertainment and mobile-first video game company, home to many top, award-winning experiences such as "MONOPOLY GO," "Star Trek Fleet Command," "Stumble Guys," "MARVEL Strike Force," and "Yahtzee With Buddies," among others.
 
Scopely creates, publishes, and live-operates immersive games that empower a directed-by-consumer experience across multiple platforms--from mobile, web, PC and beyond.
 
Founded in 2011, Scopely is fueled by a world-class team and a proprietary technology platform Playgami that supports one of the most diversified portfolios in the games industry.

Recognized multiple times as one of Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies," Scopely is a multi-billion-dollar business due to its ability to create long-lasting game experiences that players enjoy for years.

Scopely has global operations in more than a dozen markets across Asia, EMEA, and North America, and is home to many internal game development teams, referred to as Scopely Studios, with additional game studio partners across four continents.

Scopely was acquired by Savvy Games Group in July 2023 for $4.9 billion, and is now an independent subsidiary of Savvy.

For more information on Scopely, visit:

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