Senior Combat Designer - Freelance

CI Games Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 92,000 - 166,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Job summary

CI Games in London, England, seeks a Senior Combat Designer for a 5-month freelance contract with immediate start. You will craft combat systems, design enemy archetypes, and align gameplay with RPG progression while collaborating across departments to ship polished features.

You will prototype and balance combat, implement behaviours in Unreal, and deliver clear design documentation under pressure for upcoming AAA releases.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of Game Design experience.
• Demonstrable prior experience as a Combat Designer for several years or in a comparable role.
• A deep passion for and expertise in the Soulslike genre.
• Preferably have shipped at least 1 AAA title in a design capacity.
• Excellent knowledge of gameplay mechanics, features, and what makes modern games work.
• Familiarity with Unreal Engine and experience with the creation of Blueprints.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills are essential for this role.
• An open and creative mind with the ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Develop our approach to combat by building upon and refining the project's core systems.
• Pitch, prototype, implement, balance, and ship a wide variety of enemy archetypes and/or bosses.
• Tune the combat experience at the micro level: animation lengths, I-frames, Hit boxes, and frame-data polish.
• Collaborate to structure enemy behaviour in conjunction with overarching RPG mechanics and game progression, including weapon levelling, stats, and character builds.
• Implement character combat behaviours using Unreal features such as Behaviour Trees, Animation Graphs, and Blueprints.
• Provide Gameplay Programmers with comprehensive technical requirements and collaborate to achieve the desired feature implementation.
• Build basic combat level setups to communicate design intent to Level Design, Art, and Production departments.
• Address bugs and gameplay issues to ensure a stable, polished product through to shipping.
• Work with other departments (Character Art, Animation, VFX, Audio, etc.) to ship characters with state-of-the-art levels of polish.
• Create clear, concise, and visually oriented design material explaining mechanics, features, and systems.
• Help assess project progress and quality by utilizing results from usability, focus, and in-house playtests.
• Provide constructive feedback and propose solutions to improve the quality of the current project or future titles.

Skills

Combat design

Soulslike

Unreal Engine

Blueprints

AAA title experience

Communication

Project planning

Team collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine

Blueprints

Job description

Join CI Games and be part of shaping the future of gaming. As we embark on an ambitious strategic roadmap with major releases planned for 2026-2028, we're seeking a talented and dedicated Senior Combat Designer to help us create ground-breaking experiences that captivate players worldwide.

Key Responsibilities:

Combat Systems & Enemy Design

Develop our approach to combat by building upon and refining the project's core systems.

Pitch, prototype, implement, balance, and ship a wide variety of enemy archetypes and/or bosses.

Tune the combat experience at the micro level: animation lengths, I-frames, Hit boxes, and frame-data polish.

Collaborate to structure enemy behaviour in conjunction with overarching RPG mechanics and game progression, including weapon levelling, stats, and character builds.

Technical Implementation & Oversight

Implement character combat behaviours using Unreal features such as Behaviour Trees, Animation Graphs, and Blueprints.

Provide Gameplay Programmers with comprehensive technical requirements and collaborate to achieve the desired feature implementation.

Build basic combat level setups to communicate design intent to Level Design, Art, and Production departments.

Address bugs and gameplay issues to ensure a stable, polished product through to shipping.

Work with other departments (Character Art, Animation, VFX, Audio, etc.) to ship characters with state-of-the-art levels of polish.

Create clear, concise, and visually oriented design material explaining mechanics, features, and systems.

Help assess project progress and quality by utilizing results from usability, focus, and in-house playtests.

Provide constructive feedback and propose solutions to improve the quality of the current project or future titles.

Key Requirements:

5+ years of Game Design experience.

Demonstrable prior experience as a Combat Designer for several years or in a comparable role.

A deep passion for and expertise in the Soulslike genre.

Preferably have shipped at least 1 AAA title in a design capacity.

Excellent knowledge of gameplay mechanics, features, and what makes modern games work.

Familiarity with Unreal Engine and experience with the creation of Blueprints.

Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills are essential for this role.

An open and creative mind with the ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines.

What we offer:

5 months freelance contract with immediate start.

Remote work with flexible schedules (core working hours 10am-4pm CET), allowing you to work alongside talented individuals from around the world.

An opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and stay at the forefront of the gaming industry.

A diverse and inclusive workplace that celebrates all backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or social status.

Senior Combat Designer - Freelance • London, England, United Kingdom