Senior Game Designer

kinetic-games-careers; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

5% Pension Match

Annual bonus

Weekly team lunches

Hybrid & flextime

Relocation package

EV car scheme

Wellbeing vouchers

Referral scheme

Development budget

Training & career development

Vitality Health Insurance

Aviva life insurance

30 days holiday

Birthday & wellbeing day

Christmas shutdown

Job summary

Kinetic Games in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Game Designer to define and expand content updates for Phasmophobia, turning creative direction into playable features. You will own live-updates and collaborate across disciplines to ensure quality, atmosphere, and technical feasibility.

This hybrid role is based in Southampton with visa sponsorship not available; you will work closely with the Game Director to deliver iterative, engaging multiplayer horror gameplay.

Qualifications

• At least 1 shipped PC or Console game as a credited Game Designer.
• Experience designing multiplayer, co-op, horror, survival, or atmospheric gameplay.
• Excellent communication in a fast-paced, iterative development environment.
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems, balancing, progression, pacing, and player psychology.
• Experience writing and maintaining detailed design documentation.
• A collaborative mindset and confidence across multiple disciplines.
• Phasmophobia knowledge and a passion for horror games.
• Ability to take ownership of features and drive them through iteration and delivery.
• Automatically have the right to work in the UK.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Game Director to develop and expand gameplay features, mechanics, and systems.
• Take ownership of feature design from concept through implementation, iteration, and release.
• Create and maintain clear, detailed, and actionable design documentation for cross-discipline teams.
• Flesh out gameplay systems, mechanics, progression, balancing, UX flows, edge cases, and technical considerations.
• Identify gameplay, scope, UX, and implementation risks early and work proactively with stakeholders to resolve them.
• Collaborate with production to ensure design work aligns with project scope, priorities, and milestone expectations.
• Work closely with programmers to improve designer workflows, tools, and pipelines.
• Confidently use Unity Editor tools to tune gameplay, implement content, and iterate on features hands-on.
• Collaborate with departmental stakeholders to ensure features are achievable within technical and production constraints.
• Gather and interpret internal and community feedback to improve player experience, gameplay readability, and feature quality.
• Play and test new updates regularly to ensure features meet gameplay, usability, and quality expectations.

Skills

Multiplayer game design

Gameplay balancing

Documentation

Communication

Ownership

Unity Editor

Live-service experience

Horror games passion

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Job description

About Kinetic Games

We’re an independent games studio best known for creating Phasmophobia, enjoyed by millions of players worldwide. Our team is passionate, creative, and collaborative and we’re looking for someone equally enthusiastic about games to join our growing team.

We’re a small but fast growing, friendly team that values creativity, openness, and personal growth. Whether you’re helping various departments or talking about your favourite horror game, you’ll be part of a supportive environment where passion and curiosity are celebrated. You’ll be joining a small but ambitious team where your ideas are valued, your growth is supported, and your development truly matters.

About the role:

We are looking for an organised and experienced Senior Game Designer to help define and expand content updates for Phasmophobia. You will work closely with the Game Director to turn creative direction into fully realised gameplay features and systems, taking them from concept through to release.

You will take ownership of gameplay experiences across live updates, helping shape content played by millions of players worldwide. As a senior member of the team, you’ll collaborate closely with art, audio, narrative, production, QA, and programming to ensure features deliver on gameplay quality, atmosphere, and technical feasibility.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, iterative live-service environment and is passionate about multiplayer horror game design.

This role is hybrid based at our office in Southampton. At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Work closely with the Game Director to develop and expand gameplay features, mechanics, and systems.
• Take ownership of feature design from concept through implementation, iteration, and release.
• Create and maintain clear, detailed, and actionable design documentation for cross-discipline teams.
• Flesh out gameplay systems, mechanics, progression, balancing, UX flows, edge cases, and technical considerations.
• Identify gameplay, scope, UX, and implementation risks early and work proactively with stakeholders to resolve them.
• Collaborate with production to ensure design work aligns with project scope, priorities, and milestone expectations.
• Work closely with programmers to improve designer workflows, tools, and pipelines.
• Confidently use Unity Editor tools to tune gameplay, implement content, and iterate on features hands-on.
• Collaborate with departmental stakeholders to ensure features are achievable within technical and production constraints.
• Gather and interpret internal and community feedback to improve player experience, gameplay readability, and feature quality.
• Play and test new updates regularly to ensure features meet gameplay, usability, and quality expectations.

Requirements:

• At least 1 shipped PC or Console game as a credited Game Designer with a strong portfolio.
• Strong experience designing multiplayer, co-op, horror, survival, or atmospheric gameplay systems.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, iterative development environment.
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems, balancing, progression, pacing, and player psychology.
• Experience writing and maintaining detailed design documentation.
• A collaborative mindset and confidence working across multiple disciplines.
• Expert understanding of Phasmophobia and a passion for horror games.
• Ability to take ownership of features and drive them through iteration and delivery.
• Automatically have the right to work in the UK.

Nice To Have:

• Experience working on live-service or regularly updated games.
• Experience working on a VR game.
• Experience using Unity Editor.
• Experience with technical implementation, scripting, or designer tooling workflows.
• Experience using Jira, Confluence, or similar development tools.
• Experience analysing player feedback, telemetry, or gameplay metrics.

Benefits & Perks

Competitive salary

5% Employer Match Pension Scheme

Annual performance bonus + Company performance bonus

Weekly free team lunches – good food, great company!

Regular social events – we love bringing our teams together!

Hybrid & flextime working - because life doesn’t always fit 9–5

Access to Southampton Football Club tickets - subject to availability and sponsor allocation

Relocation package to help you settle in

Electric Vehicle Car Scheme - Get a new car & Save money & the planet

Employee of the Month vouchers

Personal wellbeing allowance

Referral scheme

Training & Development Budget – invest in your growth with courses, conferences & learning resources

Training & career development support

Vitality Health Insurance – includes Vision, Dental & Travel cover

Aviva Life Insurance

30 days holiday, including your birthday and a dedicated wellbeing day

Christmas studio shutdown – enjoy the holidays, on us!