Senior Gameplay Engineer

Jagex; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare with dental plan

Discretionary annual performance bonus

6% pension contributions

Life insurance

Enhanced family leave from day 1

Flexible working hours

25 days annual leave + bank holidays (

Buy/sell holidays

Job summary

Jagex, The RuneScape Company, is hiring a Senior Gameplay Engineer in Cambridge with flexible working options, including predominantly remote work and onsite attendance as required.

You will own UE5 C++ gameplay features, implement GAS-based abilities, and build scalable networked systems while collaborating with designers to iterate quickly. The role emphasizes performance, debugging, and delivering at scale within a sizeable team.

Qualifications

• Strong Unreal Engine (UE5) gameplay programming experience in C++, with Blueprint familiarity for collaboration and iteration.
• Strong multiplayer networking knowledge in Unreal: replication, RPCs, the authority model, relevancy and dormancy, prediction concepts, and client and server debugging.
• Proven ability to work directly with designers to iterate quickly while keeping implementations scalable and maintainable.
• Experience building and maintaining gameplay systems such as player abilities, combat, progression, items and UI-facing gameplay hooks, with practical GAS experience and a background shipping and supporting live multiplayer games a strong advantage.
• Solid debugging and performance awareness, including profiling gameplay code and diagnosing desyncs and edge cases.
• Strong code quality habits across testing, code reviews, documentation and refactoring, and demonstrable experience delivering at scale on sizeable teams.
• Permanent right to work in the UK, with no requirement for visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Own and implement gameplay features in UE5 C++ and Blueprint, using GAS for abilities, attributes, effects, cues and tags, taking an area from prototype to shipped so there is one person accountable for how it plays.
• Design and maintain reusable gameplay frameworks and components aligned with GAS-first patterns, giving designers room to iterate quickly without a programmer in the loop for every change.
• Build networked gameplay that replicates correctly and feels responsive, working with prediction, authority, RPCs and relevancy, because the networking model decides whether gameplay feels good or feels broken.
• Collaborate with designers to iterate on combat, abilities and systems, protecting technical integrity while still landing the version that plays best.
• Debug gameplay issues across client and server, from desyncs and edge cases to live repros, keeping the game stable while the team ships at pace.
• Profile and optimise gameplay code against performance and bandwidth targets so systems hold up as the game and its player counts scale.

Skills

Unreal Engine gameplay

C++

Blueprint scripting

Multiplayer networking

GAS (Gameplay Ability System)

Design collaboration

Profiling & debugging

Code quality & reviews

UK work eligibility

Tools

Unreal Engine

Blueprint

Profiling tools

Job description

Salary: £26,000 - 66,000 per year

Requirements:

• Strong Unreal Engine (UE5) gameplay programming experience in C++, with Blueprint familiarity for collaboration and iteration.
• Strong multiplayer networking knowledge in Unreal: replication, RPCs, the authority model, relevancy and dormancy, prediction concepts, and client and server debugging.
• Proven ability to work directly with designers to iterate quickly while keeping implementations scalable and maintainable.
• Experience building and maintaining gameplay systems such as player abilities, combat, progression, items and UI-facing gameplay hooks, with practical Gameplay Ability System experience and a background shipping and supporting live multiplayer games a strong advantage.
• Solid debugging and performance awareness, including profiling gameplay code and diagnosing desyncs and edge cases.
• Strong code quality habits across testing, code reviews, documentation and refactoring, and demonstrable experience delivering at scale on sizeable teams.
• Permanent right to work in the UK, with no requirement for visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities:

• Own and implement gameplay features in UE5 C++ and Blueprint, using GAS for abilities, attributes, effects, cues and tags, taking an area from prototype to shipped so there is one person accountable for how it plays.
• Design and maintain reusable gameplay frameworks and components aligned with GAS-first patterns, giving designers room to iterate quickly without a programmer in the loop for every change.
• Build networked gameplay that replicates correctly and feels responsive, working with prediction, authority, RPCs and relevancy, because the networking model decides whether gameplay feels good or feels broken.
• Collaborate with designers to iterate on combat, abilities and systems, protecting technical integrity while still landing the version that plays best.
• Debug gameplay issues across client and server, from desyncs and edge cases to live repros, keeping the game stable while the team ships at pace.
• Profile and optimise gameplay code against performance and bandwidth targets so systems hold up as the game and its player counts scale.

Technologies:

• Unreal
• UX UI Design
• GameDev
• Support
• Mobile

More:

We are Jagex, The RuneScape Company, headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. We create deep, community-powered games and are expanding RuneScape into a broader ecosystem of forever games and connected experiences, including RuneScape: Dragonwilds. This Senior Gameplay Engineer role is based in Cambridge with flexible working options, including predominantly remote work, and onsite attendance as required. We offer a generous perks and benefits package including private healthcare with dental plan, discretionary annual performance bonus, minimum 6% pension contributions, life insurance, enhanced family leave from day 1, flexible working hours, and 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays with the option to buy and sell holidays. We are committed to equal opportunities, inclusion and accessibility, and we foster a workplace built on trust, autonomy, and a shared passion for creating experiences that inspire our communities.

last updated 36 week of 2026