Combat Designer (Gameplay)

2K; Montreal (administrative region); On-site; CAD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloud Chamber is seeking a Combat Designer to shape the combat gameplay and immersive sandbox world of BioShock. You will collaborate with designers to implement combat content that enables player expression within a reactive world.

You will work across design, art, engineering, animation, and audio, upholding high standards and evolving pipelines to deliver engaging experiences. Quebec candidates should be proficient in both French and English.

Qualifications

• Experience designing combat gameplay for an FPS sandbox world.
• Strong understanding of game mechanics and AI NPC design.
• Experience with game development pipelines, standards, and workflows.

Responsibilities

• Partner with designers to implement combat gameplay content in an immersive sandbox world.
• Maintain best practices and support workflows for deliverability of game content.
• Participate in cross-pollination of ideas among content creators.
• Help build and refine combat systems development and the gameplay framework for encounters.
• Collaborate with other developers to build an FPS combat paradigm that supports player expression.
• Be curious and design encounters leveraging player ingenuity.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5

AI NPC design

Behavior trees

Game mechanics

Collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine 5

Job description

Overview

As a Combat Designer at Cloud Chamber, you will join our talented development team to help shape the combat gameplay and immersive sandbox world of BioShock. In this role, you’ll collaborate with a passionate group of game developers to craft experimental gameplay experiences that support player expression and ingenuity—bringing the richly imagined world of BioShock to life.

Responsibilities

• Partner with and support a team of designers to implement combat gameplay content in an immersive sandbox world.
• Maintain best practices and support the workflows conducive to consistency and deliverability of game content within the team.
• Participate in the cross-pollination of ideas and sharing of knowledge amongst content creators.
• Help build and refine the combat systems development and the gameplay framework for encounters.
• Collaborate with other developers to help build an FPS combat paradigm that is accessible, satisfying, and allows for a high degree of player expression and experimentation within a highly reactive world.
• Be curious and get creative: look beyond direct conflict, accommodate various playstyles and design encounters that can be resolved through player ingenuity.

What We’ll Do Together

At Cloud Chamber, we are champions of high standards, pushing for progress and embracing change. We will work closely and constructively across design, art, engineering, animation, and audio teams to realize our creative ambitions. Together, we will stay current on technological advancements and identify solutions to overcome developmental obstacles. We strive to make BioShock games that move people: evocative, immersive, and meaningful experiences that stay with you long after the credits roll.

Skills & Experiences

• Knowledge of current game trends in technology.
• Experience working with a variety of established game toolsets.
• Understanding of game mechanics, combat systems, and AI NPC design.
• Familiarity with game development tools, and experience with pipelines, standards, and workflows.
• Experience working in a collaborative environment with cross-disciplinary groups.
• Solid presentation skills.
• Current knowledge of gaming industry development landscape, technology and tools.
• Understanding of how AI, tactical space, and player verbs combine to create magic in both scripted and unscripted settings.
• Knowledge of behavior trees in Unreal Engine 5.
• Knowledge of industry standard AI, progression systems, and player mechanics features.

Who You Are

• A reliable, positive force multiplier, actively seeking opportunities to integrate work across disciplines and contribute to a healthy, supportive team environment.
• A solid communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly, package information for diverse audiences, and deliver difficult feedback with empathy and professionalism.
• A persistent and self-motivated person with a proactive mindset.
• Able to maintain effectiveness and quality under pressure, ambiguity, and fast-changing priorities.
• An active listener able to build and maintain trust-based relationships across all levels of the organization, understand differing perspectives, and navigate organizational complexity with tact and emotional intelligence.
• Highly open to feedback and direction, possessing a desire to learn new skills, and capable of producing quick, quality revisions based on new insights or constraints.
• A strong owner of your tasks, who strives to drive their work forward autonomously while maintaining a critical eye for detail and organization, ensuring high standards of quality.
• Dedicated to upholding Cloud Chamber’s core values, contributing to a positive and respectful company culture while striving for excellence in all endeavors.

Who We Are

At Cloud Chamber we strive to make BioShock games that move people: evocative, immersive, and meaningful experiences that stay with you long after you’ve rolled credits. Great games are born from great collaborations, supported by a culture that brings out the best in our teams. We work openly, learn through play, take ownership, push ourselves to be better, and deliver for our players.

For candidates located in Quebec: This position requires professional proficiency in both French and English. Proficiency in English is required to collaborate with our U.S. teams and international partners, as well as to handle specialized technical documentation (reading, writing, and communication).

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform their essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation.

Please note that 2K Games and its studios never use instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews. When emailing prospective employees, we only use 2K.com accounts.