Lead Gameplay Designer

Epic Games; United States; On-site; USD 145,000 - 233,000; Full time

Job summary

Epic Games is seeking a Gameplay Designer to craft engaging gameplay across combat, progression, systems, and live content for a LEGO collaboration. You’ll partner with design leadership, art, programming, animation, UX, production, and QA to ship features from concept to release.

The role requires owning gameplay systems, iterating on balance and content, and maintaining a fast-paced, collaborative workflow that emphasizes player-focused design and iterative feedback.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience shipping first or third-person shooter titles as a Gameplay Designer.
• Strong scripting and technical capabilities. Bonus points if you have experience with Unreal Engine and the Ability System.
• Experience working on live-service multiplayer environments.
• Demonstrated talent and a deep understanding of gameplay feel, player motivations or intent, gameplay mechanics, weapon/itemization use, and combat systems contributing to delivering the most emergent player experience.
• Ability to break down high-level creative direction into actionable gameplay features and production-ready tasks.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and react quickly to changing project needs, drive decisions, and then own the outcome and vision.
• Commitment to quality, rapid iteration, and delivering exceptional player experiences.

Responsibilities

• Work in close collaboration with project leads & directors to design, prototype, tune, and ship features and systems that support the engagement, gameplay, and creative vision of the project.
• Document and create clear, actionable design documents, and iterate on these features, working with a team of developers across multiple disciplines, and oversee their successful implementation from start to finish.
• Get hands-on creating the scripting, data, and content required by those features, diving into the engine, and leveraging other tools.
• Be responsible for soliciting and rapidly integrating feedback from across the team on your own initiative, ensuring we’re continually delivering a fun and fresh experience to our players.
• Help establish and maintain design pipelines, best practices, and cross-discipline communication standards to scope, prioritize deliverables, and hit milestone goals.

Skills

Gameplay design

Scripting

Live-service multiplayer

Design documentation

Independent work

Tools

Unreal Engine

Ability System

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

DESIGN

What We Do

Put your design skills to work at a cutting-edge company that challenges the norm. From character and level design to competitive gameplay and system design, help shape the future of interactive entertainment at Epic.

What You’ll Do

Epic Games is looking for a Gameplay Designer to help create compelling gameplay experiences across combat, progression, systems, moment-to-moment mechanics, and live gameplay content for our collaboration with LEGO. In this role, you’ll partner closely with design leadership, art, programming, animation, UX, audio, production, and QA to deliver high-quality features from concept through ship.

You will own and iterate on gameplay systems, mechanics, and content while balancing player experience, readability, accessibility, engagement, and long-term retention. The ideal candidate is highly collaborative, deeply player-focused, and comfortable working in a fast-paced cross-disciplinary environment where iteration and feedback are core to development.

In this role, you will

• Work in close collaboration with project leads & directors to design, prototype, tune, and ship features and systems that support the engagement, gameplay, and creative vision of the project
• Document and create clear, actionable design documents, and iterate on these features, working with a team of developers across multiple disciplines, and oversee their successful implementation from start to finish
• Get hands-on creating the scripting, data, and content required by those features, diving into the engine, and leveraging other tools
• Be responsible for soliciting and rapidly integrating feedback from across the team on your own initiative, ensuring we’re continually delivering a fun and fresh experience to our players
• Help establish and maintain design pipelines, best practices, and cross-discipline communication standards to scope, prioritize deliverables, and hit milestone goals

What we’re looking for

• 5+ years of experience shipping first or third-person shooter titles as a Gameplay Designer, working on itemization, gameplay systems, combat, ability systems, features, and content
• Strong scripting and technical capabilities. Bonus points if you have experience with Unreal Engine and the Ability System
• Experience working on live-service multiplayer environments
• Demonstrated talent and a deep understanding of gameplay feel, player motivations or intent, gameplay mechanics, weapon/itemization use, and combat systems contributing to delivering the most emergent player experience
• Ability to break down high-level creative direction into actionable gameplay features and production-ready tasks
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and react quickly to changing project needs, drive decisions, and then own the outcome and vision
• Commitment to quality, rapid iteration, and delivering exceptional player experiences

This role is open to multiple locations in North America (including CA, NYC, & WA).

Pay Transparency Information

The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs (subject to the terms of those plans or programs).

New York City Base Pay Range

$144,535—$211,984 USD

California Base Pay Range

$158,988—$233,182 USD

Washington Base Pay Range

$144,535—$211,984 USD

ABOUT US

Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we’ve been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world‑class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.