Sr Game Designer

Haven Studios; Montreal (administrative region); Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Haven Studios in Montreal is seeking a Senior Game Designer to own progression systems, player lifecycle, and in-game economies for a live service title.

You will translate creative vision into structured progression loops and economy models, working with a cross-functional team to ensure rewards, monetization, and balance feel fair and engaging for years of gameplay. Hybrid work environment with collaboration across disciplines in a growing studio.

Qualifications

• Experience in AAA live service design with ownership of economy or progression loops.
• Strong mathematical and analytical approach with emphasis on structured documentation.
• Deep understanding of monetization, virtual currencies, rewards pacing and incentives.

Responsibilities

• Design, model, and maintain progression frameworks, monetization loops, and virtual economies for a live service title.
• Translate high-level goals into precise system specifications and data-driven models.
• Balance rewards, XP curves, drop rates, sink/source mechanics, and overall economy to avoid inflation and bottlenecks.
• Integrate progression, monetization, and social layers within a multiplayer ecosystem across PvE and PvP features.
• Collaborate with Directors, Producers, Data Analysts, and Engineers to ensure feasibility and telemetry readiness.
• Adapt systems post-launch based on player metrics and market trends.

Skills

AAA Live Service Background

Structured Thinking

Economic Mastery

Engine Proficiency (Unreal Engine)

Data-Informed Approach

Clear Documentation

Tools

Unreal Engine

Python

Machinations

Job description

Position - Sr Game Designer (Progression & Economy)

Haven Studios is a game development studio headquartered in Montreal. In May 2021, we embarked on a journey to start Haven as a small team with big ambitions. Our goal was to build a studio of exceptional people where together we could make the kind of games we’ve always wanted to create – games we’ve longed to play. At Haven, we believe that kindness, adaptability and fearless optimism make space for creative excellence. We are a hybrid studio that supports flexibility, focus and collaboration for our teams.

Haven joined the PlayStation Studios family as the first Sony game development team in Canada in 2022. Our first game is in development for PlayStation and PC, a competitive multiplayer action heist game with a vision to entertain and engage players for years to come.

Position

We are looking for an experienced Senior Game Designer with a highly structured, analytical mindset to own the progression systems, player lifecycle, and economic health of our upcoming live service title. In this role, you will design the frameworks that keep players engaged for years, translating high-level creative vision into mathematically sound, highly structured progression loops and economy systems. You will operate within a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment, ensuring that player investment, rewards, and monetization strategies feel cohesive, fair, and deeply engaging.

Reporting Line

The Senior Game Designer will report to the Project Lead-Game Design

Role and Responsibilities

• System Architecture: Design, model, and maintain complex player progression frameworks, monetization loops, and virtual economies that support long-term player retention and engagement in a live service environment.
• Structured System Design: Translate abstract player experience goals into precise structural maps, detailed spreadsheets, data tables, and algorithmic logic models.
• Balancing & Tuning: Own the balancing, pacing, and tuning of player rewards, XP curves, drop rates, sink/source mechanics, and overall game economy to eliminate inflation or progression bottlenecks.
• Live Service Integration: Coherently integrate progression, monetization, and social layers within a multiplayer AAA ecosystem, aligning features across both PvE and PvP dimensions.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Act as the primary point of contact for progression and economy systems, working closely with Directors, Producers, Data Analysts, and Engineers to ensure structural feasibility and data telemetry readiness.
• Lifecycle Optimization: Adapt and optimize systems post-launch based on player metrics, behavior patterns, and shifting market trends while maintaining structural balance with new content releases.

Required Experience and Skills

• AAA Live Service Background: Extensive experience in systems or progression design with at least one shipped AAA multiplayer live service title where you owned or significantly contributed to the game's economy or progression loops.
• Structured Thinking: A proven, highly methodical approach to design. You rely on strong mathematical logic, complex spreadsheets, and structural documentation over guesswork.
• Economic Mastery: Deep understanding of macro and micro-economy principles in modern gaming, including monetization strategies, virtual currencies, reward pacing, and incentive loops.
• Engine Proficiency: Strong ability to work directly within the Unreal Engine editor to hook up data structures, configure data tables, and test progression parameter changes locally.
• Data-Informed Approach: Strong competence in interpreting live telemetry, player cohorts, A/B testing data, and macroeconomic analytics to guide balance adjustments and systems optimization.
• Clear Documentation: Exceptional ability to distill complex, multi-layered economic dependencies into clear, highly readable system specifications for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Assets

• System Modeling Tools: Experience using economy simulation software or advanced mathematical scripting (e.g., Python, Machinations, or specialized spreadsheet modeling) to stress-test systems before implementation.
• Dual Discipline Background: Prior design experience crossing into complementary fields such as Level Design, Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, or UX Design.

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