Game Design Intern-Undergraduate

Insomniac Games; Burbank (CA); On-site; USD 41,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) in the United States is offering a Game Design Intern role. You will work with experienced designers to craft gameplay experiences, including world building, combat setups, and scripted events, while learning production workflows and toolchains.

The internship provides mentorship, hands-on practice with industry tools, and exposure to game development pipelines. Eligible candidates must be pursuing a Game Design degree and be available for a 12-week

Qualifications

• Pursuing a Game Design degree at college or university.
• Scripting experience is required or preferred (visual scripting acceptable).
• Familiarity with Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, or similar 3D tools.

Responsibilities

• Create and implement gameplay content including world authoring and event triggering.
• Use tools like Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya to support design and content creation.
• Apply visual scripting or programming to implement gameplay features.
• Collaborate with designers to develop creative solutions for projects.
• Explore how level design and mechanics work together to engage players.
• Learn design techniques and development workflows with mentor guidance.

Skills

Game design fundamentals

Attention to detail

Self‑motivated learner

Creative problem solving

Strong communication

Education

Pursuing Game Design degree

Tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Maya

3DS Max

Job description

Join Insomniac Games as a Game Design Intern and gain hands‑on experience creating and implementing gameplay content that helps bring game worlds to life.

As a Game Design Intern, you'll work alongside experienced designers to develop gameplay experiences, including world authoring, combat setups, event triggering and scripted structural elements. You'll apply your technical and creative skills while learning how game design ideas are developed and implemented throughout production.

Throughout the internship, you'll receive mentorship from senior team members, strengthen your design and problem‑solving skills, and gain practical experience with game development tools and workflows. You'll also have opportunities to learn about the development process and how design teams create engaging narrative action games.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Create and implement gameplay content, including world authoring, combat setups, event triggering and scripted structural elements.
• Use development tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, or other 3D modeling software to support game design and content creation.
• Apply visual scripting or programming skills to implement and refine gameplay features.
• Collaborate with experienced designers to develop creative solutions and contribute to game development projects.
• Explore how level design, gameplay mechanics, and scripted events work together to create engaging player experiences.
• Learn and apply game design techniques and development workflows while receiving guidance and mentorship from senior team members.

What We’re Looking For:

• Currently pursuing a Game Design degree at a college or university. Master’s candidates may also apply.
• Six to twelve months of related experience and/or training is beneficial but not required for currently enrolled students.
• Basic familiarity with a 3D package such as Maya or 3DSMax is required; experience with Maya is preferred.
• Scripting experience is required, preferably visual scripting, although knowledge of programming or scripting languages is also acceptable.
• Familiarity with development tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, or other 3D modeling software.
• Strong technical skills, including visual scripting or programming experience.
• Strong attention to detail, creativity, and an understanding of game design fundamentals.
• A self‑motivated and responsible approach to learning, with the ability to articulate creative goals and turn ideas into actionable solutions.
• Passion for next‑gen video games, with knowledge of the gaming industry and narrative action games.
• Previous experience with level‑editing tools, such as Unreal, Unity, or Hammer is a plus.
• Students with expected graduation between May 2026 and December 2029 from an accredited university. Undergraduate
• Able to work during one of the following periods: May 17th – August 6th or June 14th – September 3rd. Relocation assistance is available for eligible candidates.
• Must be available for the entire 12‑week internship period.

At this time, SIE will only consider applicants who are authorized to work for any employer in the United States and who will not require work visa sponsorship from SIE now or in the future to maintain their authorization to work in the United States.

Our intern positions offer a fixed hourly pay rate. Please note that the pay rate is exclusive to the internship period and may not reflect what pay may look like following the completion of an internship.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.
Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job‑related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

Intern Pay Range

$36.50 - $36.50 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

US Voluntary Demographic Question

Voluntary Self-Identification

Our vision at PlayStation is to bring out the best in our global team members by creating a sense of belonging, being a place where they can grow, and ensuring everyone feels valued, heard, and supported so we can push the boundaries of play. That vision begins our candidates, and we are working to better understand the diversity of our candidate population.
Please know that the completion of this form is entirely voluntary. Your personally identifiable information (name, address, etc) will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you choose to provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file for XX time.

Protected Veteran

• Disabled Veteran: a veteran of the U.S. military who is entitled to compensation (or who would be entitled to compensation if not for the receipt of military retired pay) under the administration of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and/or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.
• Recently Separated Veteran: a veteran who has discharged or released from active duty in the U.S. military within the last three years.
• Armed Forces Service Medal Veteran: a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, participated in a U.S. military operation for which an Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Disability

Under U.S. law, you are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Identifying yourself as an individual with a disability is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer will be maintained confidentially and will not be seen by selecting officials or anyone else involved in making personnel decisions, nor will it be shared with our accommodations team . Completing the form will not negatively impact you in any way, regardless of whether you have self‑identified in the past.

The application deadline for this role is November 21, 2026