Gameplay Engineer, Missions - StarCraft | Irvine, CA

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC.; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 109,114,000 - 201,839,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work week

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in Irvine, CA is seeking a Gameplay Engineer for Missions to craft story-driven, open-world mission experiences for StarCraft.

You will prototype, implement, and polish gameplay features, collaborating with designers and artists to deliver cinematic experiences that balance storytelling and gameplay. This role supports a hybrid work week, combining work-from-home and on-site days at our Irvine studio, with a focus on correctness, performance, and long-term

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in gameplay engineering or related field.
• Contributed to at least one shipped game or complex real-time interactive product.
• Experience delivering high-quality features within a cross-functional team of designers, artists, animators, level designers, FX artists, etc.
• Experience working on real-time 3D games.

Responsibilities

• Prototype, implement, and iterate on mission content from concepts to ship.
• Deliver player-facing mission experiences with clarity, pacing, reliability, and polish.
• Implement mission gameplay features and supporting code frameworks with readability and extensibility.
• Improve iteration speed by strengthening workflows, debugging visibility, and validation to reduce authoring risk.
• Profile and optimize mission content and gameplay features for stability and quality.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary partners to diagnose issues and drive fixes to resolution.
• Contribute to healthy engineering practices through readable commits and code reviews.

Skills

Gameplay engineering experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Real-time 3D game experience

Debugging and problem solving

Production-grade C++

Code reviews participation

Performance optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Degree in computer science, mathematics, physics or related discipline

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

Team Name: StarCraft Job Title: Gameplay Engineer, Missions - StarCraft | Irvine, CA Requisition ID: R028116

Job Description

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of StarCraft, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games. We are here to reignite this universe alongside you. We are here to make StarCraft, and it's about damn time. As a Gameplay Engineer on our Missions team, you will collaborate closely with designers and artists to prototype, implement, and polish high-quality AAA mission content and the gameplay features that support it, enabling the creation of cinematic experiences that drive storytelling and gameplay. You will help turn creative intent into reliable player experiences, iterating quickly while maintaining correctness, performance, and long-term maintainability.

This role offers a hybrid work week, with a mix of work-from-home and on-site days, based out of our Irvine studio.

Responsibilities

• Partner with mission designers to prototype, implement, and iterate on mission content from early concepts through shippable quality.
• Deliver player-facing mission experiences with a strong focus on clarity, pacing, reliability, and polish.
• Implement and maintain mission gameplay features and supporting code frameworks with an emphasis on correctness, readability, and extensibility.
• Improve mission iteration speed by strengthening workflows, debugging visibility, and validation that reduce authoring risk.
• Profile and optimize mission content and gameplay features to help ensure stable, release-quality execution.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary and technical partners to diagnose issues and drive fixes to resolution.
• Contribute to healthy engineering practices through frequent readable commits, constructive code reviews, and lightweight documentation that helps the team scale.
• Champion Blizzard’s core values and contribute to a collaborative, inclusive team culture.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in gameplay engineering or a combination of applicable training and related experience.
• Engineering contributions to at least one shipped game title or similarly complex real-time interactive product.
• Experience delivering high quality features and experiences as part of a cross-functional team including designers, artists, animators, level designers, FX artists, etc.
• Experience working on real-time 3D games.

Knowledge & Skills

• Ability to understand and write production-grade C++ code.
• Capacity to make frequent, readable, well-tested code commits and participate effectively in code reviews.
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
• Experience analyzing gameplay features and content for performance and optimizing toward release quality.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills in multi-disciplinary teams.

Extra Points

• Experience Degree in computer science, mathematics, physics, or a related discipline.
• Experience in development using the Unreal engine (both C++ and Blueprint).
• Experience developing and shipping AAA game titles for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles.
• Knowledge & Skills Experience working in a large codebase and collaborating across multiple gameplay teams.
• Experience working on online multiplayer games.

Key Attributes

• Passion for gameplay development, especially for the quality of the moment-to-moment experience.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. Our World Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet! Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners. We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including: Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance; 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching; Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave; Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others; If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance. Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/. In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $38.08 - $70.44 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable. Blizzard Entertainment® is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. After establishing the Blizzard Entertainment label in 1994, the company quickly became one of the most popular and well-respected makers of computer games. By focusing on creating well-designed, highly enjoyable entertainment experiences, Blizzard Entertainment has maintained an unparalleled reputation for quality since its inception.

General Employment Questions

General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.