Game Director - Multiplayer Shooter

Sharkmob; Malmö kommun; On-site; SEK 1,100,000 - 1,600,000; Full time

Job summary

Sharkmob, Malmö-based game developer, is seeking an experienced Game Director to shape the gameplay vision for our multiplayer project and lead it through its next development phase. You will collaborate with the Chief Creative Officer, producers, directors, and discipline leads to translate vision into a cohesive, shippable game while balancing creativity with production realities and data.

This hands-on leadership role is on site, requiring you to lead by example, guide teams, and make

Qualifications

• Significant professional game development experience in a senior creative or leadership role.
• Experience shipping at least one multiplayer game with ownership of gameplay or direction.
• Strong ability to balance creative ambition with production realities and data.

Responsibilities

• Define and champion the game’s vision for core loop, gameplay, and meta-game.
• Lead cross-functional teams with producers, directors, and discipline leads.
• Balance PvP, PvE, and PvPvE to create meaningful, fair, and replayable sessions.
• Use analytics and playtests to identify opportunities and improve the game.
• Establish quality bars for combat, game feel, onboarding, and player experience.

Skills

Senior leadership

Multiplayer experience

Systems design

English communication

Decision making under constraints

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

About Sharkmob

Sharkmob is a Malmö, Sweden based game studio creating ambitious, high-quality multiplayer games for a global audience. We are a team of passionate developers who care deeply about great gameplay, memorable player experiences, and building games together.

We are looking for an experienced Game Director to help shape the gameplay vision and direction of our multiplayer project and lead it through its next stage of development.

The role

As Game Director, you will be a key creative and design leader on the project, responsible for defining and championing the vision for the game’s core loop, gameplay, and meta-game.

You will work closely with the Chief Creative Officer, producers, directors, and discipline leads to turn that vision into a cohesive, engaging, shippable, and commercially successful game. You will balance creative ambition with production realities, player feedback, data, and the evolving needs of a live multiplayer game.

This is a hands‑on leadership role on site. We are looking for someone who enjoys spending time in the build, playing alongside the team, understanding the game at a detailed level, and helping teams make strong decisions about gameplay, systems, quality, and scope.

You will not be expected to have every answer yourself. A big part of the role is creating clarity, bringing together expertise from across the team, and making decisions when the project needs them.

Responsibilities

As Game Director, you will be a key creative and design leader on the project, responsible for defining and championing the vision for the game’s core loop, gameplay, and meta-game.

You will work closely with the Chief Creative Officer, producers, directors, and discipline leads to turn that vision into a cohesive, engaging, shippable, and commercially successful game. You will balance creative ambition with production realities, player feedback, data, and the evolving needs of a live multiplayer game.

This is a hands‑on leadership role on site. We are looking for someone who enjoys spending time in the build, playing alongside the team, understanding the game at a detailed level, and helping teams make strong decisions about gameplay, systems, quality, and scope.

• You will not be expected to have every answer yourself. A big part of the role is creating clarity, bringing together expertise from across the team, and making decisions when the project needs them.
  What you'll do:
• Define and communicate the game’s gameplay vision, pillars, and player fantasy, helping every discipline work toward a shared experience
• Guide, support, and review the development of core gameplay systems and features
• Shape the balance between PvP, PvE, and PvPvE elements to create sessions that feel meaningful, fair, and replayable
• Work with insights from analytics, internal playtests, focus tests, closed alphas, and player feedback to identify opportunities and improve the game
• Partner with production and discipline leads to define scope, priorities, milestones, and content cadence
• Establish clear quality bars for combat, game feel, onboarding, and the overall player experience
• Collaborate with live operations, monetization, publishing, and community teams to develop a post‑launch roadmap that creates long‑term value for both players and the business
• Communicate and represent the game’s vision internally and, when needed, with publishers, platform holders, press, and the community
• Mentor and support design and creative leaders, helping them grow and take ownership
• Help the team navigate difficult creative and production trade‑offs, making clear decisions when needed and taking responsibility for their outcomes
• Foster a culture of iteration, constructive feedback, and frequent hands‑on play

Requirements

• Significant professional game development experience, including experience in a senior creative, design, or game leadership role
• Experience shipping at least one multiplayer game, ideally with substantial ownership of gameplay, systems, or creative direction
• Strong systems‑design instincts and an ability to reason about areas such as progression, economies, risk and reward, encounter pacing, and session structure
• Experience leading or working closely with multidisciplinary teams across areas such as design, art, engineering, UX, and production
• A strong understanding of multiplayer game development and the ways player behaviour, telemetry, playtesting, and community feedback can inform design decisions
• Excellent communication skills in English, with the ability to create alignment around a vision across both development teams and senior stakeholders
• The ability to make thoughtful design and scope trade‑offs while working within real production constraints
• A collaborative leadership style, with the confidence to make decisions while drawing on the expertise of the people around you

We care more about the depth and relevance of your experience than matching a specific number of years or having held a particular job title.

Bonus points

Any of the following would be a bonus, but we don’t expect one person to bring all of them:

• Deep knowledge of multiplayer shooters and a strong understanding of why different approaches within the genre work — from games such as Call of Duty, ARC Raiders, Battlefield, Escape from Tarkov, or similar titles
• Experience designing or directing games that combine PvP and PvE systems
• Experience with extraction shooters, session‑based multiplayer games, or other games built around risk and reward
• Experience working on a live‑service game after launch (Strongly merited)
• Experience developing progression systems, loot economies, rewards, or long‑term metagame systems
• Experience with Unreal Engine or another large‑scale proprietary game engine
• A background in competitive FPS or TPS design, including areas such as weapon balance, movement, hit registration, networking constraints, or combat readability
• Experience working closely with UX, user research, analytics, or player‑insights teams
• Experience taking a multiplayer game through alpha, beta, soft launch, or other large‑scale external testing
• Experience building games for console and PC audiences
• An understanding of matchmaking, skill distribution, retention, and the social dynamics of multiplayer games
• Experience growing or mentoring senior designers and design leads
• Experience presenting a game or creative vision to external partners, press, or player communities

Above all, we’re looking for someone with strong creative judgement, a genuine curiosity about how players experience games, and the ability to bring a team together around a clear and compelling vision.

Who we are

Sharkmob is a Swedish game developer founded in 2017. We create AAA‑quality games for PC and console, using the Unreal Engine to power our ambitions of taking multiplayer games to new heights.

We are currently developing Exoborne, our first original IP. In 2022, we released Bloodhunt, a battle royale set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe.

At Sharkmob, we believe great games are created by diverse teams with different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. We are committed to building an inclusive and collaborative workplace where creativity can thrive. Our culture is built around shared ownership, a passion for creating great games, and, just as importantly, having fun along the way.

We’d love for you to join us on our journey and become part of our crew. To learn more about Sharkmob, our projects, and the perks of being a crew member, visit our homepage.