Join Our Team
Principal Combat Designer
Founded in 1996, Aspyr Media, Inc. got its start in Austin, TX by bringing the biggest PC gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, Sid Meier’s Civilization and Star Wars to Mac. Today, Aspyr is a video game publishing and development partner focused on maximizing the potential of games. We find the world's best games and connect them to new audiences, on all platforms.
Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Lead Designer, the Principal Combat Designer is responsible ensuring
the combat and related gameplay have a best-in-class feel while maintaining
accessibility and depth. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in combat
feel, AI behaviors, ability balance, as well as presentation and controls.
Essential Functions:
- Design, document, and iterate upon combat systems and gameplay loops.
- Design, maintain, and balance Player and NPC Abilities.
- Creation and maintenance of AI Behavior Trees and related scripting.
- Combat Encounter composition and balance.
- Work closely with Engineers to create the back-end systems and tools necessary to drive engaging combat experiences.
- Own the combat experience; participate in playtests and adapt to feedback throughout development.
- Collaborate and communicate with Engineers, Systems Designers, Level Designers, Character Artists, Animators, and VFX Artists.
Preferred Qualifications:
- At least 1 shipped title in a Senior-to-Lead Combat Design Role
- Extensive knowledge of AI Behaviors and scripting
- Experience with balancing Player and NPC Combat Actions and abilities
- Knowledge of current industry trends with regards to combat and gameplay
- Strong problem-solving and time-management skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to work collaboratively and adapt to feedback, design, and scope changes throughout development
- Experience with Unreal Engine
- Experience with scripting languages (C++, C#, Lua, etc)
- Strong technical writing and documentation skills
- The ability to explain complex topics to non-technical teammates
- Understanding of cinematography, UI, and other concepts that relate to how combat is presented to the Player
- Love of role-playing games and a grasp on the relationships between combat and other gameplay systems to enable Players to solve problems multiple ways
Aspyr is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Aspyr are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Aspyr will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Aspyr encourages applicants of all ages.